NSW Premier Cricket - The record partnerships from 1893 to 2023 - the eighth wicket record

Lyall Gardner | August 27, 2023

RECORD: 222*runs in 1939-40 by Alan Barnes (104*) / John “Ginty” Lush (113*) for Mosman 7-441 declared against Paddington 322 at Mosman Oval (now Allan Border Oval) on 3 February 1940.

Batting first in that match, Mosman were away to a good start at 7-219. The only real disappointment for the Whales was that their “big gun”, Stan McCabe, made just 29. But that setback quickly turned to amazement as the club record books were re-written in the space of only 106 minutes. That’s how long it took for numbers 7 and 9 in the batting order, Alan Barnes and John “Ginty” Lush, to smash an unfinished 222 for the 8th wicket. It was the highest score for any partnership across all grades for Mosman, breaking the previous mark of 216 for the 1st wicket by Hammy Love and Charlie Andrews against St George in 1929-30.

Barnes made 104* with nine fours while Lush ended up 106* in an even 106 minutes with 17 boundaries. The final score of 7-441 declared was too many for Paddington’s 322 despite three bats getting into the 60s. Mosman’s best bowler was the 1938-39 NSW skipper Ken Gulliver, who finished with 5-116. Gulliver was one of the greatest all-rounders ever to play Sydney 1st Grade cricket, scoring 9,322 runs while taking 1,029 wickets. He took five wickets in an innings a staggering 70 times. “Ginty”Lush, the NSW right-arm fast bowler, took 1-76. For Paddington, the most successful bowler was 23-year-old leg-spinner, Colin McCool, with 3-89. Six years later, he played the first of his 14 Test matches for Australia and was a member of Bradman’s “Invincibles” on the 1948 Ashes tour of England.

Aggressive play snatches record-breaking draw

The Barnes-Lush partnership broke a 26-year-old record of 203 established by Charlie Macartney and George Jordan playing for Gordon against University in 1913-14. University batted first and despite having 4-355 on the board, continued into the second day, putting on 52 in 30 minutes. While Eric Barbour had controlled the innings with 152, it was J C Lamrock who wowed the spectators, hitting 28 from seven balls in his quickfire 76.

Chasing 7-407 declared, Gordon was soon in trouble with the total slumping to 7-116. It looked like a hollow victory for the students, although Macartney was still there on 73. And there he stayed when joined by Jordan. Over the following 110 minutes, the pair put on a magnificent partnership of 203 before Macartney was lbw to Lamrock for 227 made in 190 minutes with 28 fours and a six. Jordan hit 41 in the partnership but remained unconquered on 47 when stumps were called at 8-325 for a drawn result. The performance was well past the previous 8th wicket partnership record of 174 in 1893 by Robert Brewster (101*) and Frank McElhone (93) for Paddington against Canterbury. Macartney’s 227 is the highest score by a player involved in an 8th wicket partnership in 1st Grade.

Charlie Macartney

Outstanding partnership just misses SCA record but creates others

The only partnership to threaten the current record occurred in 2020-21–more than 80 years after its creation. The 213 put on by Andrew Walsh and Joseph Graham for St George against UTS North Sydney, was just nine runs short of the 222 target. It was also only the third time the 200 runs milestone for the 8th wicket had been achieved.

In that round 6 match at Hurstville Oval, UTS North Sydney won the toss and ran up an imposing score of 9-355 declared off 96 overs. On day two, it was all Norths, having Saints 4-11 then 6-52 and 7-112. All the recognised bats were out. That brought together Walsh and Graham, nos. 8 and 9 in the batting order. Walsh had a high score record of 53 across a 10-year career while Graham’s best that season was 9*. What unfolded over the following three and a half hours rewrote the St George history records, with the pair putting on a run-a-minute partnership of 213 before Graham was caught for 42 off 157 balls with five fours. And while it wasn’t a 1st Grade competition record, it was a new club mark breaking the St George record of 187 set by Richard Done (107*) and Paul Cremer (93) against Bankstown in 1978-79.

Andrew Walsh

Walsh batted on, losing his wicket on the first ball of the final over with victory coming off the last delivery when no. 11, Tom McKenzie, hit a boundary. In a swashbuckling innings, the right-hander plundered the Norths attack to all parts of the famous oval, hitting 15 sixes and 15 fours in scoring an astonishing 208 runs from 209 balls. It broke the Sydney 1st Grade record for the highest score by a number 8 bat and equalled Brian Booth’s 208* in 1968-69–the third highest score in the St George club’s history. Walsh also equalled the 15 sixes hit by Victor Trumper against Waverley in 1904-05. The record of 22 sixes belongs to Trumper, struck against Redfern in 1902-03 in his famous innings of 335.

