Sheffield Shield: Going into bat for a fading jewel

“The breeding ground for future champions.” Growing up in India, I learned to revere the Sheffield Shield.

Nathan Lyon is one of the many Test stars featuring in the Sheffield Shield Picture: Getty Images

“The breeding ground for future champions.”

That was the promo line on Star Sports for the Sheffield Shield, then called the Pura Cup, when it was first broadcast in India during the early 2000s. It was accompanied by some dramatic music, which sounded a bit like an improvised version of the iconic Channel 9 tune – and we watched in awe as clips of big-name Australian cricketers of the era were blended in with those of budding “future champions”.

Initially, all we got were highlights from each of the three matches from every round. It was amazing enough to see Mark Waugh facing Shane Warne in a domestic first-class match or seeing my then favourite, Michael Slater, taking on Paul Reiffel. But this was also when we were introduced to the likes of Shane Watson, Michael Clarke, and Nathan Bracken with his breathtaking blonde mane. All the chatter at school amongst my cricket nerd friends was around how true that tagline for the Sheffield Shield was and how genuinely super talented the next rung of Australian cricketers were. I remember making predictions about how soon we’ll see Watson and Bracken on the international stage and feeling extra proud when they did get their Australia caps a couple of years later.

As was the case with all things Australian cricket at that time, what with their world domination, I can safely say the reverence for the Sheffield Shield was similar across the subcontinent. We had seen bits and pieces of the famed first-class tournament before, when they would show brief highlights of domestic games, Shield and one-dayers, in between Test matches on Channel 9 during the 1990s. In my mind, the stadiums always looked packed, the crowds fully into the action, and you had Richie Benaud and Bill Lawry on commentary. It looked like an extension of international cricket if anything. Of course, most of us were all over Allan Border Cricket, the old DOS computer cricket game in the mid-90s, because you could take control of Shield teams and play as everyone from Richard Chee Quee to Peter McIntyre. That was a special thrill.

And I dreamt of some day being able to witness a Sheffield Shield match, more than even watching a Boxing Day Test live at the MCG. We all did. Then it happened a few years earlier after I moved to Australia. Walking towards the Adelaide Oval in February 2019, I had to pinch myself because it was finally about to happen. I’ll be honest that my first reaction was feeling a tad underwhelmed by what I saw. There were but around 200 people spread around the vastness of the Adelaide Oval, which looked even bigger than usual as a result. Some of those 100-odd SACA members I’ve now got to know rather well and consider them as the ultimate diehards when it comes to the South Australian men’s team. You could hear the sound of bat on ball echoing all around North Adelaide. And also, as I walked towards the media centre, it wasn’t an all-star cast on commentary, but a bunch of lovely and earnest local cricket aficionados led by the wonderful Lawrie Colliver.

The cricket still was of high quality, surely. But the overall aura that I had fantasised about for decades was clearly missing. Maybe it was on me and that my lofty expectations were to blame.

And what I’ve come to know about going to watch Sheffield Shield matches, either as a commentator or as a fan, is very similar to what I experienced earlier this week at the Junction Oval in Melbourne. I was on a short personal visit to the city and thought it was my duty to catch at least a bit of the opening day’s play in the 2024-25 Sheffield Shield season. Much like what you find in Adelaide, you had a handful of regulars standing around the boundary and discussing the ins and outs of the Victorian team, with one local expert holding court about the many talented cricketers from Melbourne who’ve moved interstate in the previous couple of years.

While I have over the years become a Sheffield Shield diehard myself, and not just for work reasons, I have come to learn that the on-ground reality is not too dissimilar to what you find with the Ranji Trophy back in India. At least in terms of crowd attendances or general interest around the competition outside the hardcore cricket circles.

I remember watching Sachin Tendulkar bat for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy a couple of times in the late 1990s at the Wankhede Stadium. People would clear out from the office buildings nearby and fill up the stands on the southern side of the stadium that were left open. They’d stay there till Tendulkar was in the middle and leave immediately when he was dismissed. That often meant taking more than half a day off work for most. But you have to be very lucky to spot a contemporary international superstar playing in the Ranji Trophy these days – ­unless they are making a bid to ­return to the Test team. Virat Kohli last played for Delhi over 12 summers ago. Just one Ranji game after his Test debut in 2011.

In contrast, as we’ve seen in this opening round this season, Test regulars do feature in at least a couple of Shield games every summer, if not more in some cases. As I write this, Nathan Lyon has just dismissed Travis Head in Sydney.

But the Shield no longer seems to capture the attention within Australia of those outside the cricket bubble as I’ve learnt it used to even 15-20 years ago. It barely makes the headlines with any regularity on the evening news or is covered live on the radio. It also seems to lack the romanticisation that still exists around every County Cricket season in England. But even if it doesn’t have the aura that it once did for Indian fans and is no longer considered as an exclusive breeding ground for future champions – that tag unfortunately now belongs to the IPL – it still is spoken about with reverence.

Just for the record, as Bracken and Watson made me sit up and watch some 25 years ago, Sam Konstas seems to have done the same over the last few days. Based purely on my social media interactions, many in India want to know more about the 19-year-old from NSW, and not just because he might potentially be facing Bumrah and Shami next month.