STATE authorities should consider reducing the amount of ''pointless'' cricket played at grade level to help lift the standard of the first-class game in Australia, says former NSW captain Dominic Thornely.

Thornely, crowned earlier this week as this summer's O'Reilly Medal winner for the best player in Sydney's first-grade competition, said the volume of grade cricket being played discouraged older players from returning to club ranks once their state careers finished.

That deprived the game's next generation of players from being able to tap into the knowledge of their more experienced club teammates, said Thornely, who averaged 42 with the bat in a first-class career spanning seven seasons.

Thornely's comments come as Australian cricket prepares for an extensive review into the game in this country after the disastrous performance of the national team during the Ashes series.

The 32-year-old, who is yet to decide whether he will play on next season, was particularly critical of the amount of 50-over cricket being played at first-grade level - the feeder competition to NSW's state side. Sydney's limited-overs competition features eight preliminary games plus three rounds of finals.

''I think it's quite ridiculous how much grade cricket is played full stop, and how much pointless grade cricket is played,'' said Thornely, who played three Twenty20 games for NSW this summer.

''It hasn't been good for young kids, hasn't been good for the older players. It draws the older players away from the game because of the amount of cricket that's played. I still feel as if I've played a lot of cricket this year, and I haven't even played state cricket. I find that quite amusing considering I'm playing socially now - purely for the enjoyment.''

Thornely said the standard of grade cricket was higher five years ago. Of the top 15 leading run scorers this summer, only one batsman - former NSW opener Greg Mail - averaged above 50.