Sheffield Shield of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia were already playing each other in ad-hoc matches. The new tournament commenced in the summer of 1892–93, mandating home and away fixtures between each colony each season. The three teams competed for the Sheffield Shield, named after its benefactor. A Polish immigrant, Phillip Blashki, won the competition to design the trophy, a silver shield. The competition therefore commenced some 15 years after Australia's first Test match. In 1999, the Australian Cricket Board (now Cricket Australia) announced a sponsorship deal which included renaming the Sheffield Shield to the Pura Milk Cup, then to
The cricketers illustrative realism." The model for the batsman was Teddy Woolard and Roy Holloway was the model for the bowler. In 1996, after the models were identified, Woolard was asked for his opinion of Drysdale's portrayal; "I just don't rate it ... It makes us all look out of proportion." The town of Hill End itself is not as desolate as shown in the painting, with a later visitor to Hill End remarking "Even the scattered buildings—so blank and menacing in The Cricketers—appear as if ripped from the cover of a chocolate box." The cricketers The cricketers is a 1948 painting