New South Wales’ recent poor form in the Sheffield Shield competition has been caused by the selectors continually choosing young prospects almost straight out of the underage pathways, over proven performers within Sydney’s first grade system.
A dominant force in Australia’s cricketing landscape, New South Wales holds a record 47 Sheffield Shields and has produced a production line of Australian cricketing greats. Don Bradman, Sid Barnes, Richie Benaud, Bob Simpson, Jeff Thomson, Allan Border, Mark Taylor, Glenn McGrath and Adam Gilchrist were all raised in the waratah state. Modern Australian cricketing giants Steve Smith, David Warner, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood also hail from NSW.
Steve Smith: one of New South Wales’ finest. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
With such a storied past of cricketing prowess and talent production, it is all the more surprising to see the depths NSW has currently sunk to. They are currently on an eleven game winless streak, the longest in the annals of New South Wales cricket.
In nine matches played this Shield season, the most populous state in Australia has yet to tally a single victory. With only one more match to play this season, New South Wales could record only their second-ever instance of a winless campaign in their 130-year Sheffield Shield history.
What is all the more perplexing is that this is not due to an inability to churn out talent, as can be seen by NSW having provided the most players for the last three Australian Under-19 World Cup squads and the number of Sydney cricketers that have left New South Wales for more opportunities.
Nathan Ellis has been a proven performer with the ball for Tasmania with a bowling average of 29.33 in his first-class career. Benjamin Manenti has made a fine start to his career, having scored more runs than the entirety of the New South Wales squad bar Daniel Hughes and Moises Henriques.
Chris Green. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Manenti also has a bowling average of 32.66, which is better than New South Wales’ most-capped spinner this season Chris Green, at 20.11. Henry Hunt and Tim Ward are two steady openers with batting averages of 34.61 and 35.35 respectively. Meanwhile, Nathan McAndrew has a batting average of 44.33 and a bowling average of 32.32 this season.
Former New South Wales and Australia pacer Stuart Clark criticised Cricket NSW for being “fascinated with picking 19-year-olds and not those who have earned the right to play.”
In light of NSW’s poor performances, Cricket New South Wales outlined a blueprint that would place a greater emphasis on 2nd XI performances. Yet two weeks after their announcement, Cricket New South Wales did not seem to place any weight on 2nd XI games when deciding their team for the Shield game against Victoria.
25-year-old Blake Macdonald, who scored an unbeaten 177* against the West Indies in a tour match in November, continued his fine form against the Victoria 2nd XI. Macdonald scored 145 not out and 109 for the ACT 2nd XI. Despite scoring bulk runs against an International Test team and a 2nd XI state side, Macdonald was not selected for New South Wales.
Instead, Jack Edwards, a talented 23-year-old with 5 years of Shield cricket experience and a batting average of 22.47 after 24 first-class matches, returned to the New South Wales side. He had made 41 and 12 for New South Wales 2nd XI against Queensland 2nd XI. Against Victoria, Edwards returned scores of 21 and 22 along with bowling figures of 0-44 after 15 overs.
Cricket New South Wales’ selection policies have backfired, potentially harming the development of their younger prospects by blooding them into the team before they were ready and forcing older cricketers to move interstate where they have proved their worth.
To reverse New South Wales’ recent slump, Cricket New South Wales needs to better identify when to pick players and back the top performers in grade cricket and 2nd XI fixtures.
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