Australian cricket team
The
Australian cricket team, together with the
English cricket team, are the oldest teams in Test cricket having played its first
Test match in 1877. The team has won 315 of the 682 Test matches it has played against other countries and today is regarded as the leading Test match playing nation by the
International Cricket Council by heading its
Test Championship table.
Australia is also a leading international
one day team having won 381 of the 625 One Day Internationals it has played against other countries. Australia won the
Cricket World Cup in 1987, 1999 and 2003 and currently heads the
ICC One Day International Championship table.
Important dates in history of Australian cricket
* November,
1868:
1868 Aboriginal cricket tour of England*
15 March, 1877:
Test debut*
28 December,
1934: Women's Test team debut
*
5 January,
1971:
ODI Debut*
23 June,
1973: Women's ODI team debut
*
8 November,
1987: Won 4th edition of
Cricket World Cup by defeating
England in the final match at
Eden Gardens,
Calcutta.
*
20 June,
1999:
Steve Waugh lifts the
World Cup *
23 March,
2003:
Ricky Ponting lifts the
World CupThe 1860s
In 1865, a match was arranged between a team of Aboriginal cricketers and European settlers from various pastoral stations; the indigenous team won. The playing of cricket by indigenous people of the Western District reflected their changing circumstances. At this time there were no formal associations.
The European population gave Aboriginal players nicknames; for example,
Johnny Mullagh worked at the Mullagh station. Others were referred to by names like Bullocky, Sundown, Dick-a-Dick, and Red Cap. These trivial names demonstrate the poor attitude of the settlers towards the Aboriginal station workers and cricketers.
Thomas Wentworth Wills was a key figure in the development of colonial cricket and
Australian rules football. In November
1866, Wills became the Captain and Coach of the indigenous cricket team. The very first Australian cricket team that played overseas was the
1868 Aboriginal cricket tour of England.
The 1870s
The 1870s saw the first official matches between English and Australian teams. Due to the amount of time that it took teams to travel from England to Australia (and vice versa), these teams were generally not a true representation of the best players for each country. At the time, there was no significance placed on these matches - statisticians later called them "test matches" between England and Australia.
James Lillywhite's English side toured Australia in between January and April, 1877 and played the first two test matches after a drawn match against a
New South Wales side.
England in Australia 1876/77. Match length: Timeless. Balls per over: 4. Series result: Drawn 1-1. Trivia::
Charles Bannerman faced the first ball in test matches, scored the first runs in test matches and scored the first test century and half-century.:Charles Bannerman also scored 69.6% of the Australian first innings total in match 1. This record remains to this day as the highest percentage of an innings total that has been scored by a single batsman.:
William Midwinter picked up the first 5 wicket haul in a test innings in match 1.:
Jack Blackham performed the first stumping in Test cricket in match 1.
Just over a year later, an Australian side visited England and played a match against the MCC. In what turned out to be a match that was completed in one day, only 105 runs were scored with the Australian side emerging the victors by nine wickets. This match however was not granted test status.
In 1879, Lord Harris led an English side down under between January and March. This tour schedule involved a single test match followed by two series of two matches against Victorian and New South Wales sides.
England in Australia 1878/79. Match length: Timeless. Balls per over: 4. Series result: Australia, 1-0. | No. | Date | Home captain | Away captain | Venue | Result |
|---|
| 3| 2,3,4 Jan 1879 | Dave Gregory (AUS) | Lord Harris (ENG) | Melbourne Cricket Ground (AUS) | AUS by 10 wkts |
Trivia::Fred Spofforth performs Test crickets first hat-trick by dismissing Vernon Royle, Francis McKinnon and Tom Emmett in successive balls.:Fred Spofforth also take the first 10-wicket match haul in Test cricket.
Image:Australian cricket team in England 1878.jpg|1878 teamImage:First Australian Test squad.jpg|1878 team The 1880s
See also: History of Test cricket (to 1883), History of Test cricket (1884 to 1889)Image:Australian cricket team in England 1882.jpg|1882 teamTest tours
Australia toured
England 5 times during the 1880s and played 27 Test matches against them losing 15 of them.
