Australia national cricket team

Australia

As of 5 January 2007 [1]

The Australian cricket team, together with the English cricket team, is the joint oldest team 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 is the only Nation to have won the World Cup 3 times) and currently heads the ICC One Day International Championship table.

The one-day team will be known as the "Commonwealth Bank one-day international team" following a three year deal between Cricket Australia and the Commonwealth Bank. The name change comes into effect in the 2006-07 Commonwealth Bank Tri-series.

History

Main Article: History of the Australian cricket team

The History of the Australian cricket team is rich and diverse. Together with the English cricket team, it participated in the first Test match in 1877. The early highlight of Australia's early history was the 1882 test match against England at the Oval. In this match Fred Spofforth took 8/38 in the last innings to save the match by preventing England from making their 85 run target. After this match The Sporting Times, a major newspaper in London at the time printed a mock obituary in which the death of English cricket was proclaimed and "the body was cremated and the ashes taken to Australia." This was the start of the famous Ashes series in which every two years Australia and England play a number of matches to decide the holder of the Ashes. This is, to this day, one of the fiercest rivalries in sport.

In the first half century or so these contests were generally friendly but competitive with both sides enjoying the visit to another country, and getting to play against quality cricketers. The famous Bodyline series temporarily changed things. The series was marred by the tactics used by the English captain Douglas Jardine to control the batting of Don Bradman who completely destroyed the English bowling attack in the 1930 series. Jardine used his fast bowlers to bowl 6 bouncers an over at head height over leg stump with 6 or 7 fielders around the leg stump in a close catching position. Given the fact that there were no helmets around at the time the tactics were widely condemned by nearly all of Australia including many former Test cricketers and important politicians.

Recent tours

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.

Pakistani Tour 2004-05

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.

2005 Ashes

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, with Glenn McGrath in particular impressing. Captain Ricky Ponting afterwards 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 and tailender Ashley Giles) 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 good performance. Members of the old guard (Ponting, Langer, Lee and McGrath) played well.

ICC Super Series

The ICC (International Cricket Council) sanctioned a test and three match one day series for 2005. This series was to be played between the top ranking test and one day international nations (according to rankings as at April 2005) and an internationally selected Rest of the World XI. Australia was the top ranked nation in both forms of the game as at April 2005.

Australia had an opportunity to begin the rebuilding process following the Ashes series loss 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. Overall, the Australian Cricket Team clean sweeped the World XI Team 3 - 0 in the One Day International Series, and also won the 6 day Test Match.

vs West Indies

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.

South Africa Tour

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.

Bangladesh Tour

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.

2006-2007 Ashes

After winning the Champions Trophy convincingly, Australia went home for their summer to play England in a five-test series. The Australians began by scoring 600 in the first innings at the "Gabba", on 23 November. The captain Ricky Ponting scored his 32nd century, equalling an all-time record held by Steve Waugh. England's defence started dismally, failing to reach the follow-on target. Their highest scorer Paul Collingwood fell four runs short of a century.

Australia elected to not enforce the follow-on and scored just under 200 runs for the loss of one wicket before declaring, setting England 621 to win. England had a far better second innings, scoring just over 300 runs, headed by Kevin Pietersen who fell eight short of a century. Australia won by 277 runs.

The second test took place in Adelaide from 1 December. England won the toss and elected to bat, scoring 551 runs for the loss of 6 wickets before declaring. Paul Collingwood scored 208 and Kevin Pietersen 158, forming a 300 run partnership. Late on day 2 Australia began their first innings and found themselves 1 for 28 at the close of play. On the third day Ponting survived a dropped catch by Ashley Giles when on 33 and went on to make 142, his 33rd Test century for Australia, beating Steve Waugh's record. England's medium-fast bowler Matthew Hoggard took four wickets on the day including that of Ponting, and Australia closed on 5 for 312. The fourth day saw a century from Michael Clarke as Australia was dismissed for 513 runs, 37 behind England. England lost one wicket, closing on 1 for 59. On the fifth day England collapsed dramatically, putting only 60 runs on for their last nine wickets thanks largely to the bowling of Shane Warne. Australia were set a total of 168 to win; they achieved this with two overs remaining to win the match by six wickets. England's first-innings score of 551 was the highest ever by a side declaring their first innings and going on to lose the match.

The third match of the series was held at the WACA Ground in the West Australian city of Perth. Australia batted first, reaching a relatively weak 244 before being bowled out in their first innings. Only Michael Hussey managed a half-century, totalling 74 runs. England appeared on target then to surpass this, before a middle order collapse prompted them to be all out for 215. Only Kevin Pietersen crossed the 50 mark, managing a total of 70 runs. Both nations' second innings were far more impressive. The Australians surged to a final total of 527 declared in their innings, including centuries from Hussey, Clarke, and a quickfire 102 from Gilchrist off just 57 balls, the second fastest century in test cricket history. Following Gilchrist's century, the Australians declared at 5/527, giving England a massive run chase, that for a short while they looked like achieving. The bowling of Glenn McGrath quelled England's attack late on Day 4, leaving England with only 5 wickets in hand and in excess of 200 runs to score. The English finally caved two balls after the lunch break.

