Sydney Cricket Club
Encyclopedia
Sydney Cricket Club play in the Sydney Grade Cricket Competition
Sydney Grade Cricket
Sydney Grade Cricket is a cricket competition played in Sydney, Australia. The competition began in 1893 when a number of clubs, which had been playing for many years on an ad hoc basis, voted to create a formal competition structure....

. In 2007 the UTS-Balmain club merged with the Sydney Cricket Ground
Sydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...

 Trust and are now known as Sydney CC or Sydney Cricket Club or just simply Sydney Tigers. The Tigers play out of Drummoyne Oval
Drummoyne Oval
Drummoyne Oval is a multi-use stadium in Sydney, Australia. It is currently used mostly for cricket matches during summer; and during winter it is home to Drummoyne Rugby Club Est. 1874 and the Balmain Australian Football Club in the Sydney AFL competition. The stadium has a capacity of 5,000...

. With over 100 years of history and tradition, Balmain have long been a mainstay of the competition. In season 2007/08 there are 14 different sides representing the black and gold, eight of these men's and six women's. After the merger with the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust, the club is often seen as the competition's glamour club.

History of Balmain

At the turn of the 20th century, a club by the name of Sydney Cricket Club was in existence and playing regular fixtures. Based at Moore Park
Moore Park, New South Wales
Moore Park is a large area of parkland in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of Centennial Parklands, a collective of three parks being Moore Park, Centennial Park and Queens Park. Centennial Parklands is administered by the Centennial Park &...

, players included Jack Marsh
Jack Marsh
Jack Marsh was an Australian first-class cricketer of Australian aboriginal descent who represented New South Wales in six matches from 1900–01 to 1902–03. A right-arm fast bowler of extreme pace, Marsh was blessed with high athletic qualities and was regarded as one of the outstanding talents of...

.

From 1897-1900, a team known as the Balmain Electorate Cricket Club was included in the Sydney grade cricket competition. They joined teams known as East Sydney, Paddington, Waverley, Glebe, South Sydney, Burwood, North Sydney, Redfern, Central Cumberland and Leichhardt.
Between 1900 and 1904, the team was re-named the Leichhardt-Balmain District Cricket Club and from 1904 it became known as the Balmain District Club. In 2001-2002, the Club entered into a partnership with the University of Technology, Sydney
University of Technology, Sydney
The University of Technology Sydney is a university in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The university was founded in its current form in 1981, although its origins trace back to the 1870s. UTS is notable for its central location as the only university with its main campuses within the Sydney CBD...

 and was then known as UTS Balmain Cricket Club. In over 100 years of competition, the Club has won 7 Club Championships, 4 First Grade Premierships and a number of lower grade premierships but the history of cricket is liberally sprinkled with players from Balmain who represented their State and Country with distinction.

Throughout the period from 1897 to 1946-47, Birchgrove Oval was the headquarters of the Club and it was 1947-48 when the Club moved to Drummoyne Oval. The most famous game played ever played by Balmain was undoubtedly the one at Birchgrove on 18 and 25 March 1933 when around 10,000 people attended each day to watch St George
St George Cricket Club
St George Cricket Club is a cricket club based in the St. George area that competes in Sydney Grade Cricket. Many famous Australian Test cricketers have represented the club.- Test players :...

 with Don Bradman and Balmain with Arthur Mailey
Arthur Mailey
Arthur Alfred Mailey was an Australian cricketer who played in 21 Test matches between 1920 and 1926....

. For the record, the match ended in a draw - Balmain 394 - St George 7/358 (Bradman 134).

Probably the most famous Balmain players are Archie Jackson
Archie Jackson
Archibald "Archie" Jackson , occasionally known as Archibald Alexander Jackson, was an Australian cricketer who played eight Test matches as a specialist batsman between 1929 and 1931. A teenage prodigy, he played first grade cricket at only 15 years of age and was selected for New South Wales at 17...

 and Arthur Mailey, but the list of international and state players who played with Balmain at one time or another is star studded. They hold claim to finding Tasmanian Tigers sensation Brendan Drew
Brendan Drew
Brendan Gerrard Drew is an Australian cricketer, who plays domestic cricket for the Tasmanian Tigers. When not on Tasmanian duty, Drew plays Tasmanian club cricket for the Lindisfarne Cricket Club...

 and were once the home of Graham Thorpe
Graham Thorpe
Graham Paul Thorpe MBE is a former English cricketer who played for Surrey and England. A left-handed middle-order batsman and slip fielder, he appeared in exactly 100 Test matches.-Early life:...

, Nathan Bracken
Nathan Bracken
Nathan Wade Bracken is a former Australian cricketer. A tall left-arm fast-medium bowler, Bracken is capable of swinging the ball both ways. He has represented Australia in all forms of the game...

 and Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 2007 World Cup
2007 Cricket World Cup
The 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup was the ninth edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup tournament that took place in the West Indies from 13 March to 28 April 2007, using the sport's One Day International format...

 hero Jeremy Bray
Jeremy Bray
Jeremy William Bray was a British Labour politician and a Member of Parliament for 31 years.Bray was educated at Kingswood School, Bath and Jesus College, Cambridge and was a Choate Fellow at Harvard University...

. The highest first grade run scorer of all time is, however, former opening batsman Greg Hayne, who retired at the end of the 2006/07 season, who also heads the list of those who have scored the most centuries for the Club. So the grand history of a grand Club continues... The black and gold colours of Balmain have been synonymous with its famous Tiger logo.

Following the decision to merge with the SCG
SCG
SCG may refer to:* sun cyber games,mahe*SCG , a union of Serbia and Montenegro*SCG International Risk, a private military contractor and security firm*Self-Changing Gears, a British company*Seychelles Coast Guard...

 Trust the club has experienced a significant financial windfall, allowing them to assemble one of the better squads in the competition, including the purchase of recently de-listed players Dominic Thornley and Daniel Smith
Daniel Smith
Daniel Smith may refer to:*Daniel Smith , American artist, wildlife painter*Daniel Smith , Australian cricketer*Daniel Smith , soccer player...

 and English representatives Joe Denly
Joe Denly
Joseph Liam Denly is an English international cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and leg break bowler. An exciting stroke player who relishes short pitched bowling, Denly first came to attention during the England 2005 Under-19 tour of India where he made three half-centuries in three tests...

 and Sam Northeast
Sam Northeast
Sam Alexander Northeast is an English cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm off spinner. He is currently contracted by Kent.-Career:...

. Due to this, they were successful in the First Grade Twenty20 competition in 2010/11, but were unable to make a significant challenge for the First Grade premiership.

2010/11 First Grade squad

  • Anthony Brooks
  • AJ Mosca
  • Tim Sparke
  • Dominic Thornley(c)
  • Daniel Smith
    Daniel Smith
    Daniel Smith may refer to:*Daniel Smith , American artist, wildlife painter*Daniel Smith , Australian cricketer*Daniel Smith , soccer player...

  • Daniel Jacob
  • Nathan Ball
  • Gus Moncrieff
  • Michael Polson
  • Ryan Bulger
  • Johnathan Smith

External links

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