South Australia cricket team

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see South Australia women's cricket team.

South Australia

Personnel
Captain	Nathan McSweeney [1]
Coach	Ryan Harris
Team information
Colours	Red   Gold   Blue
Founded	1887;138 years ago (1887)
Home ground	Adelaide Oval Karen Rolton Oval
Capacity	53,585 [2] 5,000 [3]
History
First-class debut	Tasmania in 1887 at  Adelaide Oval
Sheffield Shield  wins	13 (1894, 1910, 1913, 1927, 1936, 1939, 1953, 1964, 1969, 1971, 1976, 1982, 1996)
One Day Cup  wins	4 (1984, 1987, 2012, 2025)
Big Bash  wins	1 (2011)
Official website	SACA
First-class One-day

The South Australia men's cricket team is an Australian men's professional first-class cricket team based in Adelaide, South Australia. South Australia play their home matches at Adelaide Oval and Karen Rolton Oval, they are the state cricket team for South Australia representing the state in the Sheffield Shield competition and the limited overs Marsh One-Day Cup. The team is selected and supported by the South Australian Cricket Association (SACA). Their Marsh One-Day Cup uniform features a red body with black sleeves. They were known as the Southern Redbacks from 1995 to 2024, and officially competed under the West End Redbacks moniker from 1996 to 2024 due to a sponsorship agreement with West End. ^[4] The Redbacks formerly competed in the now-defunct KFC Twenty20 Big Bash, but were succeeded by the Adelaide Strikers in 2011 because this league was replaced with the Big Bash League. ^[5]

History

The former logo used while the team was known as the Redbacks

The earliest known first-class match played by South Australia took place against Tasmania on the Adelaide Oval in November 1877. ^[6] In 1892–93, they joined New South Wales and Victoria and played the inaugural Sheffield Shield season. South Australia won the Shield in just their second attempt. They have won the competition 13 times in total while they have twice won the One Day tournament now known as the Ryobi One Day Cup. They are also the current holders of the KFC 20/20 Big Bash trophy, defeating NSW in the 2010/11 final at Adelaide Oval. They will continue to hold the KFC Twenty20 Big Bash trophy, as the league is now defunct and has been replaced by the Big Bash League.

Over the years, many successful international cricketers have played for South Australia. Clarrie Grimmett played with them during the 1920s and '30s, taking a total of 668 wickets. This remains a state record. In 1934, Sir Donald Bradman moved to South Australia and joined the team after originally playing with New South Wales, and he started with scores of 117, 233 and 357 in his first three innings. Others include the Chappell brothers (Ian and Greg), David Hookes, Darren Lehmann, Gil Langley, Jason Gillespie, and Terry Jenner.

South Australia has also imported cricketers to play for them, with the most famous being Sir Gary Sobers, who appeared in three seasons during the early 1960s, and Barry Richards. Richards played just one season with South Australia but managed to set a state record for most runs in a season, making 1101 runs in the 1970–71 season. ^[7]

Squad

Squad for the 2024/25 domestic season. ^[8] Players with international caps are listed in bold.

No.	Name	Nationality	Birth date	Batting style	Bowling style	Notes
Batters
3	Kyle Brazell	Australia	(2001-09-20) 20 September 2001 (age 23)	Left-handed	Slow left-arm orthodox	Rookie contract
15	Mackenzie Harvey	Australia	(2000-09-18) 18 September 2000 (age 24)	Left-handed	Right-arm medium-fast
22	Henry Hunt	Australia	(1997-01-07) 7 January 1997 (age 28)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
23	Jake Fraser-McGurk	Australia	(2002-04-11) 11 April 2002 (age 22)	Right-handed	Right-arm leg spin
31	Thomas Kelly	Australia	(2000-12-14) 14 December 2000 (age 24)	Right-handed	—
33	Jake Lehmann	Australia	(1992-07-08) 8 July 1992 (age 32)	Left-handed	Slow left-arm orthodox
34	Travis Head	Australia	(1993-12-29) 29 December 1993 (age 31)	Left-handed	Right-arm off break	Cricket Australia contract
37	Conor McInerney	Australia	(1994-03-30) 30 March 1994 (age 30)	Left-handed	Slow left-arm orthodox
47	Daniel Drew	Australia	(1996-05-22) 22 May 1996 (age 28)	Right-handed	Right–arm off break
50	Jason Sangha	Australia	(1999-09-08) 8 September 1999 (age 25)	Right-handed	Right–arm leg break
All-rounders
6	Liam Scott	Australia	(2000-12-12) 12 December 2000 (age 24)	Right-handed	Right-arm fast-medium
38	Nathan McSweeney	Australia	(1999-03-08) 8 March 1999 (age 25)	Right-handed	Right-arm off break	Captain
-	Aidan Cahill	Australia	(2003-03-20) 20 March 2003 (age 21)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium-fast	Rookie contract
Wicket-keepers
4	Harry Nielsen	Australia	(1995-05-03) 3 May 1995 (age 29)	Left-handed	—
5	Alex Carey	Australia	(1991-08-27) 27 August 1991 (age 33)	Left-handed	—	Cricket Australia contract
7	Harry Matthias	Australia	(2003-06-25) 25 June 2003 (age 21)	Right-handed	—	Rookie contract
Pace bowlers
0	Nathan McAndrew	Australia	(1993-07-14) 14 July 1993 (age 31)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium-fast
9	Wes Agar	Australia	(1997-02-05) 5 February 1997 (age 28)	Right-handed	Right-arm fast
13	Harry Conway	Australia	(1992-09-17) 17 September 1992 (age 32)	Right-handed	Right-arm fast-medium
21	Jordan Buckingham	Australia	(2000-03-17) 17 March 2000 (age 24)	Left-handed	Right-arm fast-medium
35	Brendan Doggett	Australia	(1994-04-03) 3 April 1994 (age 30)	Right-handed	Right-arm fast-medium
45	Spencer Johnson	Australia	(1995-12-16) 16 December 1995 (age 29)	Left-handed	Left-arm fast
58	Henry Thornton	Australia	(1996-12-13) 13 December 1996 (age 28)	Right-handed	Right-arm fast
–	Campbell Thompson	Australia	(2004-01-18) 18 January 2004 (age 21)	–	Left-arm medium-fast	Rookie contract
Spin bowlers
46	Ben Manenti	Italy	(1997-03-23) 23 March 1997 (age 27)	Right-handed	Right-arm off break
24	Lloyd Pope	Australia	(1999-12-01) 1 December 1999 (age 25)	Right-handed	Right-arm leg break

