Strongest grade competition in the world?

[King_Ponting]

Just wondering what you guys think the strrongest local grade competion is in the world, like the most successful internationals produced from that particular system. Living in western australia i only know of the local system WACA grade being quoted by Sean Ervine, Former Zimbawean international, as being "Equal to first class cricket in Zimbabwe". Would be good if i could have everyones opinions on this subject and the reasons behind why that grade system is the strongest or most productive in the world

 

[Pratters]

The Mumbai schools tournament, the Harris Shield etc have produced a lot of test cricketers.

The Kanga league played between clubs during the rainy season described by Gavaskar in Sunny days is said to eb very tough and even first class and test players used to learn a lot about batting from it.

 

[marc71178]

Living in western australia i only know of the local system WACA grade being quoted by Sean Ervine, Former Zimbawean international, as being "Equal to first class cricket in Zimbabwe".

To be fair, most club cricket round the world is though.

 

[Slats4ever]

The local Beecroft Back Yard Tour is considered tough

Another one of those things where everyone thinks their own is better than everyone else's... And in this area it's hard to argue cos I know diddily squat about any other grade cricket system and their strengths simply cos it's not covered to any great degree in the media.

 

[age_master]

you cant really judge, Mumbai might have produced a fair few test cricketers but than look at how many Sydney has produced, or somewhere in England, or the West Indies who have produced alot.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

I'd say right now it would be somewhere in Australia, probably Sydney because of the larger relative population and number of clubs. That's relative to Australia's general cricketing strength though, and it will change some day.

 

[Blaze]

I'd say right now it would be somewhere in Australia, probably Sydney because of the larger relative population and number of clubs. That's relative to Australia's general cricketing strength though, and it will change some day.

Exactly

 

[vic_orthdox]

I'd say right now it would be somewhere in Australia, probably Sydney because of the larger relative population and number of clubs. That's relative to Australia's general cricketing strength though, and it will change some day.

You can argue though that because there are so many clubs in Sydney, it makes it a lower class competition than somewhere with less clubs, because you are coming up against high class players more often, than a competition where the teams divided by cricket playing population are less.

 

[deeps]

adam and ben hollioke played 3rd grade cricket in perth, wa

 

[King_Ponting]

are u serious???? third grade cricket in wa is pretty s***. Damn, just goes to show u what english internationals are worth in terms of Australian standards

 

[chaminda_00]

adam and ben hollioke played 3rd grade cricket in perth, wa

How old were they when they played here, my i ask

 

[age_master]

probably 15 or something

 

[chaminda_00]

Add the fact that two overseas cricketers had awsome season here last season also shows that Sydney Grade Cricket may not be as strong as some people may think:
Ian Salisbury: 11 Mts, 32 wts @ 12.28
Murry Creed: 21 Mts, 1102 runs @ 58

 

[marc71178]

Salisbury's record in particular makes it look particularly low in standard.

 

[Kweek]

when i read that commant i had the erge to say marc in 5.4.3.2.1.

 

[Langeveldt]

Not sure about grade cricket, probably not so strong, but I think South Africa has the strongest schools competition in the world, with teams like Wynberg and Grey College Bloem..

 

[Neil Pickup]

For the rest of you who've no idea who Murray Creed is, he played four inauspicious seasons for Eastern Province at the turn of the century.

And ROFLMAO @ Salisbury.

 

[social]

Not sure about grade cricket, probably not so strong, but I think South Africa has the strongest schools competition in the world, with teams like Wynberg and Grey College Bloem..

Schools cricket is largely irrelevant in Aus.

 

[badgerhair]

.

And ROFLMAO @ Salisbury.

I have as much fun as anyone taking the pee out of Twohundredawicket. But the fact is that he has been a pretty successful first-class bowler, and on Sydney pitches which are conducive to leggies, it shouldn't be too surprising that he does pretty well at that standard of competition.

The original question is a bit difficult to answer because of the widely differing structures in place. With a full-time professional structure in place in England, it is pretty rare for someone to make it out of amateur cricket; although quite a lot of teenagers will play club cricket before being snapped up by a county, it would be pretty ludicrous to claim that as a measure of the strnegth of the club competitions.

With less than half the number of games to play in Australian f-c and List A, or in the NZ orWest Indian system, the f-c and off-duty Test players (if any) have that much more opportunity to turn out in club games. And since the higher the standard of player you play against, the better you get, it stands to reason that the Australian and West Indian systems will have a higher standard of club cricket (probably "used to have" in the WI): the barriers between club and f-c are much more porous than England's is, or practically can be. I'd guess that NZ club cricket would be rather lower in standard, despite the presence of the f-c players.

The Indian and Pakistani systems have a large number of first-class teams and a lot of first-class and List A games, so club cricket (ie sub-first-class) again doesn't really come into it.

What the South Africa system now is wiyth the reduced number of franchises, I haven't a clue.

Cheers,

Mike

 

[deeps]

How old were they when they played here, my i ask

not sure, but till they moved to england i guess?

i'll try dig something up