Victorian Premier Cricket


Victorian Premier Cricket is the highest level club cricket competition in the state of Victoria, administered by Cricket Victoria. Each club fields four teams of adult players and usually play on Saturdays and public holidays. Matches are played on turf wickets. The competition commenced in the 1906–07 season when it was known as "district cricket" with players allocated to their clubs based on residential qualifications. The district qualification has since been removed and competition was renamed in 1990.
Throughout the majority of its history, the competition was played under two-day, two-innings-per-side rules, with most results being decided on a first-innings basis. In the early 21st century, separate competitions under the premier cricket banner were established for one-day matches and Twenty20. These have since been combined, and there is now a single premier cricket competition which features a combination of fixtures in all three formats across the season.
Outstanding players in the competition are selected to play for the Victorian Cricket Team at first-class and List A level, in the Sheffield Shield and Marsh One Day Cup competitions respectively.

History

Inter-club cricket in Melbourne had its beginnings during the 1850s, with matches arranged on an informal basis. The newspapers usually decided the season's best team via the consensus of journalists. In 1870, the Challenge Cup was introduced, beginning an era of more structured competition.
For the 1889–90 season, a program of pennant matches was devised over eight rounds, which began the era of club competition recognisable today. The original competing teams were Carlton, Essendon, East Melbourne, Fitzroy, Melbourne, North Melbourne, Port Melbourne, Richmond, St Kilda, South Melbourne, University and Williamstown. There were no restrictions on the recruitment of players and the stronger clubs attracted the leading players, and other teams remained very weak, and the unevenness of the competition resulted in a lack of public support. In 1892–93, the competition split into two divisions; and in 1895–96, it split outright into two competitions when the stronger teams seceded. However, unevenness persisted.
The solution was found in a district cricket scheme, under which players needed a residential qualification to play for their club. In 1903, a VCA sub-committee recommended the implementation of the system. Due to many differences of opinion, district cricket did not commence until 1906–07. The eleven inaugural district teams were Carlton, Collingwood, East Melbourne, Essendon, Fitzroy, Hawksburn, North Melbourne, Richmond, St Kilda, South Melbourne and University – with Melbourne notably absent, maintaining a senior playing presence under non-district rules, but not part of the premiership. A promotion and relegation system between an A Grade and B Grade was originally envisioned but dispensed with; and the premier club of second grade, Northcote, was promoted for 1907–08, bringing the competition's size to twelve clubs. Melbourne finally joined the competition in 1914–15, under special rules allowing it to draw players from anywhere but with a limit on how many could be drawn from any single other club's district.
The uneven number of teams necessitated a bye, which remained until 1929/30 when the VCA Colts team comprising under-22s across all districts was included. The Colts team competed for eleven seasons but disbanded during World War II. Matches continued through the war and Footscray was admitted for 1948–49, which again eliminated the bye.
From the 1970s onwards, there was consistent expansion of the competition into the outer suburbs. This first occurred with the promotion of two clubs representing outer-suburban areas, Ringwood and Waverley, from Sub-District in 1974–75. Eighteen sides have participated since 1993–94 when teams from Geelong and Frankston Peninsula were admitted. Through this period, there were also relocations of almost half of the existing clubs from their original inner-suburban grounds to new outer-suburban homes.
Since 1909–10, the premiership has been decided on the basis of a finals series played after the regular season. This comprised four teams throughout most of its history, before being increased to a final six in 1997–98 season, and later to a final eight.

Clubs

Premierships correct to the end of 2024/25 season.

