Australian XI in South Africa in 1985–86

Australia XI cricket team in South Africa in 1989–90
Australia XI cricket team in South Africa in 1989–90
	South Africa
Dates	9 November 1985 – 5 February 1986
Captains	Clive Rice
Test series
Result	South Africa won the 3-match series 1–0
Most runs	Graeme Pollock (280)
Most wickets	Garth Le Roux (11)
One Day International series
Results	South Africa won the 6-match series 4–2
Most runs	Clive Rice (344)
Most wickets	Garth Le Roux (13)

From November 1985 to February 1986, a representative team of Australian cricket players undertook a so-called "Rebel tour" to South Africa, to play a series of matches against the South African team. At the time, the International Cricket Council had placed a moratorium on international cricket teams undertaking tours of the country, due to the South African government's policy of apartheid, leaving South Africa with no international competition.

Background

During the 1980s, the International Cricket Council (ICC) placed a ban on its members undertaking tours of South Africa in line with the international sporting community's overall boycott. As a means of obtaining quality opposition for the South African cricket team, groups of players from different countries had been approached privately by the governing body of cricket in South Africa to undertake so-called "rebel tours" of the country. The players that accepted the offer did so in the knowledge that they would likely receive significant sanctions from both their own country's governing body and the ICC. The first tour took place in 1982, when an English side spent four weeks in South Africa. Teams representing both Sri Lanka and the West Indies had subsequently made the trip before, in late 1985, the first Australian side was recruited to make a tour.

Squads

South Africa	Australia XI
Clive Rice (c) Ray Jennings (wk) Jimmy Cook Peter Kirsten Graeme Pollock Alan Kourie Garth Le Roux Stephen Jefferies Henry Fotheringham Roy Pienaar Tim Shaw Eric Simons Corrie van Zyl Hugh Page Kevin McKenzie Robert Bentley Ken McEwen Anthonie Ferreira Lee Barnard	Kim Hughes (c) Steve Rixon (wk) Greg Shipperd (wk) Terry Alderman John Dyson Peter Faulkner Mike Haysman Tom Hogan Rodney Hogg Trevor Hohns John Maguire Rod McCurdy Carl Rackemann Steve Smith Mick Taylor Graham Yallop

The tour was organised by former Australian test batsman Bruce Francis at the behest of the South African cricket board, then led by Ali Bacher. Bacher had planned to invite an Australian team as early as December 1981, but it was July 1984 before Francis approached any players, and October of that year before a meeting was held to plan the tour.^[1]

Original players signed for the tour included:

Batsmen – Graham Yallop, Steve Smith, Graeme Wood, Wayne B. Phillips, Andrew Hilditch, Dirk Wellham, John Dyson
Fast bowlers – Terry Alderman, Carl Rackemann, John Maguire, Rod McCurdy, Rodney Hogg
Spin bowlers – Tom Hogan, Murray Bennett
All-rounder – Peter Faulkner
Wicket-keeper – Steve Rixon

Several players David Hookes and Jeff Thomson seriously considered going including but demanded too much money. Other players were never considered, such as Geoff Lawson, Kim Hughes and Allan Border.

Out of the initial players to sign, only Peter Faulkner had never represented Australia in Test matches. Several were in the Australian team when they signed to go to Australia and a number of these players were selected on the 1985 trip to England, including Wood, Phillips, Hilditch, Wellham, Alderman, Rixon, Bennett, and Rackemann. News of the rebel tour broke before this squad left for England.

Withdrawals

Murray Bennett pulled out of the tour after having second thoughts and being selected for Australia over the 1984–85 summer. Phillips, Wood and Wellham pulled out after a financial inducement from Kerry Packer; Packer also tried to get Steve Smith to change his mind but Smith refused. Hilditch also pulled out after being selected for the Australian team over the 84–85 summer.

Francis signed up several new players including Trevor Hohns, Greg Shipperd, Mick Taylor and Mike Haysman. The tour received its biggest boost in early 1985 when Kim Hughes, who had been dropped from the Australian team, met with Bacher and Francis, agreed to tour and captain the side.

Matches

The tour was scheduled to last for three months, with the touring side arriving in South Africa in November 1985, and the last game scheduled for the start of February 1986. Included on the itinerary was a three match "Test" series and six one-day games, as well as seventeen tour matches against various provincial and other opponents.

Tour matches

One-day matches against Country Districts teams

Dates	Opponent	Venue	Result
9 November 1985	Northern Transvaal Country Districts	Lowveld Country Club, Nelspruit	No Result
10 November 1985	Northern Transvaal Country Districts	Lowveld Country Club, Nelspruit	Australia XI won by 152 runs
16 November 1985	Orange Free State Country Districts	Harvinia Ground, Virginia	Australia XI won by 208 runs
18 November 1985	Transvaal Country Districts	Victory Park, Orkney	Australia XI won by 49 runs

Three-day matches

22 - 25 November 1985	Australian XI	v	Orange Free State	Match Drawn
Scorecard	345/8 d (104.4 overs) J Dyson 141 CJPG van Zyl 3/55 (26.4 overs)		319 (85.5 overs) BC Broad 88 RJ McCurdy 4/85 (24 overs)	Ramblers Cricket Club Ground, Bloemfontein Umpires: Graham Brown (SA) and Darrell Scheepers (SA)
Scorecard	301/5 d (77.4 overs) MD Taylor 102* AP Beukes 3/106 (23.4 overs)		76/1 (23 overs) AM Green 46* TM Alderman 1/43 (11 overs)
Australian XI won the toss and elected to bat

