New South Wales selection bias

New South Wales selection bias is a claimed bias of selectors of the Australian cricket teams towards players from New South Wales. It was alluded to in a quote by former South Australian captain David Hookes who said that, "when they give out the baggy blue cap in New South Wales, they give you a baggy green one in a brown paper bag as well to save making two presentations".^[1] 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's Brad Hodge, who claimed that his non-selection in the Australian side was due in part to the bias.^[2]

Statistical basis

Statistics have been misused to deny^[3] and clearly support the bias.^[4] 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.^[5]

Out of the list of the top 50 run-scorers in the Sheffield Shield, the nine players who did not play a single Test came from every state except New South Wales and Western Australia.^[6] 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.^[7]

References