Greatest school cricket teams: Messenger Community News picks Pembroke/King’s and Prince Alfred College’s all-time XIs
Messenger Community News has chosen eight Adelaide schools’ greatest cricket teams as part of a five-day series to find the best. Up next, Pembroke/King’s College and Prince Alfred College.
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- Greatest school cricket teams: Scotch and St Peter’s
- Greatest school cricket teams: Thebarton Tech and Woodville High
- Greatest school cricket teams: Adelaide High and Norwood High
- Greatest school footy sides: Prince Alfred and St Peter’s
First we chose eight Adelaide schools’ greatest football teams.
Now it’s cricket’s turn.
Messenger Community News sports editor Matt Turner has tried to determine the Adelaide schools that have produced the best cricketers by selecting their all-time XIs, plus a 12th man.
There are again eight best-ever school sides – and more selection headaches.
Who do you leave out? Who bats where? What is the best balance of each side?
How do you compare recent cricketers to those from the late 19th and early 20th centuries?
There were countless discussions over several months about the line-ups – firstly finding the players and then filling spots in batting order.
But with the help of the schools, SACA, grade clubs, cricket lovers, historians and statisticians – special thanks to Ken “KG” Cunningham, Denis Brien, Geoff Sando and Ray Webster – the squads have been chosen.
And Turner has again made the final call.
The eight schools settled upon were the ones he believed had the strongest teams, not just a handful of star players.
Players were picked based on their post-school cricket achievements, rather than first XI performances.
Natural talent was considered secondary to output and accomplishments, which ensured some emerging present-day players were overlooked despite the possibility of future stardom.
If a brilliant career was cut short by war, injury or other factors, that was taken into account.
Team balance was important – it was not an exercise in picking each school’s best 11 cricketers – but some sides boasted deeper batting line-ups or extra bowlers to ensure its quality was not reduced.
Choosing the teams ultimately came down to poring over hundreds of players’ statistics via Cricinfo and grade records, seeking dozens of opinions, and gut feel.
The series began with Scotch and St Peter’s, before featuring Thebarton Technical and Woodville High and then Adelaide High and Norwood High/Norwood Morialta.
Up next in the series are Pembroke School and Prince Alfred College.
* Statistics as of January 31, 2019. Grade statistics, provided by Geoff Sando, Ray Webster and the clubs, have only been listed for non-international players. Clubs’ top-10 run scorers and wicket-takers are mentioned.
PEMBROKE SCHOOL/KING’S COLLEGE
A PAIR of one-Test cricketers, a star all-rounder, a batsman turned media personality and two former SA captains.
They are the standout selections in the Pembroke/King’s College greatest cricket XI (King’s merged with Girton Girls’ School to form Pembroke in 1974).
The team includes three Test players – West Australian Tom Moody, women’s stalwart Caroline Ward and leg-spinner Rex Sellers – and they are obvious picks.
Moody, a Pembroke student during his father John’s stint as co-principal from 1974-78, is the team’s most accomplished player with 84 internationals and has been awarded the captaincy.
Batting one spot behind Moody is another player whose attendance at Pembroke may surprise people, James Brayshaw.
Brayshaw went there in 1983-84 – three years before his first-class debut for WA and two decades before becoming a TV star via The Footy Show (AFL).
Those who remember him as a cricketer will know the two-time Sheffield Shield winner more than deserves his place, having made almost 5000 first-class runs at 42.53, including 10 tons.
Ward and Sellers both featured in one Test – Ward as a batter in a 1995 match against New Zealand in Christchurch, Sellers played India in Kolkata in 1964 before an injury to his spinning finger cut his career short.
Ward also registered a sole One-Day International – in 1994 versus the Kiwis.
Remarkably, she still plays for West Torrens’ women’s A grade at age 49.
Sellers snared the second-most wickets (46 at 26.58) during SA’s 1963/64 Shield-winning campaign.
Opening the batting for Pembroke are Nathan Adcock and Howard Mutton.
They both captained SA – Adcock in seven Shield and nine one-day matches, Mutton in one game – and were stellar at grade level.
Adcock attended Pembroke for two years before switching to St Peter’s.
Cameron Williamson, an Adelaide, Kensington and Adelaide University player from the 1980s and ‘90s, was picked at five.
The search for a wicketkeeper proved trickiest because no Pembroke old scholars were regulars behind the stumps for SA.
But prolific batsman David Parkinson occasionally took the gloves for Kensington, so he got the nod.
Three Sheffield Shield winners – dual Bradman medallist Andrew Sincock, left-armer Sam Parkinson and right-armer Ross Hiern – spearhead the team’s bowling attack.
Parkinson and Sincock were teammates in SA’s 1981/82 triumph, while Hiern was an opening bowler for the Croweaters’ side that claimed the crown in 1952/53.
Ken Bagshaw, an East Torrens player whose career was interrupted by World War II, narrowly missed out on making the XI and was chosen as 12th man.
