Australian cricket team

The Australian cricket team (together with the English cricket team) is the oldest team in Test cricket having played its first Test match in 1877. The team has won 312 of the 679 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 376 of the 617 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.

History [e

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 Cup

The 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 Aborginal 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.

No. Date Home captain Away captain Venue Result 1 15,16,17,19 Mar 1877 Dave Gregory (AUS) James Lillywhite (ENG) Melbourne Cricket Ground (AUS) AUS by 45 runs 2 31 Mar,2,3,4 Apr 1877 Dave Gregory (AUS) James Lillywhite (ENG) Melbourne Cricket Ground (AUS) ENG by 4 wkts

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.

1878 team

1878 team

The 1880s
See also: History of Test cricket (to 1883), History of Test cricket (1884 to 1889)

1882 team

Test 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 over
Palmer 78 wickets at an average of 21.51 runs per over

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 Test run scorers of the period
Victor Trumper 1953
Hill 1930

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 Don eclipsed other performances which would have otherwise had been noticed such as McCabe 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 innings
O'Reilly 136 wickets at an average of 23.68 runs per innings

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 over.

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, 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

Glenn McGrath.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 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) they clearly earned the win. 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 fine 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. Whilst others of the old guard (Ponting, Langer, Lee and McGrath) played well it was clear at the end of the series that much rebuilding needed to be done.

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 made an auspicious debut. 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.

Tournament History

World Cup
1975: Runners up
1979: First Round
1983: First Round
1987: Won
1992: 5th place
1996: Runners up
1999: Won
2003: Won

ICC Champions Trophy
2002: Semi Finals
2004: Semi Finals

ICC Knockout
1998: Quarter Finals
2000: Quarter Finals

Commonwealth Games
1998: Silver medal


Austral-Asia Cup
1986: 5th place
1990: Runners up
1994: Semi Finals

2005/06 Cricket Australia Contracted Players
Nathan Bracken
Michael Clarke
Dan Cullen
Adam Gilchrist
Jason Gillespie
Brad Haddin
Matthew Hayden
Brad Hodge
Brad Hogg
James Hopes
Michael Hussey
Michael Kasprowicz
Simon Katich
Justin Langer
Brett Lee
Mick Lewis
Stuart MacGill
Glenn McGrath
Damien Martyn
Ricky Ponting
Andrew Symonds
Shaun Tait
Shane Warne
Shane Watson

2005-2006 numbers
4 Jason Gillespie
5 Phil Jaques
7 Cameron White
8 Stuart Clark
9 Greg Blewett
10 Darren Lehmann
11 Glenn McGrath
12 Michael Bevan
13 Simon Katich
14 Ricky Ponting
16 Michael Kasprowicz
17 Brad Hodge
18 Adam Gilchrist
19 Mick Lewis
21 Justin Langer
22 Ashley Noffke
23 Michael Clarke
25 Mitchell Johnson
26 Martin Love
27 Matthew Elliott
28 Matthew Hayden
30 Damien Martyn
31 Brad Hogg
33 Shane Watson
34 Andy Bichel
39 James Hopes
43 Nathan Hauritz
45 Stuart MacGill
46 Jimmy Maher
48 Michael Hussey
57 Brad Haddin
58 Brett Lee
59 Nathan Bracken
63 Andrew Symonds


Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_cricket_team