First XI premierships

;Two-day/All forms
  • 1906-07 East Melbourne
  • 1907-08 East Melbourne
  • 1908-09 Prahran
  • 1909-10 St Kilda
  • 1910-11 Prahran
  • 1911-12 Northcote
  • 1912-13 Collingwood
  • 1913-14 St Kilda
  • 1914-15 Melbourne
  • 1915-16 Not held Due To WWI
  • 1916-17 Not held Due To WWI
  • 1917-18 Not held Due To WWI
  • 1918-19 Not held Due To WWI
  • 1919-20 Melbourne
  • 1920-21 Prahran
  • 1921-22 Prahran
  • 1922-23 Prahran
  • 1923-24 St Kilda
  • 1924-25 St Kilda
  • 1925-26 St Kilda
  • 1926-27 St Kilda
  • 1927-28 Hawthorn-East Melbourne
  • 1928-29 University
  • 1929-30 Melbourne
  • 1930-31 Fitzroy
  • 1931-32 St Kilda
  • 1932-33 Melbourne
  • 1933-34 St Kilda
  • 1934-35 Melbourne
  • 1935-36 Melbourne
  • 1936-37 Melbourne
  • 1937-38 Melbourne
  • 1938-39 Fitzroy
  • 1939-40 Fitzroy
  • 1940-41 Not held Due To WWII
  • 1941-42 Not held Due To WWII
  • 1942-43 Not held Due To WWII
  • 1943-44 Not held Due To WWII
  • 1944-45 Not held Due To WWII
  • 1945-46 Carlton
  • 1946-47 Richmond [Cricket Club (Melbourne)|Richmond]
  • 1947-48 Carlton
  • 1948-49 Melbourne
  • 1949-50 Hawthorn-East Melbourne
  • 1950-51 Hawthorn-East Melbourne
  • 1951-52 Melbourne
  • 1952-53 South Melbourne
  • 1953-54 Fitzroy
  • 1954-55 Prahran
  • 1955-56 Hawthorn-East Melbourne
  • 1956-57 Carlton
  • 1957-58 Carlton
  • 1958-59 Melbourne
  • 1959-60 South Melbourne
  • 1960-61 Fitzroy
  • 1961-62 St Kilda
  • 1962-63 Hawthorn-East Melbourne
  • 1963-64 Essendon
  • 1964-65 St Kilda
  • 1965-66 Northcote
  • 1966-67 Fitzroy
  • 1967-68 South Melbourne
  • 1968-69 Carlton
  • 1969-70 Essendon
  • 1970-71 Collingwood
  • 1971-72 Hawthorn-East Melbourne
  • 1972-73 Melbourne
  • 1973-74 Northcote
  • 1974-75 Collingwood
  • 1975-76 Melbourne
  • 1976-77 Richmond
  • 1977-78 Carlton
  • 1978-79 Carlton
  • 1979-80 Footscray
  • 1980-81 Carlton
  • 1981-82 Melbourne
  • 1982-83 Richmond
  • 1983-84 Prahran
  • 1984-85 St Kilda
  • 1985-86 St Kilda
  • 1986-87 Northcote
  • 1987-88 Collingwood
  • 1988-89 Melbourne
  • 1989-90 Richmond
  • 1990-91 University
  • 1991-92 St Kilda
  • 1992-93 Melbourne
  • 1993-94 Fitzroy Doncaster
  • 1994-95 Melbourne
  • 1995-96 University
  • 1996-97 Northcote
  • 1997-98 Melbourne
  • 1998-99 Hawthorn-Waverley
  • 1999-00 Richmond
  • 2000-01 St Kilda
  • 2001-02 Fitzroy Doncaster
  • 2002-03 St Kilda
  • 2003-04 St Kilda
  • 2004-05 St Kilda
  • 2005-06 St Kilda
  • 2006-07 Dandenong
  • 2007-08 Ringwood
  • 2008-09 Ringwood
  • 2009-10 Melbourne
  • 2010-11 Dandenong
  • 2011-12 Richmond
  • 2012-13 Melbourne
  • 2013-14 Footscray Edgewater
  • 2014-15 Ringwood
  • 2015-16 Fitzroy Doncaster
  • 2016-17 Fitzroy Doncaster
  • 2017-18 Dandenong
  • 2018-19 Carlton
  • 2019-20 Melbourne
  • 2020-21 Prahran
  • 2021-22 Carlton
  • 2022-23 Melbourne
  • 2023-24 Carlton
  • 2024-25 St Kilda
Source
;One-day/White-ball
  • 2002-03 Prahran
  • 2003-04 Northcote
  • 2004-05 St Kilda
  • 2005-06 St Kilda
  • 2006-07 St Kilda
  • 2007-08 Carlton
  • 2008-09 Melbourne
  • 2009-10 St Kilda
  • 2010-11 Carlton
  • 2011-12 Prahran
  • 2012-13 Melbourne
  • 2013-14 Melbourne

