NSW Premier Cricket - The record partnerships from 1893 to 2023 - the tenth wicket record
Lyall Gardner | September 12, 2023
RECORD: 188*runs in 2011-12 by David Dawson (200*) / Chris Tremain (81*) for University of NSW 9-361 declared against Western Suburbs 229 at Village Green in round 4, 5 November 2011.
University of NSW skipper and wicket-keeper, David Dawson, won the toss and batted on the team’s home ground. With opener James McNeil out for a duck, Dawson was in to bat in the second over. And while he was playing well, his team-mates were struggling against a persistent attack. Wickets were falling regularly although a late order rally of 58 saw the score elevated from 8-115 to 9-173. Nevertheless, the end appeared nigh. Enter fast bowler Chris Tremain, not a “rabbit” by any means, but at no. 11 he was not expected to bother the scorers to any great extent. But something which had not been experienced in the 118 years of Sydney 1st Grade Cricket was about to unfold.
The pair batted for 142 minutes scoring a breathtaking, unconquered 188 for the 10th wicket. While Dawson continued to advance his score, he was far from shielding Tremain from the strike. In fact, the fast bowler faced 135 balls in making 81* which included 11 fours and two huge sixes. And while their partnership was a major milestone, so was the double century which Dawson brought up after facing 237 balls over almost five and a half hours (323 minutes). His 32 boundaries constituted 128 runs of his neat 200* final tally. A declaration was made at 9-361.
In reply, both players were immediately in the action with Dawson catching one opener and Tremain disposing of the other. Wests’ final score of 229 gave the students a win by 132 runs, which was all down to the 10th wicket partnership, not only the highest of the innings, but more than the combined total of the first nine wickets. It also broke the Sydney 1st Grade competition 10th wicket record of 165 by Cameron Eve and Rob Eddy for Northern District in 2002-03.
The partnership of 188 compares more than favourably with the record Test 10th wicket partnership of 198 between Joe Root and James Anderson against India at Nottingham in 2014. That said, it remains a long way behind the 307 by Alan Kippax and Hal Hooker for NSW against Victoria in Melbourne in 1928-29.
Record remains for over 95 years
The top four 10th wicket partnerships in 1st Grade have all been scored since 2002-03. The prior record was set more than 95 years earlier in 1907-08, when Herb Collins (113*) and Charles Winning (43) scored 139 for Paddington against Waverley. That was a two-day match, posing the question as to why in the following nine and a half decades, only that and 10 other scores of 100 or more for the last wicket were recorded. Another 11 were scored between 2002-03 and 2015-16, the last being 128 by Mason Crane (80) and Matthew Junk (61*) for Gordon against Sydney University.
The Collins-Winning record was established on 9 February 1907 at Waverley Oval. The pair had made ducks when Paddington played Middle Harbour nine weeks earlier. However, they came together with the score 9-214 after opening bat Victor Trumper had thrilled the 4,000 strong crowd with 90, hitting 12 fours and a six along the way. That total was 30 runs to the good of the Waverley total of 184 made the previous week. And while the side was keen to create a substantial lead, confidence in the tail-end pair’s ability to achieve that aim was not high, as indicated by The Sunday Times newspaper, which claimed in its report “the Paddingtonians were preparing to take the field at 4.30pm”.
It was therefore a great surprise to their team-mates and the crowd when they batted through until 5.40pm, knocking up 139 runs in that 70-minute period. In making his maiden 1st Grade century, Collins, who batted at no 6, matched Trumper by also hitting 12 fours.
Debutant almost makes the record books
The earliest and closest attempt to break that record occurred just 14 seasons later in 1921-22 when Brian Long (79*) and Sam Everett (51) smashed 131 for Petersham against University. Playing at the SCG on the first day of the new season, Petersham skipper, Sid Emery, won the toss and batted. But after a solid start of 40, nine wickets were lost for a scoreline of 9-110. That left the experienced Long and 20-year-old debutant Everett, batting 10 and 11, to put some respectability into the total. It was a tall order for the pair and even more so for the young fast bowler who had been recruited from the juniors directly into 1st Grade.
After 64 minutes and great cheering from the player’s pavilion, the pair had taken the score to 241. And but for an over-enthusiastic Sam Everett, bowled for 51 attempting to hit one out of the ground, many more runs may have been scored and they may have been the new record-holders. In the end, they finished eight runs short of a place in the 1st Grade history books. And while the partnership was the highest score of the innings and more than the total put together by the first nine batters, it proved not to be enough, with Uni. running out easy winners at 6-322. Sam Everett went on to become a fine opening bowler for NSW and toured the British Isles with the Australian team in 1926.
