2015–16 Sheffield Shield season
| Dates | 28 October 2015 – 30 March 2016 | 
|---|---|
| Administrator(s) | Cricket Australia | 
| Cricket format | First-class | 
| Tournament format(s) | Double round-robin and final | 
| Champions | .svg.png) Victoria (30th title) | 
| Participants | 6 | 
| Matches played | 31 | 
| Player of the series |  Travis Head | 
| Most runs |  Ben Dunk (838) | 
| Most wickets |  Joe Mennie (51) | 
The 2015–16 Sheffield Shield season was the 123rd season of the Sheffield Shield, the domestic first-class cricket competition in Australia. The season began after the conclusion of the Matador BBQs One-Day Cup, and included a break halfway through to allow for the Big Bash League. Trials for day/night Tests with a pink ball continued, having been introduced during the previous season. All of the matches for rounds one and seven of the tournament were played as day/night games.[1] Victoria won their second consecutive title, defeating South Australia by 7 wickets in the final at Gliderol Stadium. Travis Head was named player of the series for his 721 runs and 9 wickets during the season. Ben Dunk of Tasmania was the leading run-scorer, while Joe Mennie from South Australia took the most wickets.
Points table
| Team[2] | Pld | W | L | D | NR | BP | Pts | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|  South Australia | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 19.63 | 49.63 | 
| .svg.png) Victoria | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 17.13 | 49.13 | 
|  New South Wales | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 14.57 | 47.57 | 
|  Queensland | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 16.66 | 46.66 | 
|  Western Australia | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 17.00 | 44.00 | 
|  Tasmania | 10 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 17.19 | 27.19 | 
Round-Robin stage
Round 1
| v | ||
- New South Wales won the toss and elected to bat.
- Bonus Points: South Australia 1.50, New South Wales 2.10
| v | ||
- Queensland won the toss and elected to bat.
- Travis Dean (Victoria) made his first-class debut.
- Travis Dean became the first player in Shield history to score two centuries on debut, and the first player in first-class cricket to score two unbeaten centuries on debut.[3]
- Bonus Points: Victoria 1.70, Queensland 1.10
| v | ||
- Tasmania won the toss and elected to field.
- Jake Doran (Tasmania) made his first-class debut.
- Bonus Points: Tasmania 0.50, Western Australia 2.20
Round 2
|  6 – 9 November    Scorecard | 
| v | ||
- New South Wales won the toss and elected to bat.
- Play was reduced to just 10 overs on Day 1 and just 24 overs on Day 2 due to rain and a wet outfield.
- The match was abandoned on Day 3 due to unsafe playing conditions. Under Law 7.2 in the Cricket Playing Conditions, Cricket Australia ruled that New South Wales had forfeited the match, and Victoria was awarded the 6 points for a win.[4]
- Jay Lenton (New South Wales) made his first-class debut.
|  6 – 9 November    Scorecard | 
| v | ||
- Western Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
- Bonus Points: South Australia 1.50, Western Australia 1.60
|  6 – 9 November    Scorecard | 
| v | ||
- Tasmania won the toss and elected to bat.
- Sam Heazlett (Queensland) made his first-class debut.
- Sam Heazlett scored his maiden first-class century.[5]
- Bonus Points: Tasmania 1.50, Queensland 0.40
Round 3
|  14 – 17 November    Scorecard | 
| v | ||
- Queensland won the toss and elected to field.
- Billy Stanlake (Queensland) made his first-class debut.
- The start of play on Day 1 was delayed by 90 minutes due to rain and ended early due to bad light.
- Bonus Points: Queensland 2.50, South Australia 0.50
|  14 – 17 November    Scorecard | 
| v | ||
- Victoria won the toss and elected to bat.
- Aaron Ayre (Victoria) made his first-class debut.
- Bonus Points: Victoria 2.70, Western Australia 0.49
|  14 – 17 November    Scorecard | 
| v | ||
- Tasmania won the toss and elected to bat.
- With the previous Sheffield Shield match at the Sydney Cricket Ground being abandoned because of an unsafe pitch, the fixture was moved to the Bankstown Oval.[6]
- The start of play on Day 1 was delayed by 75 minutes and ended after just 36 overs due to rain.
- Bonus Points: New South Wales 1.68, Tasmania 2.40
Round 4
|  27 – 30 November    Scorecard | 
| v | ||
- Western Australia won the toss and elected to field.
- Joel Paris (Western Australia) made his first-class debut.
- Bonus Points: Western Australia 1.50, Victoria 2.80
|  27 – 30 November    Scorecard | 
| v | ||
- Tasmania won the toss and elected to field.
- Bonus Points: Tasmania 0.90, South Australia 4.00
|  27 – 30 November    Scorecard | 
| v | ||
- Queensland won the toss and elected to bat.
- Bonus Points: New South Wales 2.03, Queensland 1.82
Round 5
|  6 – 9 December    Scorecard | 
| v | ||
- South Australia won the toss and elected to field.
- Rain delayed play by 90 minutes after tea and ended play early on Day 2.
- Bonus Points: Victoria 1.50, South Australia 1.50
|  6 – 9 December    Scorecard | 
| v | ||
- Western Australia won the toss and elected to field.
- Rain reduced Day 1 to just 76 overs of play.
- Bonus Points: Western Australia 2.30, Tasmania 1.60
|  6 – 9 December    Scorecard | 
| v | ||
- Queensland won the toss and elected to bat.
- Bonus Points: Queensland 0.68, New South Wales -0.03
Round 6
|  3 – 6 February    Scorecard | 
| v | ||
- Victoria won the toss and elected to field.
- Rain reduced Day 1 to just 71 overs of play.
- Sam Harper and Ian Holland (both Victoria) made their first-class debuts.
