Victoria cricket team explained

Victoria
Colours: Navy blue
White
Grey
Coach:Chris Rogers
Captain:Will Sutherland (FC)
Peter Handscomb (List A)
Ground:Melbourne Cricket Ground
Junction Oval
Capacity:100,000
7,000
First Fc:Tasmania
First Fc Year:1851
First Fc Venue:Launceston
Title1:Sheffield Shield
Title1wins:32 (1893, 1895, 1898, 1899, 1907, 1908, 1915, 1922, 1924, 1925, 1928, 1930, 1931, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1947, 1951, 1963, 1967, 1970, 1974, 1979, 1980, 1991, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019)
Title2:One-day
Title2wins:6 (1972, 1980, 1995, 1999, 2011, 2018)
Title3:Twenty20 Big Bash
Title3wins:4 (2006, 2007, 2008, 2010)
Website:Victorian Cricket Team
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H Title:First-class
A Title:One-day
T Title:T20
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A Rightarm:001846
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It was known as the Victorian Bushrangers between 1995 and 2018, before dropping the Bushrangers nickname and electing to be known as simply Victoria in all cricket competitions.[1] Victoria shares home matches between the Melbourne Cricket Ground in East Melbourne and the Junction Oval in St Kilda. The team is administered by Cricket Victoria and draws its players primarily from Victoria's Premier Cricket competition along with players from throughout the country. Victoria also played in the now-defunct Twenty20 competition, the Twenty20 Big Bash, which was replaced by the franchise-based Big Bash League.

The Victorian cricket team is the second-most successful state team in Australian first-class cricket, having won 32 Sheffield Shield titles, the most recent of which was in the 2018–19 season. The Victorians have also claimed six One-Day Cups and four Big Bash tiles.

History

The team's origins date back to the very start of Australian cricket when the Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) was formed in 1838, and in that same year an MCC team played its first match against the Victorian Military. However, the first official inter-colonial (now interstate) game was contested between Port Phillip and Van Diemen's Land in 1851, in Launceston.[2]

Victoria was the dominant force in the early days of Australian first-class cricket, winning two of the first three Sheffield Shield tournaments, and most of its early domestic friendly games against the other states. The first game between the great rivals Victoria and New South Wales was played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in 1856.

The annual Sheffield Shield tournament first began in the 1892/93 season, contested by Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia. Victoria won that tournament by defeating both opponents twice each. During the history of the Shield, Victoria has won the competition 32 times, most recently in the 2018/19 season.

The Victorian Cricket Association, now Cricket Victoria, was founded in 1895 and since March 2018 has been based at its headquarters, the CitiPower Centre in St Kilda.

Victoria has featured a significant number of cricketing greats, such as Warwick Armstrong, Bill Woodfull, Bill Ponsford, Neil Harvey, Hugh Trumble, Lindsay Hassett, Dean Jones, Jack Blackham, Jack Ryder, Bill Lawry, Bob Cowper, Shane Warne, Keith Miller and Ian Redpath. (Seehere for a full listing of past players).

Victoria has been a powerful force in Australian cricket and the Australian cricket team has, at least until recent decades, never been short of Victorians in the line up.

The tradition of starting a cricket match at the MCG on Boxing Day also featured Victoria when they played New South Wales in 1965.

Victoria is the only first-class cricket team to have scored over 1,000 in an innings, which it achieved twice in the 1920s – 1,023 against Tasmania in 1922–23,[3] and 1,107 against New South Wales in 1926–27.[4]

Identity

Throughout its history, Victoria's dominant colour has been navy blue, either in full when playing One-Day or Twenty20 competitions or on predominantly white kits in first-class cricket. The team logo replicates that of Cricket Victoria and has done so since the organisation chose to cease referring to the Bushrangers nickname when describing the men's team.[1] The current major sponsor of the team is the CitiPower.[5]

Honours

1 Now defunct competition

Squad

Squad for the 2024/25 domestic season. Players with international caps are listed in bold.