Fast bowler Sam Everett in an unfamiliar pose at the SCG
Debutant makes the record books
After being perched at the top of the 10th wicket partnership records for 95 years and nine months, the impressive Collins-Winning record finally went by the wayside. And this time a debutant did in fact make the record books!
It occurred in the 2002-03 round 5 match at Waitara (now Mark Taylor) Oval when Northern District hosted Fairfield-Liverpool. The Lion’s attack was a formidable one with three NSW Blues bowlers in the line-up––Don Nash, Doug Bollinger and Grant Lambert. Nash and Lambert in particular, soon had the local batters trekking back to the pavilion. At 9-201, no. 9 in the batting order, Cameron Eve, was joined by last man in, 1st Grade debutant pace bowler, Rob Eddy.
Somehow, the pair reeled off 165 for the 10th wicket with Eve “on fire” until he was lbw to Lambert (4-79) for 118––his second 1st Grade century. Eddy remained 50* in a memorable debut. And on the following Saturday, their effort was rewarded with the win points after Fairfield-Liverpool was dismissed for 195 with Eve taking 5-48 and Eddy 1-18. And to cap it off, they had a new 1st Grade competition record 10th wicket partnership. Interestingly, the day after their big partnership, Eddy was bowled first ball in a Limited Overs match against Eastern Suburbs!
Cameron Eve
Tit for Tat
Since the posting of the Dawson-Tremain record, there have been two 10th wicket partnerships exceeding the 150 runs mark, although well below the all-time high of 188. The first was by Nicholas Bills (96*) and James Campbell (53) for North Sydney against Bankstown at North Sydney Oval in round 3 of 2012-13. In that match, the Bulldogs’ Philip Wells had smashed 157* in a total of 7-385 declared. The Bears were all at sea in reply and at 9-148, no. 11 Campbell joined no. 10, Bills. And while there appeared little hope of annexing the target, the tail-end pair gave it an almighty shot, putting together 156 before Campbell was bowled for 53 made from 110 balls in 114 minutes with eight fours and two sixes. Bills remained 96* off 122 balls with 10 fours and two sixes. Although Norths’ final score of 304 was 81 behind the target, it was an impressive run-chase.
Philip Wells
The second 150-plus last wicket partnership occurred the following 2013-14 season when Bankstown repaid the North Sydney barrage with an almost identical score of 155* at Bankstown Oval. Philip Wells (121*) and Mitchell Phelps (80*) got together over 205 minutes to get the Bulldogs to 9-300 after being a perilous 9-145. Phelps hit eight fours and a six in his stay while Wells struck 13 boundaries in the 225 balls he received over five hours and 39 minutes at the crease. And once again, North Sydney came up short, being dismissed for just 205. Interestingly, James Campbell was again a thorn in the Bankstown side, putting on 77 for the 10th wicket with Robert Aitken who remained 67*. That partnership was the highest for the innings. Campbell scored 57 with eight fours and three sixes.
Highest first-class 10th wicket partnership
As mentioned earlier, the first-class partnership record of 307 runs for the 10th wicket belongs to Australians Alan Kippax and Hal Hooker. It was a remarkable occurrence in a Sheffield Shield match between NSW and Victoria at the Melbourne Cricket Ground just three days prior to Christmas in 1928.
Victoria batted first and made 376 with NSW struggling at 7-58 by stumps on the second day. Don Bradman had been bowled for just one run. There was more trouble for the visitors, slipping to 9-113 shortly after play resumed on what was a hot Christmas Day. Skipper Alan Kippax, however, was still there on 20* when he was joined by last man, Mosman right-arm medium-pacer, Hal Hooker.
Alan Kippax
Over the following 304 minutes, the pair defied everything Victoria’s bowlers dished up to them, putting on 307 runs in the process. Their stand quickly became big news and over 15,000 people gave up their Christmas lunches to get to the MCG and witness history in the making. When Hooker was eventually caught at slip by Jack Ryder off Ted a’Beckett for 62, the NSW score had reached 420, giving the side a lead of 44. Kippax remained a mammoth 260*. Despite the heroics, the match petered out into a tame draw.
The partnership broke the previous first-class 10th wicket partnership record of 235 by Frank Woolley (185) and Arthur Fielder (112*) playing for Kent against Worcestershire in the English County Championship at Stourbridge in 1909. It has never been broken.
Hal Hooker
(Note: In the return match at the SCG four weeks later, Hal Hooker took 6-42 from 28 overs with the last four Victorian wickets in successive balls–the only bowler to do so in the history of Sheffield Shield cricket. Don Bradman made 340* in that match which was also drawn.)