Note: Balls per over: 4. 16 of them were timeless matches while 11 were 3 day Test matches.*
1880, September: 1 Test
*
1882: 1 Test
*
1884: 3 Tests
*
1886: 3 Tests
*
1888: 3 Tests
List of Australian Test captains in the 1880s
# Murdoch# Horan# Massie# Blackham# Scott# McDonnell
List of top Australian Test run scorers in the 1880s
#
Percy McDonnell 950#
Billy Murdoch 860#
Alec Bannerman 745
List of top Australian Test wicket takers in the 1880s
# Spofforth 94 wickets at an average of 18.41 runs per wicket# Palmer 78 wickets at an average of 21.51 runs per wicket
The 1890s
Main article: History of Test cricket (1890 to 1900)
Test tours
Australia toured
England 4 times during the 1890s and played 26 Test matches against them. (won 10, lost 10)
Note: Half the Tests had 5 balls per over and half had 6 balls per over. Half of them were 3 day Test matches and half were timeless Test matches.*
1890: 2 Tests
*
1893: 3 Tests
*
1896: 3 Tests
*
1899: First 5 Test tour
List of Australian Test captains in the 1890s
# Murdoch# Blackham# Giffen# Trott# Darling
List of top Australian Test run scorers in the 1890s
# Darling 1139
List of top Australian Test wicket takers in the 1890s
# Giffen 74# Trumble 63# Jones 56# Turner 51
1900-1909
Australian team started touring other countries such as
South Africa which had Test status (first tour in
1903) and New Zealand for the first time in
1905.
Test tours
Australia toured England 3 times between 1900-1909 and toured South Africa for the first time in 1903. Australia played 33 Test matches in this decade winning 16 of them and losing 9. Most of them were against England and only 3 of them were against South Africa. Test cricket had for the first time gone to Africa. All the Test matches had 6 balls per over. Most of them were 3 day Test matches while 15 of them were timeless Test matches.
*
1902: 5 Tests in England
*
1903: First tour of South Africa, 3 Tests
*
1905: 5 Tests in England
*
1909: 5 Tests in England
Australian Test captains
The two main Australian Test team captains during this period were Darling and Noble. Both of them had a good captaincy record.
List of top Australian wicket takers of the period
# Noble 89# Saunders 79# Trumble 78
1910-1919
Australia were visited in the first two summers of this decade by South Africa and England respectively. In 1912 the Australian team toured England and played in the
1912 Triangular Tournament with their hosts and South Africa.
Australia toured
USA and
Canada in June to August
1913, playing five matches, four in
Philadelphia and one in
Toronto.
Needless to say, this was the decade of
World War I. After the last match of the Triangular series in August 1912, Australia did not play another Test match until December 1920 when England, as the Marylebone Cricket Club toured Australia in a five Test series.
The 1920s
Test tours
Australia toured England twice and South Africa once during this decade. Australia played 28 Test matches during this decade, winning 14 and losing 6. Most of them were against England and only 3 against South Africa. 5 of the Test matches had 8 ball overs. Most of the Test matches were timeless whereas there were 9 three day Test matches and 3 four day Test matches.
*
1921: 5 Tests in England, 3 Tests in South Africa in November
*
1926: 5 Tests in England
Australian Test captains
The two main Australian Test captains during this decade were Armstrong and Collins. Both of them had a good record.
List of top Australian Test run scorers of the 1920s
# Ryder 1394# Collins 1352# Macartney 1252# Gregory 1146
List of top Australian wicket takers of the 1920s
# Mailey 99# Gregory 85
The 1930s
Australia toured England thrice and had the first 5 Test tour of South Africa. Australia played 39 Tests in this decade winning 22 and losing 10. Australia also toured
India and
Ceylon in
1935 but no official international match was played although India got Test status in
1932.