Others who were considered but overlooked were state women’s players Sarah Lowe and Amy Wiseman, 1920s and 30s all-rounder Dudley Jamieson, and Blacks left-arm quick Dennis Murcott.
1. Nathan Adcock (Sturt, Adelaide University)
29 FC: 1190 runs at 23.8; 13 wickets at 45.46
45 OD: 938 runs at 25.35; 12 wickets at 35.83
8 T20: 86 runs at 12.28; 7 wickets at 15.57
Grade: 5332 runs at 39.5; 62 wickets at 33.32 (second-most runs at Adelaide Uni – 4170)
SA captain in 16 matches
2. Howard Mutton (Kensington, Teacher’s College)
5 FC: 179 runs at 19.88; 1 wicket at 61
Grade: 5414 runs at 25.06; 249 wickets at 19.36
SA captain in one match
3. Tom Moody (no A grade in SA) (c)
8 Tests: 456 runs at 32.57; 2 wickets at 73.5
76 ODIs: 1211 runs at 1211; 52 wickets at 38.73
300 FC: 21,001 runs at 46.25; 361 wickets at 30.7
366 OD: 11,258 runs at 38.82; 257 wickets at 30.02
4. James Brayshaw (Kensington)
75 FC: 4934 runs at 42.53; 10 wickets at 57.2
35 OD: 589 runs at 25.6; 8 wickets at 40
Grade: 1694 runs at 48.4; 8 wickets at 39.75
5. Cameron Williamson (Adelaide, Kensington, Adelaide University)
2 FC: 30 runs at 30; 7 wickets at 22.57
Grade: 4555 runs at 30.78; 136 wickets at 23.76
6. David Parkinson (Senior Colts, Kensington) +
Grade: 5002 runs at 22.94; 40 wickets at 31.3 (seventh-most runs at Kensington – 4703)
7. Caroline Ward (Mercury, Flinders, Sturt, Adelaide Uni, Clarence Park, West Torrens)
1 Test: 25 runs at 25
1 ODI: 8 runs at 8
17 OD: 245 runs at 17.5
8. Rex Sellers (Kensington, Senior Colts)
1 Test: 0 runs; 0 wickets
53 FC: 1089 runs at 18.15; 121 wickets at 38.45
9. Andrew Sincock (Kensington, Teacher’s College, East Torrens, Adelaide, West Torrens)
39 FC: 625 runs at 20.83; 98 wickets at 38.94
4 OD: 2 runs, no average; 4 wickets at 22.75
Grade: 2954 runs at 19.95; 762 wickets at 20.66
Two-time Bradman medallist
10. Ross Hiern (Kensington, Adelaide)
12 FC: 121 runs at 8.64; 28 wickets at 36.89
Grade: 1514 runs at 24.81; 257 wickets at 14.83
11. Sam Parkinson (Kensington)
36 FC: 376 runs at 12.12; 102 wickets at 34.04
10 OD: 13 runs at 4.33;
Grade: 1431 runs at 17.24; 291 wickets at 23.21 (fifth-most wickets at Kensington)
Bradman medallist
12th man: Ken Bagshaw (East Torrens, East Torrens-Glenelg)
4 FC: 58 runs at 8.28; 1 wicket at 11
Grade: 2467 runs at 37.95; 68 wickets at 30.7
PRINCE ALFRED COLLEGE
NO South Australian school has produced more Test cricketers than Prince Alfred College’s nine.
That is one of several facts that highlights PAC’s stunning depth of cricket talent.
Others include the college having developed more first-class players than any SA school and the most Test captains with four – Joe Darling, Clem Hill, Ian Chappell and Greg Chappell.
But not all of Princes’ nine Test cricketers make the team.
Eight of them are batsmen, so one has been squeezed out for team balance to ensure two frontline bowlers can be selected.
Choosing who to omit and who spearheads the bowling attack is tricky.
But let’s start from the top.
Joe Darling, Australia’s captain in 21 matches from 1899-1905, opens with namesake Rick Darling, but can slot in anywhere in the order.
Hill, who played alongside Joe Darling, was an obvious choice at number three, having batted there often during his three-decade first-class career.
Next in the order are brothers Ian and Greg Chappell, arguably Princes’ two most well-known cricket exports and scorers of more than 40,000 first-class runs between them.
Ian is the side’s captain.
Greg Blewett, the team’s most recent of four former SA skippers, could chip in with wickets or open the batting yet was chosen at six, where he scored an unbeaten 102 in his Test debut against England at Adelaide Oval in 1995.
The side’s number seven, Trevor Chappell, played the fewest Tests of Princes’ Australian representatives but his one-day performances and 4000-plus first-class runs earnt him a spot.
John Ducker’s 30 first-class games and standing as the 11th-highest run scorer in Prospect’s history helped seal his berth as wicketkeeper.
Blewett’s 1995/96 Sheffield Shield-winning teammate, Tim May, is the team’s tweaker, while Paul Rofe’s 218 first-class wickets ensures he gets the new ball.
