Victorian Premier Cricket

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 of Melbourne and Williamstown. There were no restriction on the recruitment of players and the stronger clubs (such as East Melbourne, Melbourne and South Melbourne) attracted the leading players, and other teams remained very weak. By the turn of the twentieth century, the unevenness of the competition resulted in a lack of public support.

The solution was found in "electorate" or "District" cricket whereby 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 (most notably, the powerful Melbourne Cricket Club dissented), District cricket did not commence until 1906.

The twelve inaugural District teams were Carlton, Collingwood (newly formed), East Melbourne, Essendon, Fitzroy, Hawksburn (which became Prahran the following year), Melbourne, North Melbourne, Richmond, St Kilda, South Melbourne and University of Melbourne. A promotion and relegation system between two grades was originally envisioned, and the premier club of second grade, Northcote, was promoted for 1907–08. However, last-placed Collingwood was not relegated and the idea dispensed with. The second grade was re-constituted as the Victorian Sub-District competition, comprising Brighton, Caulfield, Coburg, Elsternwick, Hawthorn, Malvern, Port Melbourne and Williamstown.

The uneven number of teams necessitated a bye, which remained 1929–30 when the VCA Colts team was included. The Colts team competed for eleven seasons but disbanded during World War II. Matches continued through the war (although they were not for points) and Footscray was admitted for 1948–49, which eliminated the bye. The next expansion occurred in 1974 when two clubs representing outer-suburban areas, Ringwood and Waverley, were promoted from Sub-District. Eighteen sides have participated since 1993–94 when teams from Geelong and the Mornington Peninsula were admitted. The finals system, previously consisting of four teams, was enlarged to a final six in 1997–98 season, later changing to a final eight.

Colours	Club	Emblem	Formed	Home ground	1st XI titles	First competed	Note
	Camberwell	Magpies	1906	Camberwell Sports Ground, Camberwell	4	1906–07	Inaugural club (Collingwood); amalgamated with Camberwell (Sub-District) in 1996–97
	Carlton	Blues	1864	Princes Park, Carlton North	10	1906–07	Inaugural club
	Casey-South Melbourne	Swans	1862	Casey Fields, Cranbourne East	3	1906–07	Inaugural club (South Melbourne), relocated and renamed Casey-South Melbourne in 2005–06
	Dandenong	Panthers	1908	Shepley Oval, Dandenong	3	1974–75	Promoted from Sub-District in 1974–75 as Waverley; amalgamated with and moved to Dandenong (Sub-District) in 1989–90 as Waverley-Dandenong; renamed Dandenong-Waverley in 1992–93; renamed Dandenong in 1994–95
	Essendon	Bombers	1872	Windy Hill, Essendon	2	1906–07	Inaugural club
	Fitzroy Doncaster	Lions	1861	Schramm's Reserve, Doncaster	10	1906–07	Inaugural club (Fitzroy); amalgamated with Doncaster (Sub-District) in 1986–87
	Footscray	Bulldogs	1883	Merv Hughes Oval, Footscray	2	1948–49	Promoted from Sub-District in 1948; known as Footscray-Victoria University from 2000-01 until 2003–04, then as Footscray-Edgewater from 2004–05 until 2016–17
	Frankston Peninsula	Heat	1880	AH Butler Oval, Frankston	0	1993–94	Promoted from Sub-District in 1993–94
	Geelong	Cats	1993	Kardinia Park, Geelong	0	1993–94	Promoted from Sub-District in 1993–94
	Greenvale	Kangaroos		Greenvale Recreation Reserve, Greenvale	0	1906–07	Inaugural club (North Melbourne); temporarily amalgamated with Geelong (sub-district) as North Melbourne–Geelong from 1985 to 1986 until 1987–88; amalgamated with and moved to Greenvale in 2013–14[3]
	Kingston Hawthorn	Hawks	1860	Walter Galt Reserve, Parkdale	9	1906–07	Inaugural club (East Melbourne); amalgamated with and moved to Hawthorn (Sub-District) in 1921–22 as Hawthorn-East Melbourne; moved to Waverley in 1989-90 and renamed Hawthorn-Waverley in 1994–95; amalgamated with Monash University (Sub-District) in 2001–02 as Hawthorn-Monash University and moved to the Monash University Sports Complex in Clayton in 2004; amalgamated with Kingston Saints (Sub-District) in 2015–16 and moved to Parkdale as Kingston Hawthorn.
	Melbourne	Demons	1838	Albert Cricket Ground, Melbourne	22	1906–07	Inaugural club, but ineligible for the premiership until 1914–15
	Melbourne Uni.	Students	1856	University of Melbourne campus, Parkville	3	1906–07	Inaugural club
	Northcote	Dragons		Bill Lawry Oval, Northcote	5	1907–08	Promoted from Sub-District 1907–08
	Prahran	True Blues		Toorak Park, Armadale	8	1906–07	Inaugural club (Hawksburn); renamed Prahran in 1907–08.
	Richmond	Tigers	1854	Central Reserve, Glen Waverley	6	1906–07	Inaugural club (Richmond); relocated to Glen Waverley in 2010–11, and changed its trading name to Monash Tigers from 2013–14 until 2019-20 (although the club was legally still known as Richmond). The 2020/21 season saw the club return to the "Richmond Cricket Club" name
	Ringwood	Rams		Jubilee Park, Ringwood	3	1974–75	Promoted from Sub-District 1974
	St Kilda	Saints	1855	Junction Oval, St Kilda	18	1906–07	Inaugural club

Premierships correct to the end of 2022/23 season.

Two-day

One-day/White-ball

Twenty-20

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.

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.[6]

Victorian Premier Cricket was run by the Cricket Victoria's Pennant Committee until the end of the 2013/14 season. The role of the Pennant Committee was in relation to dealings with grounds, fixtures, playing dates, venues, umpires, ladders, player eligibility and registrations, disputes, rules changes etc. The Pennant Committee comprised five delegates elected at the AGM of Cricket Victoria held every August. The members of the final Pennant Committee were John McConville (chairman), Kevan Carroll, John Malligan, Ken Stone, Oswin Wright and Peter Binns (ex-officio). Matters concerning player behaviour are dealt with a tribunal convened by Cricket Victoria and is made up of an independent chairman two Pennant Committee members, providing that their club is not involved in the match in question.

Since 2014/15, the Premier Cricket Management Team (PCMT) began overseeing the administration of Premier Cricket at Cricket Victoria. As of season 2021/22, this has now become a Premier Cricket Department listed in charge of the day-to-day operations with Victorian Premier Cricket.

• Cricket in Australia
• Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association

• List of 1st XI premiers
• Official website