Victorian Bushrangers

The Victorian Bushrangers is a cricket team based in Melbourne that represents the state of Victoria. Cricket Victoria administers this team and the players are drawn from the Premier Cricket competition in Melbourne. The home ground of this team is the Melbourne Cricket Ground. An alternate home venue is the Junction Oval (St. Kilda Cricket Ground). This team takes part in the KFC Twenty20 Big Bash which is a recent Twenty20 competition, the Ford Ranger Cup which is a limited overs competition and the Sheffield Shield (or the Pura Cup) which is a first class competition.

The Victorian Bushrangers have been victorious in the Pura Cup in the following years - 1894-95, 1897-98, 1898-99, 1900-01, 1907-08, 1914-15, 1921-22, 1923-24, 1924-25, 1927-28, 1929-30, 1930-31, 1933-34, 1934-35, 1936-37, 1946-47, 1950-51, 1962-63, 1966-67, 1969-70, 1973-74, 1978-79, 1979-80, 1982-83, 1990-91, 2003-04. During these matches the highest individual score was attained in 1927-28 by WH Ponsford when he scored 437 against Queensland. The best individual bowling was attained in 1936-37 by EL McCormick when he took 9 wickets for 40 runs against South Australia. The team managed the highest score of 1107 in 1926-27 while playing against New South Wales. The lowest score against the Bushrangers has been 18 in 1868-69 by Tasmania.

The one day competition was won by the Victorian bushrangers in the years 1971-71, 1979-80, 1994-95, 1998-99. The highest individual score was attained in 1986-87 when DM Jones scored 139 not out against New South Wales. The best individual bowling was 5 wickets for 20 runs by GD Watson in 1969-70 while playing against Western Australia. The highest score of the bushrangers has been 352 for 8 in 2007-08 while playing against New South Wales.

Some of the notable batsmen of this team have been Dean Jones, Matthew Elliott, Brad Hodge, Bill Lawry and Bill Ponsford. Some of the memorable bowlers have been Paul Reiffel, Alan Connolly, Bert Ironmonger, Tony Dodemaide, Merv Hughes and Ray Bright.

Major achievements

The Victorian Bushrangers have won the Pura Cup 26 times, the Ford Ranger Cup 4 times and the Twenty20 Cup 3 times.