- Bonus Points: Victoria 2.21, Tasmania 1.91
|  3 – 6 February    Scorecard | 
| v | ||
- Western Australia won the toss and elected to field.
- This was the first game in Australian domestic cricket history to be played outside of Australia.[7]
- Bonus Points: New South Wales 1.57, Western Australia 1.57
|  3 – 6 February    Scorecard | 
| v | ||
- Queensland won the toss and elected to bat.
- Bonus Points: South Australia 1.65, Queensland 3.23
Round 7
| v | ||
- New South Wales won the toss and elected to bat.
- Bonus Points: Western Australia 1.86, New South Wales 0.94
| v | ||
- Tasmania won the toss and elected to bat.
- Chris Hartley (Queensland) broke the record for the most catches taken by a wicket-keeper in Sheffield Shield history (500).[8]
- Bonus Points: Queensland 3.23, Tasmania 2.39
| v | ||
- Victoria won the toss and elected to bat.
- Cameron Valente (South Australia) made his first-class debut.
- Bonus Points: South Australia 1.74, Victoria 2.75
Round 8
|  25 – 28 February    Scorecard | 
| v | ||
- New South Wales won the toss and elected to field.
- Arjun Nair (New South Wales) and Jake Weatherald (South Australia) both made their first-class debuts.
- Bonus Points: New South Wales 1.61, South Australia 2.48
|  25 – 28 February    Scorecard | 
| v | ||
- Queensland won the toss and elected to field.
- Bonus Points: Western Australia 1.28, Queensland 1.18
|  25 – 28 February    Scorecard | 
| v | ||
- Tasmania won the toss and elected to field.
- Bonus Points: Tasmania 3.09, Victoria 0.50
Round 9
|  5 – 8 March    Scorecard | 
| v | ||
- New South Wales won the toss and elected to field.
- Harry Conway (New South Wales) made his first-class debut.
- Bonus Points: Tasmania 1.92, New South Wales 2.21
|  5 – 8 March    Scorecard | 
| v | ||
- Victoria won the toss and elected to field.
- Bad light ended play early on Day 1.
- Bonus Points: Queensland 1.50, Victoria 1.50
|  5 – 8 March    Scorecard | 
| v | ||
- South Australia won the toss and elected to field.
- Josh Nicholas (Western Australia) made his first-class debut.
- Bonus Points: Western Australia 2.35, South Australia 1.80
Round 10
|  15 – 18 March    Scorecard | 
| v | ||
- Western Australia won the toss and elected to field.
- Jhye Richardson (Western Australia) made his first-class debut.
- Bonus Points: Queensland 1.00, Western Australia 1.82
|  15 – 18 March    Scorecard | 
| v | ||
- Tasmania won the toss and elected to bat.
- Elliot Opie (South Australia) and Caleb Jewell (Tasmania) both made their first-class debuts.
- Bonus Points: South Australia 2.96, Tasmania 1.50
|  15 – 18 March    Scorecard | 
| v | ||
- New South Wales won the toss and elected to bat.
- Bonus Points: Victoria 1.51, New South Wales 2.44
Final
|  26 – 30 March    Scorecard | 
| v | ||
- South Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
- Victoria became the first visiting team to win a Sheffield Shield final since New South Wales in 2004-05.[9]
Statistics
Most runs
| Player | Team | Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | Ave | HS | 100 | 50 | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Dunk |  Tasmania | 10 | 19 | 1 | 837 | 46.55 | 190 | 4 | 2 | 
| Travis Dean | .svg.png) Victoria | 11 | 20 | 2 | 807 | 44.83 | 154* | 3 | 4 | 
| Peter Handscomb | .svg.png) Victoria | 11 | 19 | 1 | 784 | 43.55 | 137 | 3 | 4 | 
| George Bailey |  Tasmania | 9 | 17 | 1 | 761 | 47.56 | 148* | 3 | 3 | 
| Matt Renshaw |  Queensland | 9 | 17 | 3 | 738 | 52.71 | 129* | 2 | 4 | 
Most wickets
| Player | Team | Mat | Inns | Overs | Wkts | Ave | BBI | SR | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Mennie |  South Australia | 11 | 21 | 429.5 | 51 | 21.21 | 4/50 | 50.50 | 
| Daniel Worrall |  South Australia | 9 | 18 | 357.5 | 44 | 26.18 | 6/96 | 48.70 | 
| Jackson Bird |  Tasmania | 8 | 15 | 276.2 | 40 | 19.50 | 7/45 | 41.40 | 
| Michael Hogan |  Western Australia | 9 | 18 | 342.5 | 37 | 24.64 | 4/29 | 55.50 | 
| Chris Tremain | .svg.png) Victoria | 9 | 15 | 228.1 | 36 | 21.05 | 5/52 | 38.00 | 
References
- ↑ "CA adds another day-night Sheffield Shield round". ESPNCricinfo. 15 December 2015. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
- ↑ "Sheffield Shield, 2015/16 / Points table". Cricinfo. ESPN. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
- ↑ McKay, Ben (31 October 2015). "Dean leads Vics to historic Shield win". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
- ↑ "Vics handed win for abandoned SCG clash". CricketAustralia. 9 November 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
- ↑ "Heazlett hits debut ton but Tasmania ahead". ESPNCricinfo. 8 November 2015. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
- ↑ "SCG stripped of next Shield match". ESPN Cricinfo. 9 November 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
- ↑ "History to be made in NZ on Wednesday". Cricket Australia. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
- ↑ "Hartley breaks record with catch No.500". Cricket Australia. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
- ↑ http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/146281.html
- ↑ http://stats.espncricinfo.com/sheffield-shield-2015-16/engine/records/batting/most_runs_career.html?id=10265;type=tournament
