Is it time for ACT to be playing first class cricket in Australia?

Dean Tuckwell | January 18, 2023

One of the talking points around Cricket in Australia is how to maintain a healthy first-class cricket competition.

If the cricket played across Sheffield Shield is strong and competitive Australian Cricket at the highest level tends to thrive.

With so much international cricket played in modern times and the emergence of T20 cricket there seems to be little time for the Australian Test regulars to play Sheffield Shield cricket.

I strongly believe there is merit in the proposal to expand the number of first class players in the Australian set-up and therefore create more opportunities for cricketers.

Australia hardly needs to re-invent the wheel as The Sheffield Shield has been the most successful producer of test cricketers in the history of the game. 

Part of that success is because it means something. It is a significant competition whose results are important, not just to the players but to all followers of cricket in the respective states whether they attend the games or not. The passionate and vocal crowds that attended Queensland’s victory in the 2021/22 final against NSW was evidence of this. Perhaps Cricket Australia do not fully appreciate the worth of interstate cricket.

NSW is clearly the strongest cricketing state but include a second NSW side or a cricket academy team and the competition loses its authenticity – it relegates a hard-fought contest and source of pride for the states to little more than a selection trial. If Cricket Australia doesn’t value the Shield (and one-day competition) then it is basically averring that the result of any game of cricket played in Australia that doesn’t involve the national side is unimportant.

The obvious solution is to expand the Sheffield Shield and One Day competitions to include a team from The ACT. 

ACT teams have always competed in national under age championships, Manuka Oval has already hosted a Test match and The Brumbies and Raiders have proven that Canberra is a good base for successful sporting teams in national competitions. 

In addition to providing a first-class team for the territory’s finest players, undoubtedly it would also attract many NSW country players. Wagga for example is 3 hours away and players from these two cities alone in the 80’s and 90’s include Geoff Lawson, Mark Taylor, Greg Rowell, Michael Bevan, Michael Slater and Brad Haddin. The less daunting size of the city and cheaper cost of living would also make Canberra an attractive alternative to Sydney for aspiring players.

Former Australian wicket keeper Brad Haddin originally from Canberra returns to the crease for ACT in a one off game after retiring from International cricket

South Australian batsman Henry Hunt is from the ACT, played Grade Cricket for Queanbeyan District and represented the ACT and Australian Under 19s. He moved to Sydney to play grade cricket for Eastern Suburbs but was not deemed a necessary player for NSW and not contracted. He subsequently moved to Adelaide, has since represented Australia A and has been spoken about as a future Test opener. If his personal circumstances did not allow him to move halfway across the country he may have effectively been lost to Australian cricket.

There is a school of thought that there are not enough players of first-class standard in the country to fill an extra 15 or 20 spots but obviously players’ standards improve when they are able to train full time in first class facilities and play against first class competition. The inevitable influx of aspiring interstate players together with stemming the exodus of its finest local players will also improve the standard of the Canberra competition. This in itself means that all ACT club cricketers will benefit not just those who receive contracts.

It also means an opportunity has been created for players blocked by pathways especially those close by in Sydney.

Australian cricket is certainly richer for the inclusion of Tasmania in The Sheffield Shield in 1977 (and as a full participant in 1979.) In the period since the state has produced 14 home-grown players who have represented Australia including 2 test captains. Would this have necessarily been the case if these players had no choice but to leave family and friends and move to a new city to compete against established players for limited spots?

The time is right for another Comet sighting.