Salisbury wins Sydney's grade player of the year

Surrey leg-spinner Ian Salisbury was the most successful of the contingent of English county players taking part in the Sydney first grade competition during the 1999-2000 season. One of ten players with English county experience to spend their winter in Sydney, Salisbury won the O'Reilly Medal for the first grade player of the year.

Playing his third season with the University of New South Wales club, Salisbury finished on top of the medal tally (in which umpires in every game vote for the three best players on a 3-2-1 points basis) with 18 points, ahead of former NSW batsmen Rodney Davison (Sydney University) and Andrew Sainsbury (Northern District) on 16 each.

Though his team failed to qualify for the six-team semi-final rounds of the twenty-team competition, Salisbury topped the bowling averages with 36 wickets at 10.31, including a best haul of 7/55 against Campbelltown on October 9. In three seasons at the club he has taken 110 wickets, and during the 1998/99 season played for the visiting England team in one of their tour matches when they were short of numbers.

Salisbury also proved that he is no slouch with the bat in the grade competition this season, scoring 359 runs at 39.89 with a top score of 118.

Though seemingly no longer wanted by the England selectors, Salisbury returns to The Oval this English summer to form a deadly spin combination with Surrey team-mate Saqlain Mushtaq.

Other county players to appear in Sydney during the 1999-2000 season:

Matthew Cassar (Petersham):

The Derbyshire all-rounder, who was born in Sydney, was Petersham's leading wicket-taker for the season with 37 wickets at 20.51. His best bowling was 6/73 against Hawkesbury, achieved on a weekend when his wife Jane was in town, keeping wicket for the touring England women's team playing against Australia. With the bat Cassar scored 198 runs for the season at 16.50. He finished equal sixth on the O'Reilly Medal standings with 13 points.

James Ormond (Sydney University): The Leicestershire pace bowler took 22 wickets in grade at an average of 24.36 with a best of 6/84.

Andrew Strauss (Mosman): The Middlesex opener played for the Lee brothers' (Brett and Shane) club this season. Although he was among the club's leading run scorers, his 442 runs came at an average of 24.56 with a highest of 79 not out. He also appeared for a representative Sydney XI against the Australian Combined Services at the Sydney Cricket Ground in February.

Jeff Cook (Eastern Suburbs): Born in Sydney, this Northants batsman scored 134 runs in his short stay at Easts for an average of 16.75.

Anurag Singh (Gordon): Though his club easily finished in last place this season, the Warwickshire batsman was their leading run-scorer with 452 runs at 34.77, including a highest of 107.

Duncan Catterall (Manly-Warringah): A brief spell saw this Worcestershireman score 61 runs at 15.25 and take 5 wickets at 31.40 with the club that finished on top of the points ladder, although they were later elminated in the semi-finals.

Jason Ratcliffe (Parramatta): This Surrey batsman scored 351 runs for Parramatta at an average of 26.07 with a highest score of 78.

Richard Logan (St George): Last year's under-19 international paceman from Northants took 22 wickets for the season's eventual first grade premiers, with an average of 23.64.

Nadeem Shahid (Fairfield): The Pakistani-born Surrey batsman scored 196 runs in the first grade competition at an average of 24.5, his five wickets coming at an average of 43.

(Footnote: as a matter of statistical perspective it is worth noting that the most runs scored in the Sydney first grade season was 1066 by St George's Brett van Diensen, while Manly's (and Sussex's) Australian international Michael Bevan topped the batting averages with 66.86. The leading wicket-taker was Jamie Heath of Manly with 48.)