Every Ashes player to have represented SA’s Premier Cricket clubs including Don Bradman, Justin Langer, Chappell brothers
All time greats, cult Aussie heroes and England captains, we’ve compiled the history book on every SA Premier Cricket player to compete for the Ashes urn.
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The Adelaide Ashes test is in full swing today as Australia sets out to double its series lead and keep the urn from England’s grasp for a second straight time.
South Australia and Glenelg wicket keeper Alex Carey will don the baggy green for his second test while SA and Tea Tree Gully’s Travis Head looks to continue his hot form.
The two of them continue a run of professionals coming through local SA clubs and playing in Australian cricket’s most important series.
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Ahead of the Adelaide test, we’ve listed each Premier Cricket club’s Ashes representatives in history.
Players who have represented a club once or more have been included.
Adelaide University
Players: Michael Slater, Tim May, David Sincock, Nip Pellew, Nasser Hussain (England), Liam Plunkett (England).
Slater played in his debut Ashes tour in 1993 in England and the rest is history.
The Aussie legend was the highest run scorer in the 94-95 home series with a tally of 623 and also produced a stunning matchwinning century in 98-99 at the SCG.
Off-spinner Tim May was also strong in the 1993 Ashes, taking 21 wickets.
Much celebrated England captain Nasser Hussain also spent time with Adelaide Uni. The iconic batsman led his country to multiple series wins, with his top test score of 207 coming in the 1997 test at Edgbaston.
Adelaide
Players: Jason Gillespie, Joe Badcock, Clarrie Grimmett, George Giffen, Rodney Hogg.
The Buffalos have produced multiple Australian cricket icons throughout the years.
Cult hero Gillespie was a regular in the test side until his departure in 2005, and Grimmett – a spin bowler in Bradman’s era who is credited with developing the flipper – was dominant in the 1930s.
George Giffen captained Australia in the 1894-95 Ashes and was also the first Australian to score 10,000 runs and take 500 wickets in first class cricket.
East Torrens
Players: David Hookes, Kim Hughes, Les Favell, Mark Ilott (England), Nick Knight (England).
Kim Hughes was a strong captain of Australia during the 1970s and 80s and performed consistently at the crease in each series.
He scored a total of 1499 runs at an average of 38.5 in his 22 Ashes appearances which included three centuries.
Hookes, one of SA’s cricket icons, enjoyed playing England from the start – hitting captain Tony Greig for five straight boundaries in his 1977 test debut.
He maintained strong form for Australia throughout his career and famously averaged 49 runs in the 1982-83 Ashes series after a two-year absence from the side.
Glenelg
Players: Alex Carey, Ian Chappell, Greg Chappell, Trevor Chappell, Ashley Mallett, Andrew Hilditch, Monty Panesar (England).
Glenelg plays home to the most famous Australian cricketing family in the Chappells.
Ian and Greg both captained the test side in the 70s, with Ian successfully leading the team to a reclamation of the Ashes in 1975.
Ashley Mallett, Australia’s most successful off spin bowler, impressed with the ball in the 1968, 70-71 Ashes series, and also surprised with the bat to make 374 runs in 70-71.
Alex Carey was selected for his first ever Ashes series this week, with South Australian fans eager for his long-awaited debut at the Gabba, and spinner Monty Panesar remains one of England’s greatest cult figures.
Kensington
Players: Sir Donald Bradman, Clarrie Grimmett, Greg Blewett.
Bradman needs no introduction – the most decorated player in the game’s history played at Kensington alongside Grimmett in the 1930s.
His Ashes record is impeccable, with his most impressive series being 1930 during which he scored a record 974 at an astounding average of 134 an innings.
All-rounder Greg Blewett was also at his best against England, and scored three centuries in two years of Ashes cricket - two in 1995 and one in 1997.
Northern Districts
Players: Peter Sleep, Darren Lehmann, Ryan Harris, Graham Manou.
All-rounder Sleep was always a valuable asset for Australia, and had a surprisingly strong Ashes series toward the end of his career in 1987, taking a strong 5-72 in the fifth test to give Australia its only win in a 2-1 series loss.
Medium pacer Ryan Harris had some iconic Ashes performances, including a five-wicket haul at Lords in 2013 and a famous first-ball dismissal of England captain Alastair Cook in the same year.
Port Adelaide
Players: Justin Langer, Eric Freeman, Neil Hawke, Brendon Julian, Phillip DeFreitas (England).
Australian opening batsman and current coach Justin Langer played at Port Adelaide during the 90s while the Australian Academy was based in Adelaide and would go on to become one of the country’s best ever at the top order.
Langer’s top score of 250 came against England at the MCG in the 2003 series and he made the most runs in Australia’s losing 2005 series in England, with 391 runs.
Prospect
Players: Ashley Mallett, Joe Root (England), Rodney Hogg, Nip Pellew, Charlie Walker, Tim Wall, Terry Jenner, Gary Cosier, Greg Blewett.
Mallett, Hogg, Pellew and Blewett feature again on the list, while bowler Tim Wall – part of the legendary 1930s test team, also came through Prospect.
Wall took five wickets in the second innings against England in Melbourne in 1929 – his debut test – and his 10-36 in February is the best first-class bowling performance ever recorded in Australia.
Current England captain Joe Root played for five months at Prospect.
He has had a strong Ashes career and recently set a new record for the most test runs in a calendar year from an England batter during his 159-run stand with Dawid Malan on day three of this year’s first test.
Sturt
Players: Shaun Tait, Vic Richardson, Clem Hill, Joe Darling, Wayne Phillips.
Vic Richardson, Ian Chappell’s grandfather, was captain of Australia during the 1920s and 1930s, and led the country’s strongest Ashes sides through that era.
Batsman and wicket keeper Phillips played 27 test matches for Australia and was a standout in the team’s 3-1 Ashes series loss to England in 1985, scoring 91 in the first test and bringing the side close to a famous comeback win.
Lethal fast bowler Shaun Tait – who was most successful in the one-day format – took 3/97 in his debut Ashes innings in 2005.
Tea Tree Gully
Players: Travis Head, Damien Martyn, Peter McIntyre, Peter Sleep.
Head looks set to feature in his second Ashes series this year, after being part of the squad in 2019.
He has had a terrific domestic season so far, recently smacking a double century off just 114 balls for the Redbacks.
Damien Martyn – a key player in some of Australia’s strongest test sides of the 1990s and early 2000s – featured in many Ashes series’ and made his maiden test century in the first test of the 2001 series at Edgbaston.
West Torrens
Players: Ian Chappell, David Hookes, Affie Jarvis, Ron Hamence, Bruce Dooland, Rick Darling, Gladstone Small (England), Dom Bess (England).
Chappell and Hookes feature again, while 1880s and 90s Ashes stalwart Affie Jarvis also featured for West Torrens.
Consistent all-rounder Ron Hamence played 99 first-class test matches between 1935 and 1951, and bowler Bruce Dooland featured in the 1947 Ashes series, taking 4/69 and 1/84 in the third test in Melbourne.
England quick Gladstone Small had the highlight of his career against Australia in the 1986-87 Ashes, during which he took seven wickets in the fourth test to lead his team to a win.
Woodville
Players: Rodney Hogg, Barry Jarman.
Iconic bowler Rodney Hogg features for the third time on this list.
The right-arm quick took 123 test wickets throughout his career and tallied 41 wickets in his first six tests during the Ashes in 1978-79.
Wicket keeper and batsman Jarman played 19 tests for Australia at a batting average of 15 and made 50 catches and four stumpings.
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