New South Wales selection bias is a claimed bias of selectors of the

Australian cricket team The Australia men's national cricket team represents Australia in men's international cricket. As the joint oldest team in Test cricket history, playing in the first ever Test match in 1877, the team also plays One-Day International (ODI) an ...

s towards players from

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. It was alluded to in a quote by former

South Australian South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...

captain

David Hookes David William Hookes (3 May 1955 – 19 January 2004) grew up in Torrensville and was a South Australian and Australian cricketer, broadcaster and coach of the Victorian cricket team. An aggressive left-handed batsman, Hookes usually batted in ...

who said that, "when they give out the baggy blue cap in New South Wales, they give you a

baggy green The baggy green is a cricket cap of dark myrtle green colour, which has been worn by Australian Test cricketers since around the turn of the twentieth century. The cap was not originally baggy as evidenced by photographs of early players. The ...

one in a brown paper bag as well to save making two presentations". Hookes' comment came at a time when, especially during the 1980s, there was public speculation that strong performances by non-NSW players were often ignored by the Australian selectors in favour of seemingly under-performing NSW players who were selected for the Test and/or One-Day team. Allegations of this bias have been made by a number of past and present players, including

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Brad Hodge Bradley John Hodge (born 29 December 1974) is an Australian cricket coach and former cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman who batted in the middle order, as well as a part-time right-arm off-spin bowler. Hodge was a prolific run-scorer in ...

, who claimed that his non-selection in the Australian side was due in part to the bias.

Statistical basis

Statistics have been misused to deny and clearly support the bias. Deniers of the bias highlight the few New South Wales players who have suffered at the hands of selectors, and ignore the underperforming NSW players who have been given a paved road to national selection. Out of the list of the top 50 run-scorers in the

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield (currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Marsh Sheffield Shield) is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams from the six states of Australia. Sheffield Shi ...

, the nine players who did not play a single Test came from every state except New South Wales and

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. Out of the list of the top 50 wicket takers, the eight players who did not play a single Test came from every state except New South Wales.'Sheffield Shield / Pura Cup / Records / Most wickets', Cricinfo, ESPN
The players were

Damien Wright Damien Geoffrey Wright (born 25 July 1975) is an Australian cricket coach and former first-class cricketer who coached Hobart Hurricanes cricket team. Wright made his debut for Tasmanian Tigers, Tasmania in 1997, playing with the team until swi ...

(Tasmania, Victoria), Dirk Tazelaar (Queensland),

Ashley Noffke Ashley Allan Noffke (born 30 April 1977) is a former Australian professional cricketer who played domestically for Queensland (1998–2009) and Western Australia (2009–2010). Noffke, who primarily played as a right-arm fast-medium bowler, als ...

(Queensland, Western Australia), Mathew Inness (Victoria, Western Australia),

Joe Dawes Joseph Henry Dawes (born 29 August 1970) is an Australian cricket coach and former player. He played for the Queensland Bulls in Australian domestic cricket as a right-arm fast bowler. He spent much of his early career in and out of the side du ...

(Queensland),

David Saker David James Saker (born 29 May 1966 in Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian cricket coach and former player who played first-class cricket for the Victorian Bushrangers and then the Tasmanian Tigers later on in his career. He was the fast bowl ...

(Tasmania, Victoria),

Ken MacLeay Kenneth Hervey MacLeay (born 2 April 1959) is a former English-born Australian cricketer. He was an all-rounder who played 16 One Day Internationals for Australia between 1983 and 1987. MacLeay played in the 1983 Cricket World Cup in England ...

(Western Australia), and

Paul Jackson Paul Jackson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Paul Jackson (bassist) (1947–2021), American jazz fusion bassist * Paul Jackson Jr. (born 1959), American jazz fusion guitarist * Paul Jackson (poker player), English professional poker player ...

(Queensland, Victoria).

References

{{Biases Cricket controversies Discrimination in Australia Employment discrimination Bias Cricket in New South Wales