Following the Third test victory, Australia reclaimed the Ashes, already having achieved a winning margin of 3-0 in the best of five series. England lamented the shortest period of Ashes retention in the history of the tournament, dating back to 1882.

In the days following the historic win in Perth, spin bowler Shane Warne announced that he will retire from international cricket at the conclusion of the fifth and final Sydney test in January 2007. Fast bowler Glenn McGrath later announced he would retire from international cricket after the 2007 Cricket World Cup.

The fourth match of the series was played at the MCG. Australia took victory in just three days, only needing one innings of batting to outscore England. England were bowled out for 159 in their first innings. Massive centuries from Hayden and Symonds lead the Australians to a first innings total of 419. Australia then bowled England out for 161 to claim a 99 run victory.

Warne, in his final test match at his home ground, the MCG, bowled England's Andrew Strauss to get his 700th wicket. He is the first player in history to pass the 700 mark. He took another four wickets in the innings, and two wickets in the 2nd innings leaving him with 706 at the end of the fourth Test.

The fifth match in Sydney ended with Australia capturing a 10 wicket victory. Matthew Hayden hit the winning runs and Justin Langer remaining undefeated in his last innings, while Glenn McGrath also prospered on his last test performance scoring three of the final five wickets on the last day. One of these included the dismissal of Steve Harmison, England's final batsman, caught by Mike Hussey. Shane Warne, also retiring from test cricket, took his final wicket in the game, English captain Andrew Flintoff. In the first innings he took his 1000th wicket in international cricket, and also had Australia's top batting total of the fifth Test with 71 (it must be noted, however, that Australia were chasing only 46 after England's second innings). The Australians completed a 5-0 whitewash of the Ashes series, the first time either side had achieved such a feat since the 1920-21 series.

2006-07 Cricket Australia contracted players

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.

Player	State	Test cap	ODI cap	ODI shirt
Ricky Ponting (captain)	Tas	366	123	14
Adam Gilchrist (vice-captain)	WA	381	129	18
Nathan Bracken	NSW	387	142	59
Stuart Clark	NSW	396	153	8
Michael Clarke	NSW	389	149	23
Dan Cullen	SA	397	159	6
Jason Gillespie	SA	370	127	4
Brad Haddin	NSW		144	57
Matthew Hayden	Qld	359	111	28
Brad Hodge	Vic	394	154	17
Brad Hogg	WA	367	126	31
Michael Hussey	WA	393	150	48
Phil Jaques	NSW	395	158	5
Mitchell Johnson	Qld		156	25
Michael Kasprowicz	Qld	369	125	16
Simon Katich	NSW	384	143	13
Justin Langer++++	WA	354	117	21
Brett Lee	NSW	383	140	58
Stuart MacGill	NSW	374	141	45
Damien Martyn++	WA	353	109	30
Glenn McGrath+++	NSW	358	113	11
Andrew Symonds	Qld	388	139	63
Shaun Tait	SA	392
Shane Warne+	Vic	350	110
Shane Watson	Qld	391	148	33

⁺Shane Warne has retired from all international cricket, but he will continue to play for Hampshire. ⁺⁺Damien Martyn has retired from first class cricket (Sydney Morning Herald). ⁺⁺⁺ Glenn McGrath has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. His last test will be in Sydney against England and the World Cup in 2007 will mark the end of his one-day career. ⁺⁺⁺⁺ Justin Langer retired from test cricket at the SCG after the 5th Ashes Test of the 2006/07 season.

[2]

• Contracted player announcement
• ODI shirt numbers

At the end of the 2nd Ashes test match in 2006/07 Damien Martyn the Australian batsman retired after he had not been performing well. Andrew Symonds was called up to the test squad for the next test match.

Significant Dates

• November, 1868: 1868 Aboriginal cricket tour of England
• 15 March, 1877: Test debut
• 1882: First Ashes Series held.
• 28 December, 1934: Women's Test team debut
• 5 January, 1971: ODI Debut
• 23 June, 1973: Women's ODI team debut
• 5 January, 2007: Australia completes first 5-0 "clean sweep" of the Ashes in 86 years.

Trivia

• Charles Bannerman faced the first ball in test cricket, scored the first runs in test cricket and scored the first test century and half-century.
• Charles Bannerman also scored 67.34% 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.
• Fred Spofforth performed Test cricket's first hat-trick by dismissing Vernon Royle, Francis McKinnon and Tom Emmett in successive balls.
• Fred Spofforth also took the first 10-wicket match haul in Test cricket.
• Australia was the cricket team to first devise and and put in practise the strategy of decapitation.

See also

• 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
• Australian women's cricket team

External links

• Cricket Australia - Cricket Australia
• Cricket Australia TV - Cricket Australia TV