Honours

Mark Cosgrove wearing South Australia's training gear

• Sheffield Shield
  • Winners (13): 1893–94, 1909–10, 1912–13, 1926–27, 1935–36, 1938–39, 1952–53, 1963–64, 1968–69, 1970–71, 1975–76, 1981–82, 1995–96
  • Runners-up (22): 1894–95, 1896–97, 1897–98, 1906–07, 1907–08, 1908–09, 1910–11, 1913–14, 1927–28, 1931–32, 1936–37, 1937–38, 1939–40, 1962–63, 1966–67, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1979–80, 1988–89, 1994–95, 2015–16, 2016–17

• One-Day Cup
  • Winners (4): 1983–84, 1986–87, 2011–12, 2024–25
  • Runners-up (8): 1984–85, 1987–88, 1989–90, 1994–95, 2005–06, 2015–16, 2017–18, 2022–23

• Twenty20 Big Bash
  • Winners (1): 2010–11
  • Runners-up (1): 2009–10

Records

George Giffen

First-class Records

Most first-class runs for South Australia [9] Player Runs Average Innings Darren Lehmann 11,945 57.15 224 Greg Blewett 10,003 46.09 230 David Hookes 9,785 47.27 216 Les Favell 8,610 38.09 230 Callum Ferguson 8,371 38.05 239 Ian Chappell 7,887 52.58 164 Neil Dansie 7,079 35.04 210 Peter Sleep 6,656 36.37 226 Clem Hill 6,631 52.21 133 Andrew Hilditch 6,547 41.96 167

Most first-class wickets for South Australia [10] Player Wickets Average Innings Clarrie Grimmett 546 25.89 158 Ashley Mallett 353 24.11 145 Chadd Sayers 279 25.86 129 Tim May 277 37.31 138 Peter Sleep 273 38.99 218 Joe Mennie 256 27.11 129 George Giffen 240 26.91 70 Peter McIntyre 237 40.03 115 Geff Noblet 225 17.99 81 Terry Jenner 213 30.98 120

List A Records

Most List A runs for South Australia [11] Player Runs Average Innings Darren Lehmann 4,088 55.24 89 Callum Ferguson 4,085 40.44 111 Greg Blewett 3,645 40.50 100 Tom Cooper 3,023 39.77 85 Michael Klinger 2,524 52.58 51 Mark Cosgrove 1,978 32.42 64 Graham Manou 1,554 22.20 94 Alex Carey* 1,494 36.43 43 Travis Head* 1,406 41.35 35 Jake Weatherald 1,383 36.39 39

Most List A wickets for South Australia [12] Player Wickets Average Innings Shaun Tait 103 22.92 53 Kane Richardson 84 30.64 52 Paul Wilson 75 23.42 48 Jason Gillespie 70 29.87 54 Mark Cleary 67 30.92 49 Greg Blewett 63 33.07 68 Mark Harrity 58 27.29 41 Gary Putland 54 29.38 34 Dan Christian 54 33.33 42 Jake Haberfield 52 21.38 29

Greatest ever team

Don Bradman's South Australian team blazer.

In 2024 SACA members voted for and selected a greatest ever South Australian Men's team consisting of 12 players. ^[13]

Men's All Time Best Team
Clem Hill
Greg Blewett
Sir Donald Bradman
Ian Chappell
Greg Chappell
Darren Lehmann
Sir Garfield Sobers
Barry Jarman
Clarrie Grimmett
Jason Gillespie
Rodney Hogg
Geff Noblet

See also

• List of South Australian representative cricketers

References

1. "McSweeney Captain of South Australia Men's Cricket Team | South Australian Cricket Association". www.saca.com.au. 3 April 2024. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
2. "Adelaide Oval". www.austadiums.com. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
3. "Karen Rolton Oval (Park 25) | Austadiums". www.austadiums.com. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
4. "State cricket teams return to historical 'South Australia' name". South Australian Cricket Association . 27 March 2024.
5. "Index of /". bigbashleague.com.au. Archived from the original on 6 May 2018. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
6. "The Home of CricketArchive". cricketarchive.com.
7. "Sheffield Shield 1970/71: Batting - Most Runs". static.espncricinfo.com. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
8. Ramsey, Andrew (25 April 2024). "SA turn to local talent to complete men's squad | cricket.com.au". www.cricket.com.au. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
9. "South Australia FC matches batting most runs career". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
10. "South Australia FC matches bowling most wickets career". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
11. "South Australia LA matches batting most runs career". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
12. "South Australia LA matches bowling most wickets career". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
13. "South Australia's All Time Best Teams unveiled | South Australian Cricket Association". 12 January 2024.

External links

• West End Redbacks
• A brief history of South Australia