The Sheffield Shield is one of the oldest cricket competitions in the world. Beginning in 1892-93 as a three-state contest between New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, the Sheffield Shield continues to be the breeding ground for Australian Test cricketers. First-Class cricket was played as far back as 1850 between the colonies though a formal competition would be more than 40 years away. The Shield itself was struck just prior to the competition beginning when Lord Sheffield donated £150 for the trophy’s creation. Queensland entered the competition for the 1926/27 season, with Western Australia admitted in 1947/48 and Tasmania in 1977/78. The competition was suspended during the First and Second World Wars, however First-Class cricket continued to be played amongst the states.Until the 1982/83 season, the first-placed side after all home and away matches was declared the winner. Since then, the Sheffield Shield Final was introduced as a five-day match between the top two placed sides hosted by the higher-ranked team to decide the winner of the Sheffield Shield. In 120 completed seasons, New South Wales have won the most titles with 47, followed by Victoria (32), Western Australia (16), South Australia (13), Queensland (nine) and Tasmania (three). The Player of the Year Award was first presented in the 1975/76 season with the Chappell brothers Ian and Greg named joint winners.The Sheffield Shield occupies a revered place in the history of Australian Cricket and is recognised as one of the strongest First-Class cricket competitions in the world.
The Women’s National Cricket League (WNCL) is the premier 50-over domestic cricket competition in Australia. Contested between the six states and the ACT, the WNCL’s first season was 1996/97. Prior to then, state sides competed in the Australian Women’s Cricket Championships dating back to the 1930s. The current format is a full 43-game fixture with teams playing each other twice over the course of the season.The top two sides then compete in a Final to determine the winner of the Ruth Preddy Cup. The trophy was struck prior to the 1972/72 season and named after Preddy who represented New South Wales in the first inter-colonial match against Victoria. Preddy went on to become Team Manager for the first Australian Women’s Cricket Team.The WNCL began as a five-team competition before expanding in 2009/10 and again in 2010/11, with the ACT and Tasmania respectively joining to competition to make it a seven-team competition. In the 25. completed seasons, New South Wales have won the most titles with 20. Victoria have won two with South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia each winning one. The Player of the Year Award has been presented to the competition’s best player each season. South Australia’s Karen Rolton has won the award on five occasions whilst Belinda Clark (New South Wales & Victoria) and Western Australia’s Nicole Bolton have each won the award three times.The WNCL continues to produce world class players for the Australian team whilst providing excellent opportunities for Australia’s younger talent to test themselves against the best.
The One-Day Cup is Australia’s List-A domestic cricket competition. The 50 overs-per-side competition was first played as a seven-team knockout tournament that included New Zealand in the 1969/70 season. New Zealand won three of seven titles before leaving the competition prior to the 1974/75 season. The competition format changed from knockout to a two-pool competition with a Final in 1979/80 which lasted until season 1992/93 when it became a Round Robin plus Final format. The competition also had teams from the ACT and a Cricket Australia XI play for brief periods in the 1990s and 2010s. The Domestic One Day Cup has had many variations in scheduling at times with matches played either just before or after Sheffield Shield matches. The competition has also taken the form of a tournament format with all matches and Finals completed in short spaces of time.In the 53 completed seasons, Western Australia have been the most successful winning 15 titles. New South Wales have won 12, Queensland 10, Victoria six, Tasmania four and South Australia three.
The KFC Big Bash League (BBL) is Australia's premier domestic T20 cricket competition.The League was formed in 2011 with eight teams based in six cities. Sydney and Melbourne each have two teams, while Brisbane, Hobart, Adelaide and Perth have a single team each.The most recent champions of the BBL are the Perth Scorchers, who won their fifth title after beating the Brisbane Heat in the final of BBL|12 in February 2023. In the 11 completed KFC BBL seasons, the Perth Scorchers have won five titles, the Sydney Sixers three, the Adelaide Strikers, Brisbane Heat, Melbourne Renegades and Sydney Thunder one each.Prior to the BBL, the men's Domestic T20 competition was a state-based, six-team round robin tournament with the top two placed sides contesting a Final. Victoria won four of those titles, New South Wales and South Australia each won a title.
The Weber Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) is the Australian women's domestic Twenty20 cricket competition. The WBBL replaced the Australian Women's Twenty20 Cup, which ran from the 2007–08 season through to 2014–15. Teams are made up of current and former Australian national team members, the country's best young talent, and up to three overseas marquee players. The league, which originally ran alongside the BBL, has experienced a steady increase in media coverage and popularity since its inception, moving to a fully standalone schedule for WBBL|05. The Adelaide Strikers are the current champions, winning back-to-back titles in WBBL|08 and WBBL|09. The collective performance of the Sydney Sixers and the Sydney Thunder in the league's initial years - combining for four championships in the first six seasons - has partially echoed the dominance of New South Wales in the Women's National Cricket League (WNCL), the 50-over counterpart of the WBBL.
