From the first ball bowled to the present day, this is a completely comprehensive guide to the history of the great game in NSW.
New South Wales played its first first-class match, against Victoria, in Melbourne in March 1856, and played a return match against that colony in Sydney in January 1857. The latter was the first first-class match in this state and engendered great excitement in the young colony.
Written to celebrate the 150th anniversary of first-class cricket in New South Wales, '150 Years of NSW First-class Cricket' covers all 1014 first-class cricket matches played by New South Wales to the end of the 2005-06 season. In chronological order, the book describes every first-class match played by New South Wales, and details outstanding performances in each. It tracks the fortunes of New South Wales in the Sheffield Shield and subsequent Pura Cup, and against touring teams. The book follows the careers of not just the great names - Bradman, Trumper, Benaud, Walters and Waugh - in their matches for New South Wales, but discovers forgotten greats including Charles 'The Terror' Turner, Monty Noble, Charlie Macartney, Warren Bardsley, the tragic Archie Jackson, and many others who have made New South Wales far and away the most successful Australian state team.
In addition to photographs of teams of the past, selected original scorecards have been reproduced, among them Don Bradman's world record 452* in 1930. The book is a storehouse of statistics, interesting facts and biographical details, and the career records section includes the career details of all players who have represented New South Wales.
'150 Years of NSW First-class Cricket' is a must for the person interested in cricket statistics and the arguments they engender wherever cricket fans congregate.
