The Sheffield Shield is now back home at the Adelaide Oval - 133 years after it first arrived - and the story behind its creation is an Ashes episode involving one of the greatest figures in cricket history.
Hard to believe now but in the summer of 1891-92 there were concerns that the popularity of cricket was starting to wane.
Crowds were losing interest, the standard of play was falling, and inter-colonial matches were haphazard.
That was all dramatically reversed by Henry North Holroyd, better known as the Earl of Sheffield.
Sheffield was an English politician and diplomat who loved cricket more than anything. He wasn’t much of a player, but he poured a fortune into the sport, building his own ground and then arranging and picking up the tab for England to tour Australia.
Knowing he needed a star attraction, Sheffield convinced 43-year-old Dr W.G. Grace to lead the team. It had been almost 20 years since the Doctor made his last visit down under but £3000 plus expenses convinced him another trip was worthwhile.
Crowds poured in to see Grace and his team. Australia won thrilling Test matches in Sydney and Melbourne before England won handsomely in Adelaide.
It was the first Ashes series win by Australia after England had won the first eight and gave the sport the shot in the arm it needed.
To further boost Australian cricket, Lord Sheffield donated £150 for a trophy that would be contested between the leading colonies – NSW, Victoria and SA.
The first ever Sheffield Shield match was played the week before Christmas in 1892 when South Australia, led by the mighty George Giffen, defeated New South Wales by 57 runs on the Adelaide Oval.
After the match, the ball was mounted as a trophy and is one of the priceless items stored in the SACA archive.
The collection also includes a beautiful photograph of ‘Lord Sheffield’s English Team of Cricketers 1892’ mounted along with the signatures of the players plus a volume of W.G. Grace’s career simply titled ‘Cricket’.
The enduring testament of the extraordinary summer of 1891-92 is the Sheffield Shield Room at the Adelaide Oval that houses more historic gems and rightly honours the role played by Lord Sheffield in reviving and nurturing the sport.