Sheffield Shield
In 1891-1892 the Earl of Sheffield was in Australia as the promoter of an English team led by W. G. Grace. The tour included three Tests played in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide. At the conclusion of the tour, Sheffield donated £150 to fund a trophy for an annual tournament of intercolonial cricket in Australia. After his departure there was some debate between the organising committees in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales about how to use the donation, including serious consideration of a proposal to split the money between the committees of the three colonies. This was rejected.
Ultimately a new tournament was decided upon and named the Sheffield Shield in honour of its benefactor. It commenced in the 1892-93 season between New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. That season also marked the inclusion of Queensland and Western Australia in the intercolonial matches, though they were not admitted to the Shield competition until much later. 4500 people watched Queensland win by 14 runs in its first intercolonial against New South Wales at the Exhibition Ground in Brisbane and Western Australia played its first intercolonial against South Australia in Adelaide. The Western Australians had a miserable tour with a loss to South Australia in Adelaide, being beaten by 10 wickets and a loss to Victoria at the MCG by an innings and 243 runs. The Sheffield Shield competition was effectively played in parallel with other intercolonial matches as Tasmania, Queensland and Western Australia did not join the Sheffield Shield competition until well into the 20th century.
As well as matches between two colonies, frequent combined team matches, (and also classified as first-class) were played such as Smokers v Non-Smokers, Australian XI v Combined XI and New South Wales and Victoria v Australian XI.
From the second Shield competition in 1893/94 each of the Shield teams were playing each other twice each season, both home and away. This format continues today, though with six teams the season now contains 31 matches, including the final.
Read more about this topic: Intercolonial Cricket In Australia
Famous quotes containing the word shield:
“Vice is its own reward. It is virtue which, if it is to be marketed with consumer appeal, must carry Green Shield stamps.”
—Quentin Crisp (b. 1908)