The side’s other opening bowler is left-arm seamer Brett Swain, who pips Kensington dual Bradman medallist Brian Hurn.
Swain took more first-class wickets (72 to 56) than Hurn – who was typically a first-change bowler at state level – and at a better average (28.47 to 37.91).
He did not win Bradman medals like Hurn but Swain finished with a remarkable four A-grade hat-tricks for West Torrens.
Former SA captain Ashley Woodcock, who played a single Test and One-Day International, both against New Zealand in 1974, was a very difficult omission and the sole Australian representative not to be selected.
Instead, Charles Dolling, whose chances of playing Test cricket were stymied by World War I, was named 12th man.
Dolling, Adelaide University’s first captain, made a century for Australia on a 1913/14 tour of New Zealand that was not granted Test status.
Also narrowly missing out on making the squad was three-time Bradman medallist John Lill, whom former SA captain turned media personality Ken “KG” Cunningham told Messenger Community News was “the unluckiest cricketer never to play for Australia”.
Prolific Woodville batsman John Causby, Port Adelaide’s second all-time run scorer Gordon Harris, Adelaide University star Brian Hone, former SA captain Don Steele, 1990s Redback Ben Johnson, 1930s fast-medium Graham Williams and ex-Prospect and Adelaide University medium-pacer Graham Winter were others to come under strong consideration.
Redbacks Jake Weatherald, Kelvin Smith and Elliot Opie can continue to push their cases in coming summers.
1. Joe Darling (Adelaide, North Adelaide, East Torrens, Sturt)
34 Tests: 1657 runs at 28.56
202 FC: 10,635 runs at 34.52, 1 wicket at 55
Australian captain for 21 matches
SA captain for 12 matches
2. Rick Darling (Salisbury, West Torrens, Kensington)
14 Tests: 697 runs at 26.8
18 ODI: 363 runs at 21.35
98 FC: 5554 runs at 35.83
31 OD: 758 runs at 27.07
3. Clem Hill (North Adelaide, East Adelaide, East Torrens, Sturt)
49 Tests: 3412 runs at 39.21
252 FC: 17,213 runs at 43.57, 10 wickets at 32.3
Australian captain for 10 Tests
SA captain for 35 matches
4. Greg Chappell (Glenelg)
87 Tests: 7110 runs at 53.86, 47 wickets at 40.7
321 FC: 24,535 runs at 52.2, 291 wickets at 29.95
Australian captain for 48 Tests, 49 ODIs
5. Ian Chappell (c) (Senior Colts, Glenelg, West Torrens)
75 Tests: 5345 runs at 42.42, 20 wickets at 65.8
16 ODI: 673 runs at 48.07, 23 wickets at 11.5
262 FC: 19,680 runs at 48.35, 176 wickets at 37.57
37 OD: 1277 runs at 39.9, 5 wickets at 28.4
Australian captain for 30 Tests, 11 ODIs
SA captain for 61 matches
6. Greg Blewett (Prospect, Kensington)
46 Tests: 2552 runs at 34.02, 14 wickets at 51.42
232 FC: 17,352 runs at 44.49, 140 wickets at 43.57
SA captain for 44 matches
7. Trevor Chappell (Glenelg)
3 Tests: 79 runs at 15.8
20 ODI: 229 runs at 17.61, 19 wickets at 28.31
88 FC: 4049 runs at 29.55, 59 wickets at 24.77
51 OD: 828 runs at 24.35, 52 wickets at 27.88
8. John Ducker (Prospect, Senior Colts) +
30 FC: 1094 runs at 26.04; 48 catches, 12 stumpings
Grade: 3990 runs at 27.9; 3 wickets at 17.66
9. Tim May (Adelaide University, Kensington)
24 Tests: 225 runs at 14.06, 75 wickets at 34.74
47 ODIs: 39 runs at 9.75, 39 wickets at 45.43
142 FC: 1872 runs at 14.97, 439 wickets at 35.81
83 OD: 232 runs at 15.46, 82 wickets at 36.95
10. Brett Swain (West Torrens, Adelaide University, Woodville)
23 FC: 264 runs at 9.42; 72 wickets at 28.47
19 OD: 84 runs at 16.8; 13 wickets at 48.46
Grade: 1026 runs at 17.39; 292 wickets at 18.29
11. Paul Rofe (East Torrens, Adelaide University)
70 FC: 489 runs at 7.76, 218 wickets at 31.66
41 OD: 19 runs at 3.16, 41 wickets at 34.09
4 T20s: 6 runs at 6, 1 wicket at 89
Grade: 319 runs at 9.38; 173 wickets at 19.97
12th man: Charles Dolling (Sturt, East Torrens, Adelaide, Adelaide Uni, West Torrens)
29 FC: 1744 runs at 34.88
Grade: 3824 runs at 42.02; 23 wickets at 30.95
SA captain for one match
REVEALED TOMORROW: We rank the eight schools.
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