South Australian Cricket Team

Ms HOOD (Adelaide) (11:49): I move:

That this house—

(a) congratulates the South Australian cricket team on winning the 2024-25 Sheffield Shield;

(b) notes that the win is South Australia's first in almost 30 years;

(c) acknowledges the historic nature of South Australia's double trophy after also winning the state's first One-Day Cup in 13 years;

(d) recognises the exceptional effort and performance of the entire squad; and

(e) acknowledges the efforts of the state government, Adelaide City Council and South Australian Cricket Association in transforming Karen Rolton Oval, doubling its capacity for the event.

I think we do need to stop for a moment in this place and recognise what a significant victory this was, not just for the players of the South Australian men's cricket team but for our cricketing community and the entire state. It has been just over two months since South Australia made history, lifting the Sheffield Shield for the first time in almost 30 years, and yet the excitement and pride from that moment remains just as strong in the hearts of South Australians.

For many of us, and certainly for many younger fans, this is the first time we have seen our state win the shield. The last time South Australia claimed the title was in the 1995-96 season—a different era entirely; in fact, I was about 10 years old. That makes this win all the more significant.

The South Australian men's team did not just scrape through; they were dominant, resilient and united across the season. From Brendan Doggett's phenomenal 11-wicket haul to the leadership of captain Nathan McSweeney and the contribution of players like Alex Carey, Jason Sangha and Jake Lehmann, it was a team performance in every sense.

It is also important to acknowledge that this shield win came alongside another huge success: South Australia also won the One-Day Cup earlier in the season. That kind of double victory speaks to the talent, discipline and strength within the squad and the quality of leadership from head coach Ryan Harris in his first year.

Sport is never just about the players. It is also about the supporters: the kids watching in the stands and the local clubs who see a bit of themselves in these amazing achievements. That is why the government's support in making Karen Rolton Oval come alive was so important, with double the capacity to accommodate 10,000 fans and a 300-seat grandstand. The venue was transformed into a vibrant and accessible space with free entry, family-friendly viewing and a festival atmosphere. It allowed thousands of fans to be part of the memorable experience.

Of course, the celebrations did not end there. Proud fans attended Rundle Mall for the heroes' reception on 31 March, a tribute to a group of athletes and to see their accomplishment in raising the Sheffield Shield once more. To the players, coaches and everyone behind the scenes: thank you. You have made history and in doing so you have reminded us again of the power of sport to inspire.

Mr TELFER (Flinders) (11:52): I rise to speak on this momentous motion that has been put by the member for Adelaide. Can I, on behalf of the opposition as well, also congratulate the South Australian cricket team on their spectacular win in the 2024-25 Sheffield Shield. Of course, it is not just the South Australian cricket team; it is South Australian cricket as a whole.

We are pretty parochial in this state—and long-suffering, I guess it is fair to say. As an avid cricket fan and very amateur player, I fondly remember previous Sheffield Shield wins, and unfortunately in my living memory there was only one previous to that. But I was a young man at that time who aspired to be better, looking at some of those heroes in the Redbacks team at the time.

Looking back and knowing the names—and they are names that are probably only known to a small generation of cricket fans in South Australia: guys like Peter McIntyre, a guy who we used to look up to as we used to try to flip the fingers over in the leg spin action. As I have grown up, he is someone who has had a body shape more like mine is now than perhaps many other athletes.

We look fondly at that period in time and I am sure it is the same feeling for those young boys and girls who are cricket fans looking at the achievement of the South Australian cricket team—not just in the Sheffield Shield but obviously the dual wins in the One-Day Cup as well as the long-form game. It is really a special thing that we get to acknowledge.

As I said, I congratulate not just the players but notably the captain, Nathan McSweeney, who is someone who has taken on a leadership role in a state that he was not born in. He had to come in and create that leadership structure. There are also guys like Brendan Doggett, with a record of 11 wickets in a Sheffield Shield final, which is pretty spectacular.

It is not just about those who performed well in the match—and there was a long list; it was a high-scoring match and a highly competitive match that saw some really great personal achievements. It really reflects on the planning and effort by the coaching staff that has gone into the whole South Australian cricket team. I congratulate coach Ryan Harris on the way that he has led this group of men in coming together to create this amazing achievement, and I also acknowledge Jason Gillespie, a man who put in a lot of the planning, for bringing together the individuals from all over South Australia and Australia to be able to perform to this level.

