History

The VCA was formed over lunch at the Vienna Cafe more than one hundred years ago. Today, a plaque marks the site and celebrates the VCA's birth in Collins Street in the heart of Melbourne.

Since that day the VCA is proud of its reputation as the most innovative and progress cricket authority in Australia.

Victoria has produced a dazzling array of talented cricketers, very many of whom have gone on to represent Australia.

Names like Woodfull, Ponsford, Hassett, Harvey, Ryder, Miller, Maddocks, Trumble, Cowper, Johnson, Hughes, Warne, Johnston, Jones and Lawry are legends not only in Australia but around the cricketing world.

The Victorian Bushrangers of today follow the philosophy of all successful Victorian teams of the past. They are committed to taking risks and playing attacking, entertaining cricket.

It's a formula that has bought them great popularity and success. Indeed, more people watch Victoria's matches than those of any other state.

Key Dates

1895	Victorian Cricket Association formed.
1906-7	District cricket competition formally established by VCA.
1908	Sub-district competition established.
1912-13	Jack Rider makes Victorian debut.
1914-18	Numerous cricketers enlist for war service. Almost 300 VCA registered cricketers killed in action. Sheffield Shield competition suspended.
1921	The batting Bills, Ponsford and Woodfull, make their Victorian debut.
1923	Ponsford hits 429 against Tasmania, a world first-class record. Victoria's first innings total of 1059 is also a world first-class record.
1926	Greatest batting spree of all time - Victoria's first innings 1107 vs New South Wales; Ponsford 352, Ryder 295.
1927-28	Ponsford breaks own world record with 437 vs Queensland at MCG.
1934	Both Woodfull and Ponsford retire, after notching 23 century partnerships for Victoria and Australia.
1937	A world-record crowd of 350,534 attend the Third Test Match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground between Australia and England.
1937-38	Keith Miller makes Victorian debut - as a batsman.
1939-45	Sheffield Shield suspended for duration of war.
1946-47	Victoria wins first post-war Sheffield Shield with Hassett and Miller in command. Neil Harvey makes Shield debut.
1950-51	Victoria wins the Sheffield Shield, something that will not happen again in the 1950s as New South Wales dominates.
1956	First game televised in Victoria; VIC vs NSW telecast by the ABC.
1960	Victoria wins three Sheffield Shields in 1962/63, 1966/67, 1969/70 as Ian Redpath, Paul Sheahan and Max Walker make their debuts.
1965-66	Bob Cowper scores 307 for Australia vs England.
1971-72	Bill Lawry's last season, retiring as the only Victorian player to have made more than 7,000 runs.
1973-74	Victoria wins Sheffield Shield under Keith Stackpole who announces his retirement as of the end of the season.
1975	Former England tearaway Frank Tyson appointed Victorian Director of Coaching, the first in a line of 'new breed' coaches.
1977	VCA stages Centenary Test at MCG. It becomes a spectacular success with huge crows and Australia beating England by 45 runs which was an identical margin to the very First Test in 1877.
1978-79-80	Vics win back-to-back Sheffield Shields.
1981	Julien Wiener and Jeff Moss create Australian first-class record for the third wicket, an unbroken partnership of 390 vs Western Australia.
1982	Merv Hughes makes Vic debut; one match later, Dean Jones makes debut.
1982-83	Graham Yallop scored a record 1254 runs, the most runs ever by one player in a Shield season.
1984	Simon O'Donnell makes memorable Vic debut, scoring a century and taking four wickets vs South Australia.
1985	To celebrate Victoria's 150th anniversary, the VCA hosts the World Championship of Cricket which saw all seven Test Match playing countries together in the one tournament.
1985	MCG lights unveiled.
1986	Ray Bright becomes first man to play 100 games for Victoria.
1990-91	Victoria wins Sheffield Shield under the Captaincy of Simon O'Donnell.
1991	Shane Warne makes his first class debut.
1994-95	Dean Jones scores 324* vs South Australia during the MCG's first day/night Shield match. He also breaks Bill Lawry's run aggregate and becomes the first Victorian to score 8,000 runs.
1993	Brad Hodge makes his first class debut.
1996	The Victorian cricket team adopts 'The Bushrangers' as its marketing name.
2006	Shane Warne takes 700 Test Wickets during the Ashes Boxing Day Test.
2009	Brad Hodge becomes the 6th batsman to pass 10,000 Sheffield Shield runs.
2008-09	Victoria wins Sheffield Shield under the Captaincy of Cameron White.