They compete annually in the Australian domestic senior men's cricket season, which consists of the first-class Sheffield Shield and the limited overs Matador BBQs One-Day Cup.

Despite winning their first match, and producing many fine cricketers in the late 19th century, Tasmania was overlooked when the participants in Australian first-class tournament known as the Sheffield Shield were chosen in 1892.

Tasmania play their limited overs cricket in a predominantly green uniform, with red and gold as their secondary colours, and have a Tasmanian tiger as their team logo.

Cricket is recorded as having been played in the settlements at Richmond, Clarence Plains, Kempton, Sorell, in the Macquarie Valley west of Campbell Town, Westbury, Evandale, Longford and Hadspen.

One such match that was arranged in March 1826 by Joseph Bowden, the hotelier of the Lamb Inn on Brisbane Street was played for a winner's purse of 50 guineas between "Eleven Gentlemen from the Counties of Sussex and Kent against the choice of the whole Island of Van Diemen's Land".

One of the earliest men responsible for organising cricket within the colony was John Marshall, who was established the Hobart Town Club soon after his arrival from England.

The Victorian side that visited in 1858 had adopted the new round arm form of bowling, and it demolished the Tasmanian batting order unused to the technique.

The colony could also boast genuinely first-class quality players, such as Kenneth Burn,[5] Charles Eady,[6] and Edward Windsor,[7] the first two of whom played test cricket for Australia.

[citation needed] The inter-war years proved a period of consolidation for Tasmania, as the state struggled to recover from the devastation of the war.

Cricket resumed much faster than it had done after World War I, and excellent players such as Ronald Morrisby, Emerson Rodwell, and Bernard Considine emerged.

The Australian Cricket Board of Control outlined areas in which the state's administration would need to be improved before Tasmania could participate in the Shield.

The Tasmanian team was finally admitted to the Sheffield Shield by the Australian Cricket Board in 1977 on a two-year trial basis, although it played a reduced roster in comparison to the other states.

Simmons had proved an inspirational captain for Tasmania, and although the side only won one of the twelve first-class matches under his leadership, that had more to do with the quality of the homegrown players at the time.

[9] The presence of Simmons, and the 1978–79 Gillette Cup victory, had brought attention to Tasmanian cricket, and soon other international professionals joined the state for brief stints to both help out Tasmania's development, and gain further experience in Australian conditions.

Michael Holding, Winston Davis, Patrick Patterson, Richard Hadlee and Dennis Lillee were among the more notable players to represent Tasmania in the late 1970s and early '80s.

After finally being admitted to the Sheffield Shield permanently, the Tasmanian side initially struggled for success and consistency, and were the competition's whipping-boys throughout the 1980s and early 90s.

The rise of a local hero in the form of David Boon, who by 1984 had achieved international fame, showed the country, and the world, that Tasmanian cricket was here to stay.

Regardless of the lack of competitive success, one exceptionally bright point came with the unearthing of a rare talent in Ricky Ponting, who would go on to become one of the world's best batsmen.

The 1997–98 season saw the Tigers qualify for the final off the back off a remarkable six straight victories, and they were desperately unlucky not to win the competition after such dominance.

The Tigers continue to remain competitive in all forms of the Australian domestic game, and in 2006–07 were successful in claiming their first-ever Sheffield Shield title.

Spinner Jason Krejza played two tests on the back of solid performances for the state, but failed to impress at international level.

Fast-bowler Ben Hilfenhaus was included in the national squad for the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 and a tour of India, before making his test cricket debut in South Africa in 2009.

[13] Cricket Australia encouraged the state sides to recruit a foreign star for the 2009/10 season, in order to boost the appeal of the KFC Twenty20 Big Bash internationally.

The decision was made to move both the offices of the Tasmanian Cricket Association, and the official home ground to Bellerive Oval in Clarence.