There was the planning and the coaching that went into that, but I also want to thank and congratulate the SACA team as a whole. I know that, all the way up to the president, the chair and the board, there has been a lot of time, effort and planning put in. I know from conversations with SACA board members that there has been a lot of heartache as they have gone through the process of trying to make sure that the South Australian cricket team is modern, up to date and performing to their highest capacity.

They controversially dropped the Redbacks banner—those of us who have known them for a long time still refer to them as the Redbacks—and went back to being the SACAs, going back to their core base. It really is a privilege to be able to acknowledge their effort, off field and on field, to come together, culminating in that historic double trophy win. There is a level of personal investment that I know each and every one of those individuals has put in, on field and off field, to be able to get this point. Also, I want to acknowledge paragraph (e) of the motion—that it is not just a SACA effort but indeed also the efforts of the government and Adelaide City Council.

Regarding the public discussion about the changeover between the AFL season and the cricket season, for me as a country player it was always: at what point do you put the sand over the hard wicket to go to footy training and away from cricket training? My team was always in the grand final and the footy club was always on our back: 'When can we put the sand out? We don't want our players running across the hard pitch.' But we held out to the last opportunity, to the last weekend, every year.

It was exactly the same dynamic at our great Adelaide Oval—the changeover to the AFL and the wrestle, the attempt, to try to get the two to go together and for both to be able to work at Adelaide Oval. Unfortunately, that could not happen, but there was effort and work done to transform Karen Rolton Oval, which is a great place to watch cricket. Sadly, I could not be there for the final. There were immense crowds there because of the effort by the state government, the Adelaide City Council and indeed SACA to put in extra facilities and extra capacity to transform Karen Rolton Oval into something that will burn for a long time in the memories of especially those young people, as I have said, who aspire to be better cricketers and who will look up to these players for a long time.

As I said, it was the way that the planning was put in to be able to create the structure for a team and to bring players that they saw could fit the mould of who South Australian cricket needs—bringing in guys like Nathan McSweeney from Queensland, Brendan Doggett from Queensland and Jason Sangha from New South Wales. It was a whole range of players coming in to be able to come together and really strive for greatness. Greatness indeed they did achieve in winning both the Sheffield Shield and the One-Day Cup.

It is an opportunity for us here in this place today to acknowledge that: to congratulate them, to acknowledge the hard work and effort that has gone in to get to this point, and to look forward to ongoing success—it is not just a one-off year. Long may the SACA be at the top of the pile when it comes to cricket in Australia. Long may they continue to push back on the elitism that comes from the Eastern States. The hardworking South Australian cricketers will continue to achieve, I am sure, and we in this place will continue to congratulate and acknowledge them and cheer them on.

The SPEAKER (11:59): The member for Flinders mentioned that, like most young Australians, they were out there trying to emulate their heroes of first-class cricket, and I am sure you would have been Boonie, I reckon.

Mr Telfer interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Exactly. I would also like to just add my support for this motion as well. I was fortunate enough to be down there for all of day 1 and most of day 2, and all of what turned out to be the final day. It was a terrific game of cricket. I thought we had it in the bag and then we had a flurry of wickets and I was getting a little nervous.

It is interesting to hear other speakers say they were not born the last time South Australia won the shield. I was actually there covering it as a journo for the ABC, and that was back in 1995-96. We partied hard. Tim May, a great South Australian cricketer and spinner for Australia, had a share in Players Bar with Chris McDermott and Tony McGuinness, and I do not reckon we left Players Bar for three or four days after that shield win; it was terrific.

South Australia has done an amazing job and I am just hopeful. Back in 1996 when the Redbacks won the shield, it sparked a flurry of success. The Adelaide 36ers won the championship that year and the next year, and Adelaide Lightning won three in a row in the Women's National Basketball League. Of course, the following season, 1997, and then in 1998, Adelaide Crows won a premiership. So I am hoping once again that the Redbacks are just going to fire up South Australia's elite sporting teams to more success on the national stage.