29 November - 2 December 1985	SA Board President's XI	v	Australian XI	Australian XI won by five wickets
Scorecard	150 (48.5 overs) TR Madsen 54 RM Hogg 3/44 (13 overs) TM Alderman 3/23 (10.5 overs) JN Maguire 3/41 (15 overs)		186 (77.4 overs) KJ Hughes 73 CJPG van Zyl 3/29 (18 overs) EO Simons 3/34 (12.4 overs)	Berea Park, Pretoria Umpires: Denzil Bezuidenhout (SA) and Oswald Schoof (SA)
Scorecard	126 (38.2 overs) PG Amm 20 JN Maguire 5/58 (14.2 overs)		91/5 (28.1 overs) J Dyson 28 EO Simons 3/39 (8 overs)
SA Board President's XI won the toss and elected to bat

6 - 8 December 1985	Border	v	Australian XI	Match drawn
Scorecard	168 (45.2 overs) EN Trotman 48 JN Maguire 5/62 (18 overs)		236/8 (98 overs) J Dyson 62 T Hardiman 2/48 (14 overs) EN Trotman 2/33 (20 overs) GL Long 2/40 (17 overs)	Jan Smuts Ground, East London Umpires: Dudley Schoof (SA) and Desmond Sansom (SA)
Scorecard
Border won the toss and elected to bat Only three hours play on Day 1 and no play on Day 3

13 - 15 December 1985	Australian XI	v	Eastern Province	Eastern Province won by two wickets
Scorecard	382/9 d (120.4 overs) MD Haysman 125* TG Shaw 4/116 (39 overs)		235 (85.4 overs) RLS Armitage 98* TG Hogan 8/86 (40 overs)	St George's Park, Port Elizabeth Umpires: Louis Rautenback (SA) and Carl Coetzee (SA)
Scorecard	101/1 d (34 overs) J Dyson 71* MK van Vuuren 1/24 (8 overs)		250/8 (54.4 overs) DJ Richardson 64 RM Hogg 4/70 (23 overs)
Australian XI won the toss and elected to bat

17 - 19 December 1985	Boland	v	Australian XI	Match drawn
Scorecard	271 (94.4 overs) SA Jones 132 TV Hohns3/69 (25 overs)		456/9 d (155 overs) KJ Hughes 116 P Anker 4/126 (45 overs)	Oude Libertas, Stellenbosch Farmers Winery Ground, Stellenbosch Umpires: Herbert Martin (SA) and Willem Richard (SA)
Scorecard	159/6 (73 overs) NM Lambrechts 52* JN Maguire 2/20 (14 overs) TG Hogan 2/34 (22 overs)
Boland won the toss and elected to bat

6 - 8 January 1986	South African Universities	v	Australian XI	Match drawn
Scorecard	219/9 d (83.1 overs) TG Shaw 66 PI Faulkner 3/45 (17 overs)		220 (76 overs) MD Taylor 43 BA Matthews 4/43 (26 overs)	St George's Park, Port Elizabeth Umpires: James Peacock (SA) and Louis Rautenbach (SA)
Scorecard	237/5 d (76 overs) RF Pienaar 82 TM Alderman 2/33 (17 overs)		203/9 (53 overs) MD Taylor 70 PA Rayment 4/62 (17 overs)
South African Universities won the toss and elected to bat

One-day matches

27 November 1985	Northern Transvaal 211/9 (50 overs)	v	Australian XI 204 (49.2 overs)	Northern Transvaal won by 7 runs
Scorecard	Northern Transvaal 211/9 (50 overs)	v	Australian XI 204 (49.2 overs)	Tshwane University of Technology Oval, Pretoria Umpires: George Baker (SA) and Pierre Klerk (SA)
Scorecard	AM Ferreira 61 RM Hogg 3/37 (10 overs)		KJ Hughes 72 AM Ferreira 3/36 (9.2 overs)
Australian XI won the toss and elected to field

South Africa XI v Australian XI at Durban, 1st unofficial Test, Dec 26-29, 1985

The first test ended in a draw. Highlights included centuries from Mick Taylor and Graeme Pollock as well as an eight wicket haul from Carl Rackemann.^[2]

South Africa XI v Australian XI at Cape Town, 2nd unofficial Test, Jan 1-4, 1986

The second test also ended in a draw, with Rackemann taking another eight wicket haul and Kim Hughes scoring 97 not out.^[3]

South Africa XI v Australian XI at Johannesburg, 3rd unofficial Test, Jan 16-21, 1986

The third test was closely fought. Australia had to score 250 runs in their second innings to win, thanks to a century from Steve Smith and a 12-wicket haul from Carl Rackemann. However they collapsed to be all out for 61 and South Africa won by 188 runs.^[4]

Aftermath

The series was highly controversial in Australia and its Australian participants were banned from interstate cricket for two seasons and international cricket for three seasons.^[5]

Alderman, Rixon, Rackemann, Maguire and McCurdy lost their chance to tour England in 1985 by sticking to their agreement to tour South Africa.

References

^ Derriman, Phillip; ‘Making of the Cricket Rebels’; Sydney Morning Herald, 4 May 1985
^ 1st test scorecard at Cricinfo
^ 2nd test scorecard at Cricinfo
^ 3rd test scorecard at Cricinfo.
^ ‘Rebels – the '85 South Africa tour’, The Age, 9 December 2005 accessed 9 February 2012

External links

Australian XI in South Africa in 1985-86 at Cricinfo
Australian XI in South Africa in 1985-86 at Cricket Archive

[Making-1] Derriman, Phillip; ‘Making of the Cricket Rebels’; Sydney Morning Herald, 4 May 1985

[2] 1st test scorecard at Cricinfo

[3] 2nd test scorecard at Cricinfo

[4] 3rd test scorecard at Cricinfo.

[5] ‘Rebels – the '85 South Africa tour’, The Age, 9 December 2005 accessed 9 February 2012

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