Test tours
*
1930: 5 Tests in England
*
1934: 5 Tests in England
* 1935-
1936: First 5 Test tour of South Africa
*
1938: 4 Tests in England
Australian Test captains
The leading Australian Test captain in this decade was Woodfull.
Don Bradman led the Australian team in 9 Test matches in this decade.
Australian Test batsmen
Don Bradman, regarded by most followers of the game as the greatest batsman to have played the game scored 4625 Test runs in this decade at an average of 102.77 runs per innings with 19 centuries.
Sir Donald eclipsed other performances which would have otherwise had been noticed such as Stan McCabe's 2748 runs at an average of 48.2 runs per innings.
List of top Australian wickettakers in the 1930s
* Grimmett 169 wickets at an average of 21.95 runs per wicket
* O'Reilly 136 wickets at an average of 23.68 runs per wicket
The 1940s
Test tours
This decade was affected by
World War II. Due to this Australia played only 17 Test matches. Their performance was impressive perhaps due to the Don Bradman factor as they won 13 of them and did not lose a single Test match. Most of the victories were against England. Australia were led by Sir Donald Bradman during this period. He scored 1903 runs at an average of 105.72 runs per innings.
*
1946 Australia's first Test tour of New Zealand (1 Test)
*
1948 5 Test tour of England (
see: The Invincibles (cricket))
*
1949 -
1950 5 Test tour of South Africa
Australian Test bowlers
*
Ray Lindwall 70 wickets at an average of 19.17 runs per wicket.
* Johnston 54 wickets at an average of 18.51 runs per wicket.
The 1950s
Australia played 57 Test matches, won 29 and lost 12 of them. England was no longer the prime opponent. Australia played 13 Test matches against South Africa and 10 against West Indies. Most of the Tests during this period were played with 8 ball overs and 5 day Test matches although Australia also played 22 six day Test matches. Australian Test captains were Hassett, Johnson and the popular
Richie Benaud who had an exceptional record during this period.Australia's leading runscorer in this decade was Harvey with 4573 runs at an average of 50.25 runs per innings while the leading wickettaker was Richie Benaud with 165 wickets at an average of 23.95.
Test tours
*
1953 5 Tests in England
*
1955 5 Test tour of
West Indies*
1956 5 Tests in England
* 1956 first tour of
Pakistan, 1 Test
* 1956 first tour of
India, 3 Tests
*
1958 5 Tests in South Africa
*
1959 3 Tests in Pakistan
* 1959-
1960 5 Tests in India
The 1960s
Most of the Test matches played had 6 ball overs and were 5 day Test matches as is the standardised format today. Australia also toured Rhodesia and New Zealand in
1967 although no official international match was played.
Richie Benaud captained Australia in 18 Test matches,
Bob Simpson in 29 and
Bill Lawry in 16. Lawry was the leading Test batsman. He scored 4717 Test runs at an average of 49.65 runs per innings while McKenzie was the leading Test wicket taker with 238 Test wickets.
Test tours
*
1961 5 Tests in England
*
1964 5 Tests in England
* 1964 3 Tests in India
* 1964 1 Test in Pakistan
*
1965 5 Tests in West Indies
*
1966-1967 5 Tests in South Africa
*
1968 5 Tests in England
*
1969 5 Tests in India
The 1970s
The 1970s were a controversial time in Australian cricket, with many players signing with businessman
Kerry Packer's rival
World Series Cricket competition. The decade produced many of the stars of Australian cricket history, including wicket-keeper
Rod Marsh and fast bowlers
Dennis Lillee and
Jeff Thompson. The Chappell brothers - Greg, Ian and Trevor - all represented Australia during this period as well.
The 1980s
Australian cricket during the 1980s was comparatively unsuccessful, particularly following the retirement of players such as Marsh and Lillee. Queenslander
Allan Border, rated as one of the finest middle-order players in history, took over as captain and attempted a re-building process. For quite some time, the common wisdom was that Australia's score in an innings would be "Border plus 100". Border achieved the feat of scoring more than 150 runs in both innings of a Test during a tour of
Pakistan during this decade.