Well done to them for winning the Sheffield Shield and also for winning the one-day competition this season. I still like to call it the Gillette Cup. I know it has not been called that since the seventies, but cricket is a game of traditions, looking back and with a historic lens over our national summer sport. So to all of the Redbacks team, thank you.

I might just add that I agree with Les Burdett's assessment that the game should have been played at Adelaide Oval. We had not won a game at Karen Rolton Oval so it was actually not a home deck for us. Adelaide Oval is the Redbacks' home deck. I agree with Les Burdett: that should have been made possible, and I think the SANFL and the Crows might have pulled the wrong lever on that—I think we should have had the game down there. I know it cost the SACA a lot more money to put the game on at Karen Rolton and I want to thank the government for the support that they showed to the SACA to make that happen.

Mr FULBROOK (Playford) (12:02): Thank you sir, for your lovely words and also for the words from the member for Flinders. I also echo your sentiment: long may this tradition continue. Also, congratulations to the member for Adelaide on bringing this wonderful motion to the chamber. It is brilliant when both sides of the floor are in unanimous agreement and I could not be happier to speak on this. I do have a lot to say, so I had better stick to the script.

It does give me enormous pleasure to rise in support of a motion congratulating the South Australian cricket team on their remarkable 2024-25 Sheffield Shield victory and to acknowledge their incredible achievement in also securing the One-Day Cup earlier in the season. This has been an amazing summer of cricket for South Australia and, once again, I do thank the member for Adelaide for bringing this motion to the chamber so we can express how happy we are for everyone involved in the game.

I was 16 years old the last time we won the Sheffield Shield. I could not make it to the match but I remember sitting in front of the television at home, glued to the final balls, wishing I was there in the stands. It's hard to believe that was 29 years ago. So when this year's final came around, I was determined not to miss out again. But, as is often the case, life had other plans.

My Sunday afternoon was swallowed up by my diary commitments and a shopping trip to Elizabeth to buy clothes for my son. At one point, I checked the score on my phone and saw that South Australia was looking good for the win. Hope began to stir, but then I left my phone behind in the shopping centre and had to double back to find it.

What felt like the world's longest lunch followed, and I wondered if I had missed my shot at seeing history being made. Yet sometimes luck smiles upon you. As I dashed to the tram stop outside Parliament House, one pulled up and left just 10 seconds after I boarded. When it stopped at the hospital, the pedestrian light at the Newmarket Hotel turned green, as if on queue, and my son and my staffer Tony Pham joined me with a handful of others to bolt to the gates.

We made it, just in time to see around about the 10 final deliveries. The mood was electric. The crowd erupted when Jason Sangha struck the winning runs. Their unbeaten 126 was a masterclass under pressure and he deserves every accolade. But this was not a one-man show, this was a team effort in every sense and every member of that squad deserves to be recognised and congratulated.

To South Australia's opponents, the Queensland team, I offer a heartfelt congratulations on a hard fought and high-quality final. They played with great skill and sportsmanship and their efforts added to the spectacle and standard of the game. While I do not want to make us sound like bad winners, it is quality opposition like that which make the win even more satisfying.

I want to take a moment to commend the South Australian Cricket Association and staff for the extraordinary job in preparing Karen Rolton Oval for the final. I must confess I was initially disappointed that Adelaide Oval, our spiritual home of cricket, was not chosen as the venue, but after visiting Karen Rolton Oval for the first time, I felt thoroughly impressed.

From the usual capacity of around 5,000, the oval was scaled up to accommodate 10,000 fans for the final and it proved to be a fantastic and fit-for-purpose venue for the match. It was not just fitting, it was brimming with atmosphere. The work done to transform the venue would not have been possible without the support of the Malinauskas government and the Adelaide City Council, and they too deserve recognition for helping deliver such a memorable occasion.

On a personal note, I also have to declare that I have just joined the SACA as a member, and, yes, I have proudly noted it in my parliamentary register of interests. That was a great way to start my membership with a fantastic double trophy in our first season.

While the Shield rightly commands attention, we should not overlook the significance of our One-Day Cup triumph earlier in the season. At a time when one-day cricket has been at times overshadowed by T20 and test formats, I remain a proud supporter of the 50-over game. That win not only adds to our trophy cabinet but highlights the depth of local talent and the strong state of cricket in South Australia.

