Cricket in Western Australia — The Swan River Colony and Early Perth Matches, 1850s

The Swan River Colony was established in 1829 and cricket almost certainly arrived with the first garrison. The earliest recorded match in Western Australia took place in 1835 — a garrison match at Perth. Through the 1840s cricket was sparse due to the colony's small and dispersed population. The decision to accept convict transportation — reversed from 1850 — brought 9,668 transported men to Western Australia between 1850 and 1868, significantly increasing the colony's population and its cricket-playing community. By the mid-1850s organised club matches were being played at the Perth Esplanade, and the Perth Cricket Club — one of several formed in this period — had established regular fixtures with civilian and garrison opponents. The colony's isolation from the eastern states meant that inter-colonial cricket developed slowly; the first match between Western Australia and Victoria was not played until 1892, when WA entered the Sheffield Shield.