As the decade continued, a number of talented players made their debuts and established themselves in the team. Among these were fast bowlers such as
Craig McDermott and
Carl Rackemann, wicket keeper
Ian Healy,
twin brothers
Steve and
Mark Waugh and batsman
Dean Jones. Cult heroes such as overweight Tasmanian batsman
David Boon and Victorian bowler "Swervin'"
Merv Hughes (whose pre-bowling warm up routine was copied by fans around the stadiums) also earned places in the team.
In the closing years of the 1980s, Australia won back the Ashes from England and began an era of dominance in that series which only ended in 2005. This decade was also notable for Australia's first
Cricket World Cup victory, achieved in 1987 when they won against England by 7 runs in the most closely fought World Cup final to date at
Eden Gardens in
Calcutta. In 1987, Australia and India played out only the second
tie in Test history, with Jones producing a famous double-century innings in sapping heat.
The 1990s
The 1990s saw the dawn and twilight of many well-known Australian cricketers.
Shane Warne became a household name during the 1993 Ashes tour,
Allan Border retired after playing South Africa at Durban in 1994,
Glenn McGrath became famous as a metronome (and as a rabbit) during the 1994-95 tour of the West Indies,
Ricky Ponting came onto the scene with 96 against Sri Lanka during 1995-96,
Craig McDermott was forced to retire during the 1996-97 season, while
Brett Lee appeared at the turn of the century. Meanwhile, Australian cricket was run by three captains, Allan Border,
Mark Taylor and
Steve Waugh.
Australia continued to assert their dominance over The Ashes during the 1990s, won the unofficial Test 'world championship' prize from West Indies during 1994-95, won a second World Cup in 1999 and began a long winning streak in 1999, both in one-day internationals and Tests. The only venues where Australia struggled were India and Sri Lanka.
Shortly after losing to Sri Lanka in the final of the 1996 World Cup, Australia adopted a policy of fielding separate Test and one-day sides. While the two sides were not markedly different, the policy was intended to ensure that players such as
Michael Bevan, who found little success at Test level but consistenly performed well in one-day matches, were only chosen for the side for which they were suitable. The move proved successful, and was also adopted by other teams such as England and
the West Indies.
The 2000s
Ricky Ponting took over the captaincy from Steve Waugh, being appointed prior to the 2004 tour of
Sri Lanka which Australia won 3-0. Later in the year, they won in India for the first time in 35 years, their only loss coming in a
dead-rubber.
The 2004-05 summer season in Australia was against the touring
Pakistani cricket team which Australia won convincingly, several matches ending on the 4th day (of 5). The first Test of 2005 ended with: AUS 568 and 1/62 v PAK 304 and 325; Ponting made 207 in the first innings, laying to rest a minor media issue of him not making a Test 100 in his first season as captain.
The much anticipated
2005 Ashes tour to England became a watershed event in Australian cricket when, for the first time since 1986-87 a Test series was lost to the old enemy England, and
The Ashes were thus surrendered. The summer started with four defeats in one week in one day matches (to England in a Twenty20 match,
Somerset in a warm up match, and then
Bangladesh and England in successive One Day Internationals). Australia and England tied the final match of the first one day international series, before Australia won the second series 2-1.
The first Test match at
Lord's was a convincing victory for Australia and Ponting famously said:
We've a very good chance of winning 5-0. However at the second Test at
Edgbaston star bowler Glenn McGrath was ruled out by a freak ankle injury after stepping on a ball in the practice nets; Ponting put England in to bat on a perfect batting wicket (England scored 407 runs on the first day) and England eventually won a pulsating match by two runs and so levelled the series. England dominated the rain-affected third Test at
Old Trafford , but a fine rearguard innings by Ponting just saved Australia on the final day and the match was drawn. In the fourth Test at
Trent Bridge Australia was again outplayed and forced to follow-on for the first time in 191 Test matches and eighteen years. Whilst England struggled to get the 129 runs they needed to win in their second innings (losing seven wickets in the process). Australia needed to win the fifth and final Test at
The Oval to retain the Ashes but were hampered by bad weather, a strong England bowling performance on the fourth day and overly extended England rearguard batting (led by
Kevin Pietersen) on the final day before the match ended in a draw.
