Media release – Cricket Tasmania, 24 August 2022
Cricket Tasmania Field of Fame reinstated, inaugural Shield team receives top honours
Cricket Tasmania is delighted to announce the reinstatement of its Field of Fame from 2022.
The Field of Fame is one of the highest honours that can be bestowed upon a Tasmanian cricket representative, recognising the significant feats and contribution to cricket by players and teams when representing Tasmania.
Due to a lapse of inductees into the Field of Fame over recent years, several will have the honour bestowed upon them in 2022 – 20 years following the Field of Fame’s establishment in 2002.
The first inductee to Cricket Tasmania’s Field of Fame for 2022 is Tasmania’s first ever Sheffield Shield team, which paved the way for professional cricket in Tasmania, after being admitted to the national competition in the 1977-78 season.
In their inaugural season, Tasmania’s admission to the national competition was on the basis that they would only play five games for the season; one against each other state.
Twelve players made up that historic side – Tasmania was allowed to select two overseas players, and the remaining players came from the three Associations which made up the Tasmanian Cricket Council, the governing body of cricket in the state at the time:
Dennis Baker (Tasmanian Cricket Association)
Tony Benneworth (Northern Tasmania Cricket Association)
Garry Cowmeadow (North Western Tasmania Cricket Association)
Trevor Docking (North Western Tasmania Cricket Association)
Bruce Doolan (Northern Tasmania Cricket Association)
John Hampshire (Yorkshire) (vc)
Stephen Howard (Northern Tasmania Cricket Association)
Bruce Neil (Tasmanian Cricket Association)
Mike Norman (Tasmanian Cricket Association)
Rohan Sherriff (North Western Tasmania Cricket Association)
Jack Simmons (Lancashire) (c)
David Smith (Northern Tasmania Cricket Association)
In their first season as professional cricketers, players were paid $25 a day, plus expenses.
Tasmania’s first-ever Shield game was played against Western Australia at the WACA Ground in Perth, from October 29 to November 1, 1977. Whilst Tasmania lost outright to WA – and went winless for the remainder of their inaugural season – it proved to be a great learning curve as the team adapted to the rigours of professional cricket. This came to fruition the following season when Tasmania won their first Sheffield Shield match against Western Australia, held in Devonport.
Cricket Tasmania CEO, Dominic Baker, said he was pleased that the tradition of honouring the contribution of great Tasmanian cricketers would continue.
“Helping to facilitate reinstating the Field of Fame has been one of the more enjoyable tasks I’ve had in this role,” Baker said.
“We often talk about creating history, but as well as looking forward, it’s also important to look back and acknowledge the achievements of those who have come before us.
“Our sport has a long and proud history in Tasmania, and whilst it’s exciting all the progression professional sports are making across the states at first, cricket was the first, and that’s something we should be proud of.
“The Sheffield Shield has a proud history spanning over 100 years, and although it’s currently hard to imagine that competition without a Tasmanian team, it wasn’t all that long ago that we managed to break in and join those big mainland states in a fight for some national silverware. To those players, but also to those officials at the time who fought for Tasmania’s inclusion, we hope this can be considered as a token of gratitude from not just Tasmanian cricket, but from Tasmanian professional sport in general as to just how thankful we are.”
The criteria for nomination to the Field of Fame is outlined below:
– Players and/or teams who have represented Tasmania’s since the state’s entrance into the Sheffield Shield competition in the 1977-78 season.
– Areas to be strongly considered include:
– A player’s individual performance, influence on/contribution to Tasmanian cricket
– A team’s outstanding performance or the historical significance of a particular team
– A player’s career span
– A player’s contributions to the captaincy
– A player’s contribution to the game post-retirement
Selection panel: Alan Carey (Convener), Bruce Doolan, Kel Cobern.
Current members of Cricket Tasmania’s Field of Fame are:
David Boon (2002)
Danny Buckingham (2002)
Peter Clough (2002)
Jamie Cox (2002)
Brian Davison (2002)
Dene Hills (2002)
Colin Miller (2002)
Ricky Ponting (2002)
Jack Simmons (2002)
Rod Tucker (2002)
Roger Woolley (2002)
Shaun Young (2002)
Michael Di Venuto (2006)
1978-79 Gillette Cup (One-Day) Champion team (2008)
2006-07 Pura Cup (Sheffield Shield) Champion team (2008)
Dan Marsh (2008)
Tim Coyle (2013)
Peter Faulkner (2016)
The Field of Fame can be viewed just inside the Northern Gate at Blundstone Arena, with the names and images of current inductees also displayed on Level 3 of the Ricky Ponting Stand.
All 2022 inductees to the Field of Fame will be acknowledged at a ceremony on September 21, which will coincide with the Tasmanian Tigers Season Launch.