At the grassroots level, the game is happily thriving. I want to give a special shout-out to local clubs in my electorate, Salisbury West, North Pines and Parafield Gardens, who are doing exceptional work promoting the sport in our community. Their efforts on and off the field ensure that cricket remains accessible, inclusive and a source of local pride.

In Playford, we are fortunate to have a vibrant and diverse population, including a strong and growing community from the subcontinent. It is no exaggeration to say that cricket is played in our community 365 days a year. Organisers like Jaskaran Dhillon, Milan Kapasi and Jass Sandhu have been instrumental in developing local grassroots competitions that go beyond the boundary. They are a joy to watch and a shining example of cricket's role as a multicultural bridge. It is a sport that speaks many languages but unites all who play and watch through a shared love of the game.

I also wanted to recognise SACA's Jasmine Wood for her work in partnering with schools and clubs to grow the game in our suburbs. Through SACA's $25,000 grant program, schools like Karrendi Primary have been able to build new cricket pitches on their ovals, giving more young people the opportunity to play. Principal Ella-Louise Ailmore has shown outstanding leadership in making this happen and I thank her for her commitment to students and, of course, the sport.

To the other schools across our community, consider this your very friendly warning: we are coming for you next. Let's keep spreading the gospel of cricket and ensure every child has the opportunity to play.

While this motion acknowledges a remarkable win in men's cricket, I also want to highlight the continued strength of our women's competitions in South Australia. Locally, I offer congratulations to the mighty Salisbury West Cricket Club, who recently lifted the Para Districts Cricket Association's Women's Grade 1 and Under 16 premiership trophies. The grassroots of women's cricket is strong and I was thrilled to join them at the Salisbury Downs Sports and Community Club to celebrate the success. I may have even shouted one or two drinks to mark the occasion—just soft drinks, of course, for the under 16s.

This has been a season to remember. I offer my congratulations to all involved—players, coaches, volunteers, supporters and administrators. You have made it all possible. South Australian cricket is thriving, and we have every reason to be proud. I commend this motion to the house.

Mr PATTERSON (Morphett) (12:09): I also take the opportunity today in parliament to congratulate the South Australian cricket team on winning the 2024-25 Sheffield Shield. It has been a long time coming and really challenging for many cricket lovers to watch the South Australian cricket team in the Sheffield Shield battle through over recent years.

It has been a long time between drinks. The last time the South Australian cricket team won the Sheffield Shield was back in 1995-96, and who could forget that game? It had some legends of not only South Australian cricket but Australian cricket. The side was led by James Siddons but also had in the team Darren Lehmann, Greg Blewett and Paul Nobes. Paul Nobes lives in Glenelg North still, and it is always good to chat with him and reminisce. It also had Jason Gillespie and Tim May, who are fantastic international cricketers.

The home final was at Adelaide Oval at the time. It was back in the day when the team that finished top not only hosted the home final but only had to draw the game to win the Sheffield Shield; they did not have to win. Certainly, they were playing against a strong WA side that also had many international cricketers. It got to the stage where they only had one wicket left, with Peter McIntyre and Shane George having to survive 38 nailbiting minutes to keep the WA side from getting that final wicket and going on to win the game. Peter McIntyre faced the last over against Brendon Julian and just had to block that out. There were obviously great celebrations when South Australia took that home. Between then and now, it has been pretty thin on the ground, to the point where a lot of the time the Sheffield Shield team was much closer to the bottom of the ladder than the top.

As the 2024-25 season went on, obviously as keen supporters of the South Australian team we got our hopes up, but we were always mindful that with such an even competition we were only one or two losses away from losing that opportunity to get into the Sheffield Shield final. It got to the stage where we only had to win one of the last two games to make the final. We secured a spot in the final with a game to play, and then it came down to playing Queensland at Karen Rolton Oval to see who would finish top.

With the Redbacks able to secure top spot, we were able to have the home final. Of course, it ended up being very close to the start of the AFL season, which meant that instead of playing at Adelaide Oval like the team did back in 1995-96, the game had to be played at Karen Rolton Oval. There is conjecture around who should get pre-eminence. I just think it speaks to the fact that SACA and the AFL have to work their seasons out. You have the Adelaide Oval, the MCG and the Gabba where there are also football teams playing, even over in Perth as well. They need to try to ensure that the seasons do not overlap so that these Sheffield Shield cricketers can show their wares on the biggest stages in the state.

