Premier Cricket is played across Australia via seven different State/Territory based competitions. Each competition is steeped in history with many of the clubs well over 100 years old. In more recent years many clubs have fielded women’s teams which has created an exciting new element to Premier Cricket.
First Grade Premier Cricket is the top level of club cricket for men and women played throughout the country and plays a key role within the Australian Cricket player pathway in preparing players to take the next step into State cricket.
First Grade Premier Cricket plays all formats of the game from 2-day cricket (white clothes/red ball) to 1-day and T20 cricket (colored clothes/white ball).
In addition to First Grade, Premier Cricket clubs also field up to six Graded teams and several levels of Junior teams depending on which state you are located in.
The Premier Cricket season generally starts in the September/October period and concludes at the end of March, although this varies slightly from state to state based on the local climate.
Whilst the ever-increasing international and state scheduling limits the appearance of contracted players, it is not uncommon to see high profile Australian and International players gracing the field at Premier Grounds, particularly at the start of the season. Some examples of players that have been synonymous with their Premier Clubs in the past include Shane Warne (St Kilda, VIC), Steve & Mark Waugh (Bankstown, NSW) and Allan Border (Valley, QLD).