No.NameNatBirth dateBatting styleBowling styleNotes
Batters
23Dylan Brasher 15 March 2001Left-handed
22Ashley Chandrasinghe17 December 2001Left-handed
54Peter Handscomb26 April 1991Right-handed Marsh Cup Captain
14Marcus Harris21 July 1992Left-handed Right-arm off break
3711 January 2002Left-handed
10Will Pucovski2 February 1998Right-handed
3Tom Rogers2 July 1999Left-handed
2Matthew Short8 November 1995Right-handed Right-arm off breakCricket Australia contract
All-rounders
32Glenn Maxwell14 October 1988Right-handed Right-arm off breakCricket Australia contract
11Jonathan Merlo15 December 1998Right-handed Right-arm medium-fast
12Will Sutherland27 October 1999Right-handed Right-arm medium-fastSheffield Shield Captain
Wicket-keepers
8Liam Blackford 10 January 2004Left-handed
7Sam Harper10 December 1996Right-handed Right-arm medium
Spin Bowlers
28Todd Murphy15 November 2000Left-handed Right-arm off breakCricket Australia contract
9Doug Warren (cricketer) 17 July 2001 Left-handed
Pace Bowlers
25Scott Boland11 March 1989Right-handed Right-arm fast-mediumCricket Australia contract
2619 December 1997 Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium
118 February 2000 Right-handed Right-arm medium
13Cameron McClure25 September 2001 Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium
17Fergus O'Neill27 January 2001Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium
3527 April 2000 Left-handed Right-arm fast-medium
64Peter Siddle 25 November 1984 Right-handed
Source:[6]

Records

First Class Batting Records for Victoria

MatchesPlayerRunsAverage
140Brad Hodge1047445.34
110Dean Jones962254.05
103Matthew Elliott947052.32
105David Hussey747645.58
135Cameron White745336.17
85Bill Lawry661552.92
76Graham Yallop588146.07
58Lindsay Hassett553563.62
76Jason Arnberger550442.01
43Bill Ponsford541383.27

First Class Bowling Records for Victoria

MatchesPlayerWicketsAverage
86Paul Reiffel31825.91
71Alan Connolly29726.07
94Tony Dodemaide28131.61
76Merv Hughes26730.59
75*Scott Boland25326.60
101Ray Bright25235.00
41Chuck Fleetwood-Smith24624.52
75Jim Higgs24029.88
61Peter Siddle23324.13
67Damien Fleming22130.20
List A Batting Records for Victoria
!Matches!Player!Runs!Average
139Brad Hodge559747.03
120Cameron White364337.55
101David Hussey354643.77
78Matthew Elliott264037.71
74Rob Quiney236136.89
62*Aaron Finch235342.01
55Dean Jones212250.52
63*Peter Handscomb191139.81
53Matthew Wade169637.68
84Andrew McDonald158931.15
List A Bowling Records for Victoria
!Matches!Player!Wickets!Average
54Shane Harwood8823.72
62Mick Lewis8328.53
69Ian Harvey8127.40
48John Hastings7829.11
84Andrew McDonald7238.23
54*Jon Holland6833.44
120Cameron White5739.01
39Clint McKay5132.43
26*James Pattinson5024.46
46Damien Fleming4833.00

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Victorian Cricket Team name update. 24 May 2018. Cricketvictoria.com.au. 20 December 2018.
  2. Web site: The Initial First-Class Match in Australia . Thomas . Rose . 16 April 2000 . Espncricinfo.com . 21 September 2018.
  3. Web site: Victoria v Tasmania scorecard. Cricketarchive.co.uk. 6 June 2012.
  4. Web site: Victoria v New South Wales scorecard. Cricketarchive.co.uk. 6 June 2012.
  5. Web site: Cricket Victoria, CitiPower, Powercor and United Energy sign major new partnership. 4 March 2018. Cricketvictoria.com.au. 20 December 2018.
  6. Web site: Players. Cricket Victoria. 27 August 2023.