CONTRACT BLOW FOR WADE

Tasmania’s Matthew Wade was one of a clutch of striking omissions as Cricket Australia yesterday announced its 17-man contract list

THE 2006-07 victory was the historic first first-class title, but it was the 2010-11 Sheffield Shield crown that truly marked the beginning of Tasmanian cricket’s golden run.

From that seven-wicket victory over a NSW team full of big names a decade ago, the Tigers lost the final the following year by three wickets in a classic to Queensland at the Gabba, before turning the tables on the Bulls at Blundstone Arena in 2012-13.

Team success also brought individual honours, with the likes of Ben Hilfenhaus, Ed Cowan, George Bailey, Xavier Doherty, Alex Doolan and James Faulkner earning national selection from this team, while Luke Butterworth was desperately unlucky not to follow suit.

The team will gather today to mark the 10-year anniversary of the win, which saw Cowan win man-ofthe-match for a first innings century and Mark Cosgrove hit the winning runs in his first year as a Tiger in a magic season. An immensely gifted left-hand bat, Cosgrove — who only finished playing county cricket last year — said Tasmania’s lifestyle resulted in him playing some of his best cricket.

“Nothing was too serious,” Cosgrove, 36, said.

“Obviously we wanted to win the games and we were dead serious on the field, but off the field the lifestyle is nice and relaxed.”

Butterworth said it was the influence of coach Tim Coyle and a stable star-studded group that led to the success.

“We just had a great core group of players,” Butterworth said.