200 a real barrier

While there have been only three 8th wicket partnerships in excess of 200 runs, it is a similar number for scores in the 190s. Frank O’Keefe (143) and Monty Noble (105) got within seven runs of the then Macartney-Jordan record of 203 when they combined to make 196 for Paddington against Balmain in 1913-14. But it was just short of 89 years before any other batting pair would produce a partnership in the 190s.

That occurred in the 2002-03 round 11 match when Campbelltown-Camden took on Bankstown at Bankstown Oval. Dennis Lonergan (112*) and Nick Connolly (114) got together to put on 191 for the 8th before Connolly was dismissed. The partnership lasted 154 minutes with Lonergan facing 126 balls while Connolly, who was the aggressor hitting 22 fours, faced 134.

Despite that outstanding performance, the unfortunate outcome for Campbelltown was that it occurred in the second innings after the side was behind on the first. The visitors made just 127 in their first trip to the wicket, with the second dig heroes Lonergan and Connolly, making 13 and one respectively. Bankstown declared at 5-229 to take the points.

19-year-old on the cusp of history

It was another 13 years before any near-double century partnership would be achieved for the 8th wicket. That occurred in 2015-16 when a Randwick Petersham 1st Grade debutant came close to achieving a century, while figuring in a match-winning partnership against Fairfield-Liverpool.

In that clash at Rosedale Oval, Randwick Petersham’s middle order collapsed to leave them struggling at 7-144 after being 1-107. Batting at no. 9, James Psarakis, a 19-year-old from Tamworth, strode to the wicket to join 20-year-old no. 8, Soumil Chhibber. Over the following 178 minutes, the pair put on 191, impressing keen judges with the maturity of their strokeplay and running between the wickets. Only eight boundaries were scored between them although towards the end of his innings, the young Psarakis hit two sixes, an approach which brought about his downfall when caught on the fence for 98 off 165 balls. Chhibber was also dismissed for 98 after facing 179. Psarakis would have joined 15 others, including an 18-year-old Donald Bradman, had he managed to score the extra two runs to bring up a debut century.

Batting with the tail no problem for star players

The name of Donald Bradman, along with a number of other notable and famous Australian players, appears on the SCA list of 8th wicket partnerships of 100 runs or more. Bradman scored 116* with 17 fours while putting on 153* with Frank Ward, who made 41*, in 1930-31 for St George playing Marrickville. In front of 5,000 spectators at Hurstville Oval, his “ton” came up in just 82 minutes. It was a timely innings as Saints were 7-60 chasing 110. The 50 runs needed for victory were achieved in just 14 minutes while the 153* partnership took only 75.  

Another legendary player, 17-year-old Archie Jackson, made 143 and with Sid Hird who scored 61*, put on 132 for Balmain playing Western Suburbs in 1926-27. Australian Test opening bat, Warren Bardsley, knocked up 126 and his partner W Graves 43*, in a tally of 120 for Glebe against Middle Harbour in 1914. And Tibby Cotter, the famous Australian Test fast bowler who was killed in the First World War, was caught and bowled for a then career-best 99 at the conclusion of a partnership of 102 with Charlie Kellaway (37*) for Glebe against Redfern in 1907. Cotter hit 13 fours and a six in an innings which lasted less than an hour. He was only the fifth 1st Grade batsman recorded by the Association at that time, to have been dismissed for 99. Just six weeks later, he batted no. 4 against Waverley at Waverley Oval and struck a huge 152 in just 85 minutes. Apart from six fours, his innings contained 16 sixes – second to Victor Trumper’s record 22 in 1902-03.

Tibby Cotter

Trumper on the world stage in record first-class partnership

Because of his outstanding deeds in both representative and Sydney 1st Grade cricket, it is worth recording here the performance of Victor Trumper in holding an 8th wicket partnership record in first-class cricket. The occasion was during the 1913-14 season when Australia sent a team to New Zealand to participate in a short tour. Interestingly, the Australian Cricket Board of Control appointed a man to captain the side who had led New Zealand in matches against Australia in 1905. His name was Arthur Sims who later became Sir Arthur Sims.

Classic Victor Trumper

In a match against a strong provincial team, Christchurch, at Lancaster Park in Christchurch in late February 1914, Australia batted first but struggled against a good attack. Skipper Sims deliberately held back Trumper until Saturday, the second day of the match, so weekend patrons may get to see some action from the great batsman. And action is what they got.

Coming in to join Sims with the score a rocky 7-207, he and the skipper simply flayed the bowlers. In 181 minutes, the pair put together a partnership of 433, which was a world record for the 8th wicket. Trumper belted a massive 293 with Sims unconquered on 184.

It remained the world first-class 8th wicket partnership record for 33 years until broken by West Indians, Jeff Stollmeyer (324) and Gerry Gomez (190) playing for Trinidad against British Guiana at Queen’s Park, Port of Spain in 1946-47, when the pair rattled up 434. 

World record first-class 8th wicket partnership holders Jeff Stollmeyer (left) and Gerry Gomez