The New South Wales Blues also known as the Speed Blitz Blues for sponsorship purposes are an Australian first class cricket team based in Sydney, New South Wales. The team competes in the Australian first class cricket competition known as the Sheffield Shield, the limited overs Ford Ranger Cup, and the Twenty20 competition known as the KFC Twenty20 Big Bash.

 

They are by far the most successful domestic cricket side in Australia having won the First-class competition 45 times. In addition, they have also won the One-Day Domestic cup 9 times. They occasionally play first-class matches against touring International sides. New South Wales have played teams representing every test playing nation bar Bangladesh. They have provided the Australian Test and One Day International teams with some of the finest players ever to have graced the game of cricket.

 

Cricket NSW chief executive David Gilbert and Dodemaide said the tournament is important for state players seeking Indian Premier League T20 contracts and also pushing their claims for next year’s T20 World Cup in the Caribbean.

 

“Our boys are very motivated to be the first club champion of Twenty20 cricket. The players are very very focused on this tournament for the financial rewards and also for the opportunity to put themselves in the shop window for a possible IPL contract,” Gilbert said.

 

Team Composition:

Simon Katich’s Blues boast Brett Lee and Nathan Bracken but will be without recruit Shane Watson, while wicketkeeper Brad Haddin is out with a broken finger.

All-rounder Watson, a former IPL player of the tournament, only crossed to NSW from Queensland in the off-season.

 

Brendon McCullum, who represented NSW in the BigBash final last summer, has opted to play with his Kiwi provincial side Otago in the Champions League.

 

NSW has won 8 matches out of 18 matched they had played so far.

 

New South Wales Squad:

 

Simon Katich (capt), Phillip Hughes, Brett Lee, Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark, Moises Henriques, Nathan Hauritz, Doug Bollinger, Aaron Bird, Stephen O’Keefe, Ben Rohrer, Steve Smith, Daniel Smith, Dominic Thornely, David Warner.

 

 

Players’ Profile:

 

Simon Katich:

 

There were several outstanding achievements in Simon Katich’s 2007-08, as he broke the record for most runs in a Pura Cup season, captained New South Wales to the first-class title and registered his highest score, along the way plundering nearly 200 in a session.

 

Major teams: Australia, Derbyshire, Durham, Hampshire, Kings XI Punjab, New South Wales, Yorkshire

 

Nickname: Kat
Playing role: Batsman
Batting style: Left-hand bat
Bowling style: Slow left-arm chinaman

 

Doug Bollinger:

 

Doug Bollinger is a left-arm fast bowler loaded with character that is more suited to cold beer than high-quality champagne. A tourist to South Africa and the United Arab Emirates in 2009, he earned his first three one-day internationals and struck oil in Abu Dhabi with 5 for 35 in his second match to build on his regular career gains.

 

Major teams: Australia, Australia A, New South Wales,Worcestershire

 

Nickname: Eagle
Playing role: Bowler
Batting style: Left-hand bat
Bowling style: Left-arm fast

Stuart Clark:

 

Stuart Clark is a tall and lanky opening bowler who was initially bracketed by the national selectors as “in the Glenn McGrath mould”, but he created his own category following strong displays since his 2006 entry in South Africa. Clark held a Cricket Australia contract after a 45-wicket season in 2001-02 before losing it a summer later when struck by ankle and rib injuries.

Major teams: Australia, Hampshire, Middlesex, New South Wales

 

Nickname: Sarfraz
Playing role: Bowler
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm fast-medium

Moises Henriques:

 

Moises Henriques was so young when he first came into the New South Wales squad that he could train only in school holidays and often had to catch a taxi to practice. By the age of 18 he had already won praise from Trevor Hohns, the former national chairman of selectors, and a rookie contract with the Blues. After starring as captain of Australia’s Under-19 side – he first made the team as a 16-year-old – with 16 World Cup wickets in Sri Lanka at 10.62 and 150 runs at 37.5, Henriques played his second senior game in the final of the 2005-06 ING Cup

 

Major teams: Australia, Australia A, Kolkata Knight Riders, New South Wales

 

Nickname: Moey
Playing role: All-rounder
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm medium-fast

 Brett Lee:

 

Over the past few years Lee’s outlook has matured – essential variety has been added to the bouncer-yorker method – and he has become consistent to the point where the team analysts struggled to log a bad ball in some 2006-07 Ashes innings. Twenty England wickets helped him move on from the 2005 defeat, but the summer ended in disappointment when his ankle turned painfully at training in New Zealand.

 

Major teams: Australia, Kings XI Punjab, New South Wales

 

Nickname: Bing
Playing role: Bowler
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm fast

Ben Rohrer:

 

A left-handed batsman, Ben Rohrer was a late addition to the New South Wales side for their second-last Pura Cup match of 2006-07. Things started badly; he survived a hat-trick ball from Ben Hilfenhaus but made only 5 as Tasmania skittled the Blues for 53, their lowest Pura Cup score. But in the second innings Rohrer stood firm and his 163 made him the first man since Rodney Davison in 1993-94 to collect a century on first-class debut for New South Wales.

 

Major teams: New South Wales, New South Wales Institute of Sport

Playing role: Lower middle order batsman
Batting style: Left-hand bat

Steven Smith:

 

Steven Smith made a promising start to his state career in 2007-08, playing his first games in the three domestic formats. In the Pura Cup he opened with 33 and began his FR Cup experience without batting, although he posted 35 in his second attempt. The biggest impact came in the Twenty20 tournament, where he finished the qualifying matches as the competition’s joint-highest wicket-taker with nine victims at a remarkable average of 5.33.

