Sean's first appearances in representative cricket came in 2005 and 2006 when he played for Hampshire U15 in that age group County Cup and County Championship. It has to be said that his performances were not outstanding, though his bowling in the Cup matched that of a teenage Danny Briggs, soon to achieve rather more with his left arm spin. As a batsman Sean's best score in either competition was 43 against Somerset in the Championship in the latter year, Among the opposition bowlers was a teenage Lewis Gregory.

A family move to Perth, where Paul established a cricket school, saw Sean established as a member of the State U19XI - having scored 190 in a school match - which played the other State sides in a 50 over competition. Among his team mates was a young Darrel Mitchell then seen mainly as a bowler but destined, playing for New Zealand, to frustrate the best efforts of England's Test attack to remove him for most of the 2022 series! Sean, who was playing first grade cricket for Melville CC, had one innings of note, 34 against a strong New South Wales attack, which included paceman Sean Abbot who has played over 50 ODIs for Australia, and future Test leg spinner Adam Zampa. His best innings for Melville, of which a score has been seen, in this period came in Perth's first grade final, 44, against Subiaco Floreat. However. the match was lost by 5 wickets.

By the summer of 2010 he was back in England to try to establish himself in county cricket. Five seasons followed during which he played in a variety of Leagues and, having played in all formats for MCC Young Cricketers and Hampshire 2nd XI made his first class debut for the County in 2012. His first season was spent with Northern in that tough competition, the Liverpool and District League. His top score was only 42, but he gained much in experience and had a trial, albeit unsuccessful with Derbyshire, playing a 2ndXI match against the Army.

The following season saw him with MCC Young Cricketers and Hampshire 2nds. His best innings for the Lord's based side saw him hit a well-made 118 from 123 balls against Somerset 2nd XI in the 40 over competition. Unfortunately the match was lost by 5 wickets, Sean falling to a return catch by Jamie Overton. Another good innings, and a happy one for his immediate future, came against Hampshire, when he struck a quickfire 91* from 71 balls with 8 fours and 4 sixes. A Hampshire development contract and a regular place in the County 2nd XI followed. He played across all formats until 2015, with a highest score in the 2nd XI Championship of 135 against MCC Young Cricketers from 240 balls with 17 fours and 4 sixes. Arguably though his other ton was a better innings, a stylish 101 from 148 balls against Surrey 2nds before being bowled by Chris Jordan. Sean also shone in some limited overs matches, with 3 fifties in both the 40 over and T20 competitions.

From 2012 he played 11 first class matches for Hampshire totalling 440 runs at 29.33 with 5 fifties. four of which were in the County Championship. A half century on first class debut, against Loughborough University, was followed by a first ball duck in his first Championship match and, though he hit 2 fifties at the end of the season- one a 3 hour 58 at New Road impressing at least on spectator!- he did not play at this level again until 2015, when he made his highest score for the county. This was an undefeated 62 against Sussex when as Wisden noted "Terry saw Hampshire home with more than a day to spare." Despite this he was released at the end of the season, and decided to ply his trade on the other side of the Irish Sea.

During these five years he had also been active in League Cricket. In 2011 he made 7 appearances for Hampstead in the Middlesex Premier League. He struck a dazzling 148 against Twickenham but did little else in his other six matches, his highest score being 13. In the next four seasons he played for Bashley (Rydal) in the Southern Counties League. His outstanding innings came against Lymington in 2012. Opening the batting, with his side chasing a target of 215, he made light of it, striking an undefeated 139 from 122 balls with 19 fours and 5 sixes.

Though he began the summer of 2016 with an early April hundred for Northamptonshire 2nd XI, he was based in Dublin, having signed for YMCA. His batting for the Claremont Road side is best described as being consistent without being outstanding. A string of 30s and 40s perhaps promised more than they achieved. However, an undefeated 58 in the Leinster Cup Final against a strong Leinster CC attack showed his quality as did his performance in the Irish Senior Cup Semi Final, against Merrion at Anglesea Road. He top scored with 51 as YM posted a useful 251 but the hosts, with fine batting from John Anderson and Dom Joyce passed the winning post with 4 wickets in hand. That season, besides making his debut for Leinster Lightnings, Sean made a final attempt to gain a county contract playing 2 matches for Northamptonshire. Though he performed reasonably, with a half century against Sussex at Arundel and 35 against Glamorgan at Swansea, a permanent deal was not forthcoming.

