When Harry Nielsen and Nick Winter made their Sheffield Shield debut in the second half of the 2017/18 Australian season, they became only the fifth pair of debutants to create an unusual record.

Harry Nielsen made a century in the South Australian 1st Innings and Nick Winter took 5 wickets in the Victorian 1st Innings, they became only the fifth pair of Sheffield Shield debutants to score a century and take 5 wickets in an innings on debut.

The first pair that did this record was in the first Sheffield Shield match in 1892/93 at the Adelaide Oval when Harry Donnan made 120 in New South Wales’ total of 337 and then Michael Pierce took 8 for 111 in 46.3 overs in the South Australian innings.

The second pair that did this unusual feat was in the next Sheffield Shield match, when New South Wales travelled to the Melbourne Cricket Ground to take on Victoria in their inaugural Shield match. Batting first, New South Wales was dismissed for just 197 with Bob McLeod taking 6 for 54. In reply Victoria made 375 with William Bruce making 128.

It took another 54 years for these feats to be added to. It was in the 1946/47 season, which was the Sheffield Shield’s first season after the end of World War II. In their first home match of the season at the MCG, Victoria after winning the toss and batting first made 543 with debutant and future Test batsman Sax Loxton making an unbeaten 232 in just 334 minutes. In reply, Allan Jinks in his first Sheffield Shield match (after playing two first-class matches against Tasmania in 1935/36) took 5 for 42 off 20 overs with his off breaks.

45 years later, it was a pair from Western Australia to join the list in 1991. Western Australia travelled to Junction Oval in St Kilda to take on Victoria. Mark Lavender made 118 off 300 balls to score a century on debut, putting on a 194 run partnership with Graeme Wood. Western Australia declared on 6 for 418. In reply, Victoria were dismissed for 342 with future England bowler Martin McCague taking 5 for 105 on debut.

And finally, in February 2018, the most current pair of debutants made the list. Harry Nielsen made his Sheffield Shield debut and made 105 off 182 balls, helping South Australia make 379, in the process putting on 143 for the 7th wicket with Joe Mennie. In reply, Victoria fell just short of the South Australian total, being dismissed for 371. Former ACT player, Nick Winter on debut took 5 for 85 off 27 overs.

100 and 5 wickets on debut in the 1st Innings by debutants in a Sheffield Shield Match:

1892/93 – H Donnan/M Pierce (NSW v SA)

1892/93 – W Bruce/RW McLeod (Vic v NSW)

1946/47 – SJE Loxton/A Jinks (Vic v Qld)

1990/91 – MP Lavender/MJ McCague (WA v Vic)

2017/18 – HJ Nielsen/NP Winter (SA v Vic)