First-Class Matches Australia 2005/06 and 2006/07 and South Africa 2006/07

Australia in 2006/07 England supporters should look away now. The avidly anticipated, and hugely hyped, Ashes series of 2006/07 turned out to be a hopelessly one-sided anticlimax after the splendidly competitive drama of 2005. England were utterly wide of the mark literally from the first delivery of the series, which went from the hand of Steve Harmison directly to second slip without any intervention on the part of the batsman. The tone thus set was maintained throughout as the focused, ruthless Australian side simply steamrollered their way to a 5-0 thrashing of a hopeless, helpless, rudderless England side for whom the end could not come soon enough. Thus emphatically relaurelled, Australia went on to an emphatic retention of the World Cup in the West Indies in March and April 2007, so that by the end of the season Aussie fans had every reason to think that normal domination had been restored, with 2005 merely a blip. The Ashes glories almost obscured the big story in domestic cricket, namely Tasmania’s first-ever win of the first-class tournament still labouring under the alias of the ‘Pura Cup’ (it was not until the 2008/09 season that the historic name of the Sheffield Shield was restored). After a long apprenticeship going back to the very beginnings of the first-class game in Australia (in 1850/51), Tasmania had to wait until 1977/78 to attain official Shield status. And now, in the island state’s thirtieth year of participation, finally came the triumph of being crowned champions. No one could begrudge Tasmania’s success. It came after easily heading the league stage with six wins (no one else had more than four) and only two defeats (everyone else had at least three). The defeats came during a mid-season stutter, when Tasmania, having led off with two wins and two draws, lost two of their following three games before roaring to the top of the table with three straight wins in the remaining league fixtures. The last of these was based on bowling out runners-up New South Wales for a paltry 53 (that state’s lowest total since 1884/85); and a fortnight later this superiority was underlined by the 421-run drubbing administered to the same opponents in the Pura final. It was a true team effort achieved with a tight-knit group of players, many of whom were home-grown. Tasmania’s most famous son, Ricky Ponting, was scarcely seen owing to international calls; but Michael Di Venuto weighed in with 961 runs and Michael Dighton and Travis Birt also exceeded 700. However, the star of Tasmania’s show was undoubtedly the 24-year-old Ben Hilfenhaus, who swung the ball at pace to achieve the rare feat of 60 wickets in a Sheffield/Pura season. Queensland never threatened to repeat their success of 2005/06 and had to be content with fifth place, well ahead of South Australia who endured a wretched season. Hilfenhaus’s 60 wickets at 25.38 made him the only bowler to achieve fifty first-class wickets in the season; Stuart Clark headed the season’s averages with 47 at a remarkable 15.89. In batting, only Chris Rogers, with 1202 at 70.70, registered a thousand first-class runs. This included the highest individual score of 279, right at the start of the season. Brad Hodge, from only six matches, made 765 runs at 85.00 to head the averages. The 2006/07 season witnessed the end of some notable careers. Pride of place must surely go to Glenn McGrath, who hung up his boots after 124 Tests for his country in which he bowled fast, accurately and aggressively to claim 563 wickets at a magnificent average of 21.64. Michael Bevan, too, called a halt; he had compiled over 19,000 first-class runs with 68 hundreds, but he 53