 

Major teams: Australian Institute of Sports, Kent 2nd XI, New South Wales, New South Wales Second XI, New South Wales Under-19s, Sutherland, Sydney South East

 

Playing role: All-rounder
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Legbreak

David Warner:

 

A diminutive and dangerous opening batsman, David Warner exploded onto the international scene in 2008-09. His breathtaking effort of 89 from 43 balls in his Twenty20 debut against South Africa at the MCG was all the more remarkable as he was the first man to walk out for Australia before playing first-class cricket since 1877.

 

Major teams: Australia, Australia Under-19s, Delhi Daredevils, Durham, New South Wales

 

Nickname: Lloyd
Playing role: Opening batsman
Batting style: Left-hand bat
Bowling style: Legbreak

Matthew Mott:

 

Matthew Mott became best known for his role as a permanent fixture at No. 3 in Victoria’s first-class batting order. Mott attended the Academy in 1995 and his scoring at Brisbane grade level was prolific. After making his first-class debut in 1994-95, Mott, a left-hand batsman, beat a path into and out of the side on a consistent basis and, despite producing a number of valuable innings – none more important than his 86 in the 1996-97 Sheffield Shield final victory – he could never secure a regular berth in the Queensland side.

 

Major teams: Netherlands, Queensland, Victoria

Batting style: Left-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm medium

 

Aaron Bird:

 

A quick right-armer with a whippy action, Bird was promoted to the senior ranks in 2005-06 and collected ten Pura Cup wickets at 37.29 in four matches, including best figures of 4 for 80 against Victoria at St Kilda. He also added another nine in eight ING Cup appearances and his three wickets in six balls helped the Blues win the one-day title.

 

Major teams: New South Wales

Nickname: Birdy
Playing role: Bowler
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm fast

Nathan Bracken:

 

Tall and slim, Bracken moves the ball both ways in the air and off the seam and fitted easily into Australia’s rampant one-day squad in

 

2000-01. He was also instrumental in resuscitating New South Wales’ fortunes, including a first-innings 6 for 27 in their 2004-05 final win over Queensland and 7 for 4 earlier that season when South Australia fell for 29.

 

Major teams: Australia, Gloucestershire, New South Wales, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Worcestershire

 

Nickname: Bracks, Andy G (Australian Idol host)
Playing role: Bowler
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Left-arm fast-medium

Nathan Hauritz:

 

Hauritz, an Australian Under-19 captain, made his ODI debut at 20 and was also a surprise selection for the Test tour of India ahead of MacGill in 2004. In 2005-06 seasons, he played three Pura Cup games – including the final loss to Tasmania – in his first season with the Blues and his four dismissals cost 63.50 each. However, his one-day form was excellent and he missed only one match, leading the state’s wicket tally with 14 at 24.

 

Major teams: Australia, New South Wales, Queensland
Nickname Ritzy

 

Playing role: Bowler
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm offbreak

 

Phillip Hughes:

 

Hughes was Australia’s youngest debutant since Craig McDermott 25 years earlier, and when he recorded twin centuries in Durban – he brought up his maiden hundred with two sixes – he was the youngest to achieve the feat.
The 415 runs in three Tests were followed by centuries in each of his three County Championship games for Middlesex, proving he could adapt to the early-season conditions in a stunning streak which further irritated England supporters who were angry he was given the chance to fine-tune before the Ashes.

 

Major teams: Australia, Australia A, Australia Under-19s, Middlesex, New South Wales, New South Wales Under-19s, Western Suburbs

Playing role: Opening batsman
Batting style: Left-hand bat

Steve O’Keefe:

 

Stephen O’Keefe, an allrounder from the Hawkesbury club, made both his Pura and ING Cup debuts in 2005-06. A left-arm orthodox spinner, he earned two wickets on first-class entry against Tasmania and finally played in the one-day side after his initial selection the previous summer ended in a washout.

 

Major teams: New South Wales

 

Nickname: Sock
Playing role: All-rounder
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Slow left-arm orthodox

Daniel Smith:

 

He was also a regular in the one-day and Twenty20 formats but played without significant impact.

 

In 2007-08 he captured 23 catches in four first-class games, but a highest score of 42 was slightly disappointing, and he didn’t stand out in five FR Cup games.

 

Major teams: New South Wales

 

Nickname: Smithy
Playing role: Wicketkeeper batsman
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Fielding position: Wicketkeeper

Dominic Thornely:

 

Dominic Thornely was discussed as a possible Test player for the 2005 Ashes following a dramatic season of 1065 first-class runs, four centuries, five fifties and an average of 62.65. New South Wales needed someone to attempt to fill the massive holes left by the Waugh brothers, Michael Slater and Michael Bevan, who departed for retirement or Tasmania the previous off-season, and Thornely stepped in with aggressive responsibility to be a crucial factor in the Pura Cup-winning campaign.

 

Major teams: Hampshire, Mumbai Indians, New South Wales, Surrey

 

Nickname: DT
Playing role: Higher middle order batsman
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm medium, Right-arm offbreak 

 

Author: Mona Gupta, New Delhi

 

 

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