Pura Cup
The Pura Cup (formerly known as the Sheffield Shield) is the domestic first class cricket competition in Australia. Each of the state teams play in a round-robin series of home and away 4-day matches against every other team, followed by a final. A separate limited overs competition known as the ING Cup runs concurrently.
The Pura Cup is without a doubt the strongest domestic first class competition in cricket today, underlined by the success of the Australian test team.
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History
In 1891–92 the Earl of Sheffield was in Australia as the promoter of the 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 the New South Wales Cricket Association to fund a trophy for an annual tournament of intercolonial cricket in Australia. The three colonies of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia were already regularly playing ad-hoc matches which were very popular.
The new tournament commenced in the summer of 1892 with the three colonies playing for a silver shield named after its benefactor.
Sponsorship and name change
In 1999, the Australian Cricket Board (now Cricket Australia) announced a 4 year sponsorship deal which included renaming the Sheffield Shield to the Pura Cup. Pura is a brand name of a major Australian dairy manufacturer.
Although the competition had been running with losses of several million dollars per annum, cricket traditionalists protested strongly, arguing against the encroaching wave of commercialism damaging the 100 year plus competition. Many cricket lovers still refer to the competition as the "Shield" either as force of habit, or as a subtle protest.
The sponsorship increased total annual prize money to A$220,000, with the winners receiving A$75,000 and the runners up A$45,000.
See: Cricinfo article
Teams
| TEAM | ENTERED COMPETITION | WINS |
|---|---|---|
| New South Wales Blues (New South Wales) | 1892-93 | 44 |
| Victorian Bushrangers (Victoria) | 1892-93 | 26 |
| Western Warriors (Western Australia) | 1947-48 | 15 |
| Southern Redbacks (South Australia) | 1892-93 | 13 |
| Queensland Bulls (Queensland) | 1927-28 | 5 |
| Tasmanian Tigers (Tasmania) | 1982-83 | 0 |
- Wins up to and including 2004–05 season.
Points system
Points are awarded at the conclusion of each match during the home and away season, with the top two teams playing in the final. The team with the most points hosts the final on their home ground.
| CATEGORY | WHAT IT MEANS | POINTS AWARDED |
|---|---|---|
| First innings points | The team that scores the most runs in their first innings, whether they bat first or second | 2 – retained even if beaten outright |
| Outright win | The team that wins the match, whether they win, lose or tie the first innings | 6 – maximum points |
| Tied match | If both teams finish on equal runs after completing two innings each | 3 – irrespective of first innings result |
| Tied innings | Equal runs on first innings and no outright result | 1 each |
| Outright loss | Team who loses the match after a tie in the first innings | 1 |
| First innings loss | Team with the least amount of runs in the first innings | 0 |
| First innings loss | Team who loses the match after losing in the first innings | 0 |
| Abandoned/Draw | Abandoned or drawn match with no first innings result | 0 |
Winners table
| SEASON | WINNER |
|---|---|
| 1892–93 | Victoria |
| 1893–94 | South Australia |
| 1894–95 | Victoria |
| 1895–96 | New South Wales |
| 1896–97 | New South Wales |
| 1897–98 | Victoria |
| 1898–99 | Victoria |
| 1899–00 | New South Wales |
| 1900–01 | Victoria |
| 1901–02 | New South Wales |
| 1902–03 | New South Wales |
| 1903–04 | New South Wales |
| 1904–05 | New South Wales |
| 1905–06 | New South Wales |
| 1906–07 | New South Wales |
| 1907–08 | Victoria |
| 1908–09 | New South Wales |
| 1909–10 | South Australia |
| 1910–11 | New South Wales |
| 1911–12 | New South Wales |
| 1912–13 | South Australia |
| 1913–14 | New South Wales |
| 1914–15 | Victoria |
| 1915–19 | (not contested due to World War I) |
| 1919–20 | New South Wales |
| 1920–21 | New South Wales |
| 1921–22 | Victoria |
| 1922–23 | New South Wales |
| 1923–24 | Victoria |
| 1924–25 | Victoria |
| 1925–26 | New South Wales |
| 1926–27 | South Australia |
| 1927–28 | Victoria |
| 1928–29 | New South Wales |
| 1929–30 | Victoria |
| 1930–31 | Victoria |
| 1931–32 | New South Wales |
| 1932–33 | New South Wales |
| 1933–34 | Victoria |
| 1934–35 | Victoria |
| 1935–36 | South Australia |
| 1936–37 | Victoria |
| 1937–38 | New South Wales |
| 1938–39 | South Australia |
| 1939–40 | New South Wales |
| 1940–46 | (not contested due to World War II) |
| 1946–47 | Victoria |
| 1947–48 | Western Australia |
| 1948–49 | New South Wales |
| 1949–50 | New South Wales |
| 1950–51 | Victoria |
| 1951–52 | New South Wales |
| 1952–53 | South Australia |
| 1953–54 | New South Wales |
| 1954–55 | New South Wales |
| 1955–56 | New South Wales |
| 1956–57 | New South Wales |
| 1957–58 | New South Wales |
| 1958–59 | New South Wales |
| 1959–60 | New South Wales |
| 1960–61 | New South Wales |
| 1961–62 | New South Wales |
| 1962–63 | Victoria |
| 1963–64 | South Australia |
| 1964–65 | New South Wales |
| 1965–66 | New South Wales |
| 1966–67 | Victoria |
| 1967–68 | Western Australia |
| 1968–69 | South Australia |
| 1969–70 | Victoria |
| 1970–71 | South Australia |
| 1971–72 | Western Australia |
| 1972–73 | Western Australia |
| 1973–74 | Victoria |
| 1974–75 | Western Australia |
| 1975–76 | South Australia |
| 1976–77 | Western Australia |
| 1977–78 | Western Australia |
| 1978–79 | Victoria |
| 1979–80 | Victoria |
| 1980–81 | Western Australia |
| 1981–82 | South Australia |
| 1982–83 | New South Wales |
| 1983–84 | Western Australia |
| 1984–85 | New South Wales |
| 1985–86 | New South Wales |
| 1986–87 | Western Australia |
| 1987–88 | Western Australia |
| 1988–89 | Western Australia |
| 1989–90 | New South Wales |
| 1990–91 | Victoria |
| 1991–92 | Western Australia |
| 1992–93 | New South Wales |
| 1993–94 | New South Wales |
| 1994–95 | Queensland |
| 1995–96 | South Australia |
| 1996–97 | Queensland |
| 1997–98 | Western Australia |
| 1998–99 | Western Australia |
| 1999–00 | Queensland |
| 2000–01 | Queensland |
| 2001–02 | Queensland |
| 2002–03 | New South Wales |
| 2003–04 | Victoria |
| 2004–2005 | New South Wales |
Highlights
- 1892/93 – Competition commences by formalising the "Intercolonial Matches" regularly played between Victoria and New South Wales
- 1996/97 – Queensland win for the first time since entering the competition after 69 years
See also
External links
References
- The History of the Sheffield Shield, Chris Harte
- A Century of Summers: 100 years of Sheffield Shield cricket, Geoff Armstrong
Categories: Australian cricket | Domestic cricket competitions