Top 30 Shield seasons of the past 30 years: 25-21

The countdown so far: 30-26

25) Adam Gilchrist 1995-96 (WA)

Matches: 11 | 54 dismissals (50c, 4st) | Runs: 757 | Ave: 50.46 | 100s: 1 | HS: 189no

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There were a number of identifiers from Adam Gilchrist's 1995-96 Shield campaign that would come to define him as an international superstar in the ensuing decade. Gilchrist had earlier moved from NSW to WA for an opportunity and while the locals were reluctant to warm to him, the dashing left-hander was doing everything in his power to win them over.

The first Gilchrist trait recognisable from that season is strike-rate: his 757 runs came at the head-turning pace of 71.95 per 100 balls.

Second, his prolific numbers behind the stumps: the 24-year-old became the first WA 'keeper to notch 50-plus dismissals in a Shield season, which remains his record alone (he is also one of three Shield 'keepers to manage 50-plus dismissals in three seasons, alongside Queensland greats Wade Seccombe and Chris Hartley).

And third, his ability to perform on the big stage. Gilchrist had offered instances of his game-changing brilliance with the bat in the first half of the season, notably via scores of 99no and 68 against South Australia, and 82 against Victoria when he was finally moved ahead of Brad Hogg in WA's stacked batting order.

When his form tapered off in the back half of the season, it seemed all he needed was a quick-fire 41no (26 balls) to guide WA to a five-wicket win to ready himself for the biggest match of his career at that point: the Shield final.

In a clash for the ages, South Australia emerged victorious owing to their ladder position, but Gilchrist stunned Australian cricket with a 187-ball blitzkrieg, smashing 15 fours and five sixes in his unbeaten 189 to establish himself as perhaps the country's most exciting talent.

24) Trent Copeland (NSW), 2018-19

Matches: 9 matches | Wickets: 52 | Ave: 18.21 | 5wi: 3 | BBM: 9-131

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Blues paceman Trent Copeland has spent the past decade quietly moving his way up the list of the Shield's all-time wicket-takers (he's currently 14th), utilising his McGrath-like blend of seam, accuracy and patience with lethal efficiency.

The summer of 2018-19 has been his apogee to date, when he entered the elite 50-wickets-in-a-season club from only nine matches.

Conceding just 2.31 runs per over, Copeland struck every 47.1 balls, setting the tone for the season with nine wickets in the Blues' first match against SA.

From there, his happy knack for removing top-order batters was on display time and again, and his eight-wicket match haul against Tasmania proved pivotal in pushing the Blues into the final, which they ultimately lost to Victoria.

23) Tom Moody (WA), 1994-95

Matches: 10 | Runs: 900 | Ave: 56.25 | 100s: 1 | HS: 272 | Wickets: 26 | Ave: 27.50 | BBM: 5-86

A case could well be made for all three of Tom Moody's standout seasons in the mid-1990s to be included in this list, with the long-limbed allrounder a key cog in what was a successful period for Western Australia.

Moody didn't gain as many headlines as teammates Justin Langer, Adam Gilchrist and Damien Martyn but his reliability with bat and ball made him a force to be reckoned with in the Shield, and when those batsmen missed out, he was invariably there to pick up the pieces.

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His standout innings of the 1994-95 campaign came in his first trip to the middle, when he hammered Tasmania for 34 fours and two sixes in posting a career-high 272.

Scores of 55 and 81 were posted against a Victoria attack boasting Merv Hughes, Damien Fleming, Paul Reiffel and Shane Warne, while in the new year he chimed in with innings hauls of 4-51 and 4-42 against SA and NSW respectively.

Even as WA missed a spot in the decider, Moody still had time to post consecutive scores of 75, 79 and 71no to finish the summer as his side's leading run-scorer.

22) Brendon Julian (WA), 1997-98

Matches: 9 | Wickets: 39 | Ave: 24.50 | 5wi: 2 | BBM: 8-122 | Runs 401 | Ave: 50.12 | 100s: 2 | HS: 124

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Tom Moody wasn't the only giant allrounder from the west making waves in the Shield in the mid-to-late 1990s.

Brendon Julian's seven-Test career was over by the time the 1997-98 summer rolled around but his impact was still being felt domestically. On his day, the physically imposing left-armer was a challenging proposition for the country's finest batsmen, and throughout that season, it was regularly his day.

Across nine matches, the destructive lower-middle-order batsman and swing bowler averaged more than 50 with the bat and under 25 with the ball in a memorable campaign that included stunning hauls of 6-45 and 7-39 against SA and NSW respectively, and an unbeaten 121 against Victoria.

Most notably, Julian's summer finished with the Shield trophy heading west, and his contribution in the decider was significant: six wickets for the match and a rollicking 124 (105 balls) in WA's first innings.

21) Alex Carey (SA) 2016-17

Matches: 11 | Dismissals: 59 (57c, 2st) | Runs: 594 | Ave: 33 | 50s: 5 | HS: 79

Redback Alex Carey was only seven matches into his first-class career when he began a record-breaking stretch in the summer of 2016-17. 

The then 25-year-old had jettisoned an Aussie Rules career and was already winning plaudits in Adelaide for his work ethic and attitude as a burgeoning gloveman and left-handed bat.

But it was something else altogether when he finished the summer having eclipsed the record for most dismissals in a Shield season. Carey broke the mark that had been jointly held by Queensland legends Wade Seccombe and Chris Hartley at 58, averaging 2.68 dismissals per innings as he took full advantage of South Australia's five frontline bowlers, who took 177 wickets between them.

With the bat, Carey passed fifty five times in 19 innings to be the competition's 16th-highest run-scorer.

The best Shield performances of the past 30 years

30 – 26

Make sure to return to cricket.com.au and the CA Live app all this week as we continue our countdown of the best Shield performances of the past 30 years