Obviously, having the home final did not mean that the South Australian cricket team were assured to win. I remember on the first day I had a listening post out at Morphettville. That was on basically as the game started. One resident was a very keen cricketer, and he was keen to keep me updated of the score as I had my listening post. He came out and told me that the first wicket was down. In fact, even before that, he said that Khawaja had been dropped, which of course was a huge concern, as he is a very good cricketer and you do not want to give him too many chances. Ultimately, though, he fell reasonably cheaply and his was the first wicket to fall.

Through the course of my listening post, which went for an hour, the wickets continued to tumble and I was updated with the great news that by lunch the Queenslanders were down five wickets. That was certainly a great start and it looked like things were on the up for the SA team, to the point where Queensland were bundled out for 95.

That set up the game for the South Australian cricket team, but of course with pitches oftentimes you have to wait until both sides have batted to understand whether it was the bowling team or the pitch that was causing the batting collapse. It turned out that the SA batting team did really well in that first innings and got off to a pretty solid lead, I think all out for 271. That set them up to pile the pressure on to the Queenslanders, which they did.

The Queenslanders, in their second innings, were in trouble, losing wickets early, but then had two significant partnerships which saw them surge to a very large score—445 runs in the second innings—which meant that the Redbacks had to chase down over 270 runs to be able to secure victory. There are two points to make about that. Obviously, 270 would have been the biggest, and is the biggest, score to chase in a fourth innings, but also, different from back in 1995-96 when the home team only had to draw, the way the rules are now is if it was a draw it would have to go back to a points system, and so SA was by no means assured of winning the game.

Thankfully, while getting into early trouble—I think we were down three for 28 initially in the second innings, so things were not looking good—Alex Carey came to the rescue with a massive 105 in the second innings to be able to steady the ship and get through an over 200-run fourth wicket partnership, which then set SA up for the victory.

So that team will go down in history as a very significant team, but what is worth pointing out, of course, is that the Glenelg District Cricket Club, which is a fantastic and very important cricket club in the electorate of Morphett, supplied five of the 11 Sheffield Shield players in that team. There was the captain, Nathan McSweeney. There was also Alex Carey, whose story is a great story. Brendan Doggett, Liam Scott and Conor McInerney were members of that team. Sadly, Harry Conway, who is also from the Glenelg District Cricket Club, was not chosen for the final, but he was in the squad as well.

Brendan Doggett set a match record in the final—11 wickets taken, six in the first innings and five in the second—and certainly was very instrumental in winning the match. Alex Carey, as I said, scored 105. Conor McInerney scored 38 runs and took a catch. Liam Scott took a wicket and also made a runout. Nathan McSweeney made some runs in the second innings and also captained the side superbly.

Tribute was paid to those players. I attended the cricket club's best and fairest in May, where those players were lauded for their efforts. Over and above that, some of those players were also instrumental in the South Australian team winning the One-Day Cup against Victoria. Again Nathan McSweeney, Liam Scott and Brendan Doggett featured heavily there. This culminated, of course, in South Australian cricket recognising a lot of their efforts.

The Neil Dansie medallist for 2024-25 was Liam Scott. He also won the One-Day Cup MVP, so it was a fantastic effort by Liam and a great recognition of the Glenelg Cricket Club. Brendan Doggett won the Lord Hampden Trophy for his performances in the Sheffield Shield, culminating, as I said before, in the final as well. Not only is the district club of Glenelg there to try to win the championship but it is also there to supply players to South Australia and Australia.

In the time I have left it is worth noting that these players, had they played for Glenelg in the district competition, may well have won the comp. We had the perverse situation where the men's A-grade team won the T20 competition for the whole comp; however, in the actual two-day comp they finished in the bottom two and so were relegated to division 2. I think the way the relegation system works in district cricket needs to be looked at. Nonetheless, I congratulate the Glenelg District Cricket Club on its efforts in promoting cricket in the local area and also in helping South Australia to secure the Sheffield Shield.