    Ryder Medal

First presented in 1972–73, the award for the best player of the season is named after Jack Ryder, the former Australian captain who had a long and distinguished career with Collingwood.
SeasonPlayer/sTeam/sBiography link
1972–73Ron BirdCollingwood
1973–74John GrantEssendon
1974–75John GrantEssendon
1975–76Keith StackpoleCarlton
1976–77John ShepherdFootscray
1977–78Keith StackpoleCarlton
1978–79Keith StackpoleCarlton
1979–80Barry WatsonFootscray
1980–81Gary CosierNorthcote
1981–82Mick TaylorSouth Melbourne
1982–83John DouglasCarlton
1983–84Trevor LaughlinCollingwood
1984–85Andrew WildsmithNorthcote
1985–86Michael EphraimsPrahran
1986–87Warren WhitesideSt Kilda
1987–88Wayne N. PhillipsSouth Melbourne
1988–89Richard McCarthyNorth Melbourne
1989–90Warren WhitesideSt Kilda
1990–91Warren WhitesideSt Kilda
1991–92Mark RidgwayFitzroy/Doncaster
1992–93Mark LeehaneEssendon
1993–94Gary WattsFitzroy/Doncaster
1994–95Warren AyresMelbourne
1995–96Brendan JoyceFitzroy/Doncaster
1996–97Ian WrigglesworthCarlton
1997–98PQ HarperUniversity
1998–99Abdul QadirCarlton
1999–2000Carl HooperCarlton
2000–01 Paul Collingwood, DM DempseyRichmond, Ringwood
2001–02Warren AyresMelbourne
2002–03CBD StreetFitzroy/Doncaster
2003–04 RA Bartlett, Adam DaleNorthcote, North Melbourne
2004–05Simon DartHawthorn/Monash Uni.
2005–06 MD Allen, Graeme RummansCarlton, St Kilda
2006–07Graeme RummansSt Kilda
2007–08Steven SpoljaricHawthorn/Monash Uni.
2008–09Gareth CrossSt Kilda
2009–10Graeme RummansSt Kilda
2010–11Theo DoropoulosNorthcote
2011–12Clive RoseCasey-South Melbourne
2012–13Brenton McDonaldMelbourne
2013–14James MillerPrahran
2014–15Ian HollandRingwood
2015–16Steve TaylorNorthcote
2016–17Brendan DrewCamberwell
2017–18Trent LawfordFitzroy Doncaster
2018–19Brett ForsythDandenong
2019-20 David King, James SeymourRingwood, Essendon
2020-21Scott EdwardsRichmond
2021-22Dean RussFootscray
2022-23Harrison SmythCarlton
2023-24Brett ForsythDandenong
2024-25David KingRingwood

John Scholes Medal

Presented in season 2001–02 under the name of Cricket Victoria Medal, the John Scholes medal is awarded to the best player in the Victorian Premier Cricket 1st XI final. The name was changed for the 2003–04 season.
SeasonPlayerTeam
2001–02JL TravagliaFitzroy Doncaster
2002–03GC RummansSt Kilda
2003–04GC RummansSt Kilda
2004–05TDB O'SullivanSt Kilda
2005–06M KlingerSt Kilda
2006–07PM BorastonDandenong
2007–08MR KingRingwood
2008–09ST GilmourRingwood
2009–10RJ CooperMelbourne
2010–11JL PattinsonDandenong
2011–12WD SheridanRichmond
2012–13Matthew BegbieMelbourne CC
2013–14S DissanayakaFootscray-Edgewater
2014–15Ian HollandRingwood
2015–16Peter DicksonFitzroy Doncaster
2016–17Matthew BrownMelbourne
2017–18Peter SiddleDandenong
2018–19Evan GulbisCarlton
2019–20Final not contested due to COVID-19Final not contested due to COVID-19
2020-21Damon EganPrahran
2021-22Thomas SmythCarlton