Birth of the Competition and its Formative Years 1885-1900
Prior to the formation of the West Australian Cricketing Association, all matches played in metropolitan Perth and Fremantle were challenges or "pick-up" games. A number of clus had been in existence for some years, but only played matches by invitation.
The 1885-86 season saw the first official competition on a club basis in Western Australia and the WACA was responsible for its conduct. Matches generally took place on Saturday afternoons and were concluded the same day. The club winning most matches was declared the premier team.
Finding its Feet and Consolidation 1901-1910
The West Australian Cricketing Association, formed in 1885, ceased to exist on 25 August 1899. The Association had decided to transfer control of the ground from the committee to the trustees. The way they chose to do it was repeal all the existing rules and disband the Association. On 7 September 1899 a meeting of cricketers voted to form a new Association to be called the Western Australian Cricketing Association.
A Cricket Council was formed to manage the local competition that saw the formation of Electorate cricket. There were now four Perth teams (North Perth, South Perth, East Perth and West Perth), a western suburbs team (Claremont-Cottesloe) and two Fremantle teams (South Fremantle and East Fremantle). One of the aims of the new body was to play the entirety of their competition matches on turf wickets.
In 1905-06 the old Perth/Fremantle factionalism flared again and the Electorate cricket system died. It was replaced by the old club competition. The WACA competition became a six-team affair with two new clubs bolstering the ranks, King's Park and Wanderers. Fremantle revived its old competition and also hosted six clubs.
A truce was negotiated the following season and a unified 12-team competition was conducted, with new teams Corinthians and Subiaco entering for the first time. The 12-team competition in 1907-08 was thought to be too cumbersone and the standard was not improving. It was therefore divided into two sections for the following season with the addition of two new teams. The following season, 1909-10, saw the formation of an official WACA Second Grade, though not every First Grade team fielded a Second Grade team.
More Changes and World War I 1911-1918
The Cricket Council decided the sensible idea would be to have clubs based on suburban localities and, as a direct consequence of that decision, District cricket was implemented in 1911-12. There were eight senior teams, Claremont, East Perth, Fremantle, Midland Junction, North Perth, North Fremantle, Subiaco-Leederville and West Perth. Only North Fremantle did not field a second team. This situation lasted two seasons before World War I caused some major interruptions. In 1914-15, the Second Grade expanded to eight teams when Subiaco-Leederville had sufficient numbers to provide two sides. Next season saw University withdraw and Midland-Swan, as they were then known, drop to Second Grade. This meant an unsatisfactory five-team competition.
Over the next three seasons the War took its toll as the Second Grade was suspended due to lack of numbers. The War also had a significant impact on the careers of many club cricketers. Some fine players and inimitable characters had started their careers prior to the commencement of the War, but many lost part of their prime playing years.
|
SEASON |
FIRST GRADE |
SECOND GRADE |
|
|
(aka District or A Grade) |
(aka Sub-Dist., B and B1 Grade) |
|
1885-86 |
Metropolitan |
|
|
1886-87 |
Fremantle |
|
|
1887-88 |
Fremantle & Metropolitan |
|
|
1888-89 |
Metropolitan & Perth |
|
|
1889-90 |
Perth |
|
|
1890-91 |
Metropolitan |
|
|
1891-92 |
West Perth |
|
|
1892-93 |
Metropolitan |
|
|
1893-94 |
West Perth |
|
|
1894-95 |
West Perth & Metrop A |
|
|
1895-96 |
Metropolitan |
|
|
1896-97 |
N/A |
|
|
1897-98 |
Karrakatta |
|
|
1898-99 |
South Fremantle |
|
|
1899-00 |
East Perth |
|
|
1900-01 |
Claremont-Cottesloe |
|
|
1901-02 |
East Perth |
|
|
1902-03 |
East Perth |
|
|
1903-04 |
Claremont-Cottesloe |
|
|
1904-05 |
North Perth |
|
|
1905-06 |
North Perth |
|
|
1906-07 |
Wanderers |
|
|
1907-08 |
North Fremantle |
|
|
1908-09 |
Corinthians A |
|
|
|
A GRADE |
B GRADE |
|
1909-10 |
North Fremantle |
Subiaco-Leederville |
|
1910-11 |
East Perth |
Fremantle |
|
1911-12 |
Fremantle |
Fremantle |
|
1912-13 |
East Perth |
East Perth |
|
1913-14 |
North Perth |
No Competition |
|
1914-15 |
North Perth |
North Perth |
|
1915-16 |
North Perth |
West Perth |
|
1916-17 |
North Perth |
No Competition |
|
1917-18 |
North Perth |
No Competition |
|
1918-19 |
North Perth |
No Competition |
*Where a premier is listed as 'X & Y', joint premiers were declared either through a tie or a washout