Ms HUTCHESSON (Waite) (12:20): I am just rising quickly to support this motion. As a massive cricket fan my whole life, it was absolutely fantastic to see the South Australian cricket team take out the shield. I could not be there for the final hours, but I was there in the morning and it was pretty exciting to see Karen Rolton Oval looking so fantastic. It was sad that we were not able to have it at Adelaide Oval, but it absolutely backed up in one of the most perfect days. The weather was lovely and it was so wonderful to see so many people there to celebrate cricket.

Cricket has been a big part of my life from way back when I was probably about six or seven. My sister and I would watch the Channel 9 broadcast, and every time it went to an ad break we would race each other to write down the names of the cricketers. There could have been some times when I maybe did not make it to school and wandered down to watch a couple of shield games. It is something that I have always loved, and it has been so fantastic to see the cricket team grow and grow over the last couple of years and be able to take out not only this win but also the win of the one-day trophy. What a fantastic achievement.

There are so many people who should be very proud of themselves, aside from the players: all of the coaches and the support staff but also the SACA staff, who do so much to celebrate cricket in our state. Personally, they have been fantastic in my area helping to create places to play for a lot of our young and up-and-coming cricket players. We have had new pitches put in at Coromandel Valley in Frank Smith Park, and we have also seen them go in at Blackwood High School and also Bellevue Heights.

I am very excited to announce that we were able to help the Coromandel Ramblers to finish finding the funding that they needed to put in a pitch at Weymouth Oval, and thanks to the Premier for his assistance with that. The Coromandel Ramblers are pretty prolific in our area. We have both the Coromandel Ramblers and the Coromandel cricket team and there is a bit of friendly rivalry between the two of them—let's leave it at that.

The Coromandel Ramblers in particular have had a pretty successful year this year. Not only did they win the South Australian Community Cricket Club of the Year with the incredible work they do in bringing community together but they created lots of different opportunities to raise funds through a business program they have, and they are also out doing barbecues and all sorts of things all the time in order for young cricket players to not have to pay their fees—not to have to pay any extra above the already fantastic $200 that we provide through the sports grants that people can use. They work hard in our community.

I think I have spoken in here before that I have recently been playing walking cricket with the Ramblers as well. They set that up for older people over 50, which I now am, and we do that at the Blackwood Recreation Centre. The Coromandel Ramblers not only took out the state award for Community Cricket Club of the Year but they recently announced that they also won the Cricket Australia Community Club of the Year, which is a huge achievement for our area, so I want to congratulate them.

Coming to the end of the cricket season, Coromandel and the Coromandel Ramblers had to play each other, which put me in a slightly awkward position, but there was to be only one winner, and that was the Coromandel Cricket Club. Congratulations to them—they fought hard. The Ramblers won the T20, so they had one each and that was not a bad outcome in the end.

Cricket is such a huge part of our community, and something that I am passionate about is to see more girls playing cricket, especially in our area. I know that SACA are really doing what they can in that space, not only through their dads-and-daughters programs but through Cricket Blast and in lots of different ways. Girls, get out there and play cricket; it is one of the best sports that you can play. I have always loved having a hit, and it is a good way to get frustration out, too—you can really swing the bat. I know that seeing our South Australian team take out the win is such an inspiration for sports stars all over who are thinking about whether or not they are going to be the next Alex Carey and whether they are going to be able to not only play for South Australia but then set their sights on Australia.

So a huge congratulations to our South Australian cricket team. Very big congratulations to all of the supporters, who I know were incredibly excited, all running onto the field. It reminded me of the old days when I would go to the cricket and you could run onto the field. In fact, I did. I remember doing it once and shaking the hand of Tony Randall, the umpire. I thought that was the most amazing thing I had ever done, but there you go. Down in Rundle Mall there was a huge celebration, and that was really lovely to see the crowd all getting excited about cricket and getting excited about shield cricket, which for quite a long time has not always got the crowds. It was fantastic to see the final, the lead-up to it and everyone getting excited. So, well done, and we look forward to backing it up again next year.

Ms HOOD (Adelaide) (12:25): I just want to briefly thank the member for Flinders, the Speaker, the member for Playford, the member for Morphett and the member for Waite for their comments in relation to this motion and once again congratulate the South Australian men's cricket team on their historic victory. I commend the motion to the house.

Motion carried.