2017 saw Sean cross the Liffey and head for Fingal to join The Hills, where in a local derby with North County making a fine hundred he faced 122 balls, hitting 14 fours and 2 sixes making 118, before being caught off Eddie Richardson having set up a 139 runs victory. He finished the League season with 69* against Cork County in a match won by 7 wickets. In the ISC he hit 57 against Balbriggan in the quarter final but did little else, his failure in a closely fought Final with Waringstown, perhaps being crucial.

The following summer saw him leading the side, having taken over from Mark Sorenson. In what proved to be his final League appearance he hit another hundred against North County - despite his side being put in - 101 from 120 balls with 14 fours and 2 sixes. The Hills posted a formidable 269 despite a fine bowling performance from Eddie Richardson (10-2-18-3).The match was won by 71 runs. In Leinster Senior Cricket he totalled 825 runs at 39.29, while in the ISC he made 190 runs at 35.00.

His debut for Leinster Lightnings came in 2016, though it was not until the following season that the 3 Day Interprovincial Championship was awarded first class status and the 50 over Interprovincial Cup became a List A tournament. He was not over successful in the 3 Day competition, with a top score of 32 on debut in a rain affected draw with Northern Knights at Stormont, but he played a vital march winning innings in the Interprovincial Cup which did much to ensure that Leinster won the trophy. Northern Knights set them a tough target of 247 at Rathmines at the end of July and at 141-6 the odds were on an away win. However the Knights had reckoned without Sean who had come in at 55-2 and had shared in a profitable 4th wicket stand with Sorenson. Now he was joined by Lorcan Tucker in an unbroken stand of 87 which saw the hosts home with 13 balls to spare, Sean finishing on 85 from 66 balls with 10 fours and 2 sixes which was to prove to be his highest Interprovincial score in any format.

The following season saw him make his First Class debut for the Lightnings. As had been the case in the County Championship he began with a duck but he was to prove his worth in the next match against the Northern Knights which helped his side to an innings victory at Castle Avenue. Coming to the wicket at No 4 he batted for 132 minutes, faced 113 balls, hitting 10 fours and 2 sixes. It remains his first class career best and was to prove his only score of note for the Lightnings at this level. In List A matches he totalled 68 runs at 22.66, somewhat disappointing for a player of his talent and experience, However his highest score, 32 against the Knights at Rathmines in September 2017 was a useful contribution to a 56 run victory.

His outstanding performance for an Irish representative side was, of course, his massive and impressive 251* for Ireland A against their Scottish counterparts at Alloway in June 2016. The Irish side, led by Andy McBrine was stronger than the hosts, who used 8 bowlers, none of whom bowled more than 15 overs. None the less Sean's innings was, in the words of the Cricket Ireland Annual " a superb batting display" and a "monumental effort in concentration laced with excellent stroke play and footwork." He batted for 370 minutes, faced 287 balls, hitting 32 fours and 4 sixes. His score remains, at the time of writing, the highest by an Irish cricketer in a representative match, though of course, Ed Joyce's 231 remains the highest for the full Irish side.

The following summer saw him make two noteworthy scores for Ireland Wolves. In a warm up match before the Tri Series with New Zealand and Bangladesh, he scored a fluent 66 against the Kiwis, though this was not enough to prevent the Wolves going down by 85 runs. Later in the season the Wolves played MCC Young Cricketers, Sean opened the batting and made classy 78 before being caught off future Black Caps and Kent quick Jacob Duffy.

Sean was never to play a first class match for Ireland, being limited to 5 ODIs and 1T20 all in 2016. His 5 ODIs brought him 32 runs at 6.40 - with a highest score of 16 against South Africa, while his sole T20 appearance saw him dismissed for 4 against Hong Kong at Bready. In the South African match, Ireland had a target of 355 to chase but went down by 206 runs, only Paul Stirling and Kevin O'Brien seeming to cope. Sean's 16 included 3 fours and came from 17 balls.

Midway through the 2018 season, Sean announced that he was giving up professional cricket and returning to Australia. However once back Down Under he was soon involved in the Game again. The second half of the 2018-19 season saw him play in a 12 side T20 Tournament for, despite his actual age, Western Australia U 23. A run of good innings culminated in the last match of the season, against Victoria when he hit 74 off 37 balls, with 5 fours and 4 sixes, before being run out. His side went on to secure victory by 15 runs.

The following season 2019/20 saw him scoring heavily for Melville and playing for the State 2ndXI. Two quickfire 30s- and continuing good form for Melville, saw him selected for Perth Scorchers in their last match of the Big Bash tournament. Unfortunately he fell for 4, thus missing a chance of impressing on a major stage.

Sean Paul Terry is still a relatively young man in cricket terms and it maybe that he will yet unleash that potential which has produced some spectacular innings as well as some useful ones of gritty defiance.

Edward Liddle, March 2023