# 1980–81 Sheffield Shield season

The 1980–81 Sheffield Shield season was the 79th season of the Sheffield Shield, the domestic first-class cricket competition in Australia. It started on 17 October 1980 and finished on 9 March 1981. Going into the final round of matches, New South Wales, Western Australia and Queensland were all in a position to win the Shield. It would be Western Australia, who found form in the second half of the season with four straight victories, who would emerge victorious, drawing against Queensland to secure its eighth championship.

## Match summaries

* 17–20 October 1980
* Match drawn Brisbane Cricket Ground, Brisbane Umpires: Mick Harvey and Mel Johnson
* New South Wales won the toss and elected to field.
* Mike Whitney (New South Wales) made his first-class debut.
* Points: Queensland 4 (Batting 1, Bowling 3); New South Wales 11 (Batting 6, Bowling 5)
* 17–20 October 1980
* Western Australia won by 7 wickets WACA, Perth Umpires: Peter McConnell and Don Weser
* Western Australia won the toss and elected to field.
* Points: Western Australia 19 (Batting 4, Bowling 5); Victoria 5 (Batting 1, Bowling 4)
* 23–26 October 1980
* New South Wales won by an innings and 61 runs Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney Umpires: Rocky Harris and Arthur Watson
* New South Wales won the toss and elected to bat.
* Points: New South Wales 22 (Batting 7, Bowling 5); Western Australia 3 (Batting 1, Bowling 2)
* 23–26 October 1980
* South Australia won by 6 wickets Adelaide Oval, Adelaide Umpires: Tony Crafter and Bruce Martin
* Tasmania won the toss and elected to bat.
* Points: South Australia 20 (Batting 7, Bowling 3); Tasmania 9 (Batting 6, Bowling 3)
* 24–27 October 1980
* Match drawn Brisbane Cricket Ground, Brisbane Umpires: Mel Johnson and Tom Warwick
* Victoria won the toss and elected to bat
* Rain washed out all of Day 2 and most of Day 3
* Greg Ritchie (Queensland) made his first-class debut
* Points: Queensland 10 (Batting 6, Bowling 4); Victoria 7 (Batting 4, Bowling 3)
* 30 October–1 November 1980
* New South Wales won by an innings and 97 runs Adelaide Oval, Adelaide Umpires: Peter Cronin and Max O'Connell
* South Australia won the toss and elected to field
* Jeff Hammond (South Australia) made his final first-class appearance
* Len Pascoe completed a hat-trick in South Australia's first innings
* Points: New South Wales 20 (Batting 5, Bowling 5); South Australia 2 (Bowling 2)
* 31 October–3 November 1980
* Match drawn Brisbane Cricket Ground, Brisbane Umpires: Mick Harvey and Mel Johnson
* Western Australia won the toss and elected to bat
* Ian Kelly (Queensland) made his first-class debut
* Carl Rackemann (Queensland) suffered a pulled shoulder muscle during Western Australia's second innings and was unavailable to bowl on Day 4.
* Points: Queensland 11 (Batting 6, Bowling 5); Western Australia 6 (Batting 4, Bowling 2)
* 5–7 March 1981
* New South Wales won by 160 runs Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney Umpires: Michael Jay and Arthur Watson
* Tasmania won the toss and elected to field.
* Rick McCosker retired hurt in the New South Wales first innings having scored 61 (team score 0/120) – he returned when the score was 4/157
* Points: New South Wales 17 (Batting 2, Bowling 5); Tasmania 8 (Batting 3, Bowling 5)
* 6–9 March 1981
* Match drawn Kardinia Park, Geelong Umpires: Ray Isherwood and Angelo Nicosia
* South Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
* This was Ashley Mallett's final appearance in first-class cricket
* Points: Victoria 10 (Batting 7, Bowling 3); South Australia 7 (Batting 6, Bowling 1)
* 6–9 March 1981
* Match drawn WACA Ground, Perth Umpires: Peter McConnell and Don Weser
* Queensland won the toss and elected to field.
* Greg Ritchie (Queensland) retired hurt in the Queensland first innings having scored 0 (team score 3/59) – he returned when the score was 6/142
* Points: Western Australia 11 (Batting 6, Bowling 5); Queensland 5 (Batting 1, Bowling 4)

## Points table

| Team | Pld | W | L | D | BatBP | BowBP | Adj | Pts | Quot |
| Western Australia | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 39 | 36 | | 125 | 1.070 |
| New South Wales | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 45 | 37 | | 122 | 1.487 |
| Queensland | 9 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 51 | 37 | | 118 | 1.278 |
| Victoria | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 32 | 29 | | 91 | 1.040 |
| Tasmania | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 21 | 18 | 31.2 | 70.2 | 0.571 |
| South Australia | 9 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 28 | 31 | | 69 | 0.708 |

## Statistics
### Most runs

| Player | Team | Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | Ave | HS | 100 | 50 |
| Greg Chappell | Queensland | 7 | 10 | 2 | 906 | 113.25 | 194 | 4 | 3 |
| John Dyson | New South Wales | 7 | 11 | 2 | 815 | 90.55 | 152 | 3 | 4 |
| Martin Kent | Queensland | 9 | 16 | 4 | 809 | 67.41 | 171 | 2 | 5 |
| Kepler Wessels | Queensland | 9 | 16 | 2 | 747 | 53.35 | 160 | 2 | 2 |
| Brian Davison | Tasmania | 5 | 10 | | 697 | 69.70 | 173 | 4 | 2 |

### Most wickets

| Player | Team | Mat | Balls | Runs | Wkts | Avge | BBI | SR | 5WI | 10WM |
| Bruce Yardley | Western Australia | 9 | 2261 | 968 | 40 | 24.20 | 7/62 | 56.5 | 3 | 1 |
| Jeff Thomson | Queensland | 9 | 1853 | 914 | 36 | 25.38 | 5/61 | 51.4 | 1 | |
| Len Pascoe | New South Wales | 7 | 1457 | 659 | 35 | 18.82 | 5/27 | 41.6 | 1 | |
| Geoff Lawson | New South Wales | 9 | 1917 | 845 | 35 | 24.14 | 5/50 | 54.7 | 1 | |
| Terry Alderman | Western Australia | 8 | 1474 | 747 | 32 | 23.34 | 4/33 | 46.0 | | |
| Dennis Lillee | Western Australia | 7 | 1743 | 765 | 32 | 23.90 | 6/97 | 54.4 | 2 | |