Ageing stars such as
Hayden,
Gilchrist,
Martyn,
Gillespie and
Kasprowicz underperformed in the tour with some being subsequently dropped for new and younger talent. On the other hand
Shane Warne, who took 40 wickets and scored 249 runs, gave an all-round performance of great skill and showed that even aged nearly 36 his powers are undiminished. Members of the old guard (Ponting,
Langer,
Lee and McGrath) played well.
Australia had an opportunity to begin the rebuilding process at the
Super Test held against a Rest of the World team in Sydney in October. Although the match was of poor quality with the World team underperforming, it was a good opportunity for some of the Australian team to get back on track. Many did, especially Hayden who scored 111 and 87 and Gilchrist who scored 94 in the first innings and made seven dismissals.
Stuart MacGill (who had not played in the 2005 Ashes) took nine wickets.
In November Australia continued to perform well winning a three match Test series with the
West Indies comfortably. Stars were Hayden (again) (who was clearly intent on proving that rumours of his cricketing death were premature - he scored 445 runs at an average of 89) and
Hussey who had an auspicious debut season. Gilchrist, however, was out of touch with the bat as he had been in England.
In the 2006 cricket tour to South Africa, Australia lost the 1-day series 3-2 after a record-breaking final ODI. Setting South Africa a world record target of 434 off 50 overs (the previous record being 398-5 scored by Sri Lanka vs Kenya 10 years previously), South Africa managed to beat Australia by 1 wicket with a new record score of 438. Earlier, Ricky Ponting top-scored with 164 off 105 balls. South Africa's Herschelle Gibbs, likewise batting at No 3, went on to score 175 off 111 balls thereby playing an instrumental role in the run chase. Many other records were broken in the same match. A total of 872 runs were scored (The previous record was 693 when India beat Pakistan by five runs in Karachi in March 2004). Mick Lewis had the ignominy of becoming the most expensive bowler in ODI history with figures of 0-113 in his 10 overs.
Following the South African series, Australia toured
Bangladesh for a two-test series. Despite expectations of a one-sided contest, the first test proved a very close affair with Bangladesh (historically the weakest test-playing nation) scoring more than 400 first-innings runs and bowling Australia out for 269 in the first innings on a very good batting wicket and ultimately setting Australia a challenging 307 for victory. Ponting's men were able to win this match by three wickets. However, in the second match Australia dominated throughout, winning by an innings and 80 runs. In Australia's only innings, Jason Gillespie became the first nightwatchman to score a double century with 201 not out.
Tournament History
*
1975: Runners up
*
1979: First Round
*
1983: First Round
*
1987: Champions
*
1992: 5th place
*
1996: Runners up
*
1999: Champions
*
2003: Champions
*
2002: Semi Finals
*
2004: Semi Finals
*
1998: Quarter Finals
*
2000: Quarter Finals
*
1998: Silver medal
*
1986: 5th place
*
1990: Runners up
*
1994: Semi Finals
Each year, Cricket Australia's National Selection Panel (NSP) names a list of 25 players which form a core group from which selectors choose Test and One-day International teams for the coming year. Contracted players are paid a base retainer, which is levelled according to a player ranking system decided by the NSP as well as match fees, tour fees and prize money for on-field success.
Un-contracted players remain eligible for selection and can be upgraded to a Cricket Australia contract if they gain regular selection.
The 2006-07 list was announced on
May 1 2006.
*
Contracted player announcement*
ODI shirt numbers*
Australian national cricket captains*
Australia A cricket team*
List of Australian Test batsmen who have scored over 5000 Test runs*
List of Australian Test cricketers*
List of Australian ODI cricketers*
List of Australian Test wicket-keepers*
Australian Cricket Hall of Fame*
Allan Border Medal*
Cricket Australia - Cricket Australia
*
PhotoSydney: Sport - examines cricket's place in Australian society
