History of Australian cricket
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The History of Australian cricket began over 210 years ago. The first recorded cricket match in Australia took place in Sydney in December 1803 and a report in the
Early tours
The first tour by an English team to Australia was in 1861–62, organised by the catering firm of Spiers and Pond as a private enterprise. Captained by
First Australian team to tour England
In 1866–67, Tom Wills, a troubled but brilliant sportsman who had captained the Victorian cricket team in 1856, led an all-Aboriginal cricket team on an Australian tour as its captain-coach.[10]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/Johnny_Mullagh.jpg)
Another tour was launched in 1868, thus
Further tours by English teams took place in 1873-74 (featuring the most notable cricketer of the age
Origin of the Ashes and Sheffield Shield
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/37/Billy_Murdoch2.jpg/220px-Billy_Murdoch2.jpg)
The rising standards of Australian cricket was further established during the first representative tour of England in 1878. While the Australians did not play a representative English team on this tour, the efforts of players such as
The
Golden Age and the Great War
The era from the mid-1890s to the
The Great War lead to the suspension of both international and Sheffield Shield cricket and the enlistment of many cricketers in the
Between the wars: Bradman and Bodyline
International cricket recommenced with a tour by a weakened England team in 1920–21. The strong Australian team, led by Armstrong and with a bowling attack spearheaded by Gregory and
However, the greatest run machine in the history of Australian cricket was yet to come.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/43/4th_Test_Woodfull.jpg/220px-4th_Test_Woodfull.jpg)
All that was still to come for Bradman when he toured England with the Australian team in 1930. Bradman scored heavily, 974 runs at an average of 139.14 including a then world record 334 at Leeds, two other double centuries and another single.[9] Watching these displays of batting was Douglas Jardine, playing for Surrey. Following discussions with other observers such as Percy Fender and George Duckworth, he developed a tactic to limit the prodigious run scoring of Bradman and the others.[19] The tactic, originally called fast leg theory and later called bodyline involved fast short pitched bowling directed at the batsman's body and a packed leg side field. Appointed captain of England for the 1932-33 series in Australia, Jardine was able to put these theories into practice.
Combined with bowlers of the speed and accuracy of Harold Larwood and Bill Voce, the tactic required batsmen to risk injury in order to protect their wicket. In the third Test in Adelaide, Larwood struck Australian captain Bill Woodfull above the heart and fractured wicket-keeper Bert Oldfield's skull.[20] The crowd was incensed and public feeling in Australia was high. A minor diplomatic incident ensued and for a time it appeared that cricketing relations between the two nations would be cut and the tour called off. Eventually diplomacy prevailed and the tour continued, England winning the series 4–1. The effect of bodyline can be seen by looking at Bradman's batting average, a respectable 56.57, the highest for Australia that series, but much lower than his Shield average of 150 over the same period.[20]
In December 1934, the Australian women's team played the
Post War consolidation
Once again, war brought a stop to Shield and Test cricket as Australia mobilised for
In 1951 Menzies enthusiasm for cricket, lead him to inaugurate the annual Prime Minister's XI cricket match in 1951 at Manuka Oval in Canberra. Robert Menzies favourite pastime or 'obsession' as some say was to watch and follow cricket. The first game was against the visiting international team the West Indies. Menzies was a trustee of the Melbourne Cricket Club and knew many cricketers including Donald Bradman whom he declared was the 'undisputed master batsman of his time'. Menzies found cricket a useful diplomatic tool that Commonwealth nations had in common, as he stated that Great Britain and Australia were of the same blood, allegiance, history and instinctive mental processes.[23]
By the 1958-59 series, Benaud was captain of the Australian side and managed to recover the Ashes. The 1960-61 series at home against the West Indies was widely regarded as one of the most memorable. A commitment by Benaud and his West Indian offsider Frank Worrell to entertaining cricket revived lagging interest in the sport.[24] The gripping series, including the first tied Test, saw Australia win 2-1 and become the inaugural holders of the newly commissioned Frank Worrell Trophy. The West Indian team was held in such affection that a ticker-tape parade in their honour prior to their departure from Australia attracted a crowd of 300,000 Melburnians to wish them farewell.[25]
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, there was an ongoing controversy regarding illegal bowling actions. A number of bowlers, Australian and international were accused of throwing or "chucking" over this period including the South Australian pair of Alan Hitchcox and Peter Trethewey and New South Welshman, Gordon Rorke.[5] The controversy reached a high point when Ian Meckiff was recalled to the Australian team for the first Test of the 1963-64 series against South Africa. Called on to bowl his first over, he was no-balled 4 times by umpire Colin Egar for throwing before being removed from the attack by his skipper, Benaud. As a consequence, Meckiff retired from all levels of cricket after the match and Egar received death threats from persons aggrieved at his call.[26]
Rebel tours and revolution
The 1970s saw players and administrators once again come into conflict. Poor scheduling saw Australia visit South Africa immediately after a tour to India in 1969–70. This would be the last tour to South Africa prior to the application of international sporting sanctions designed to oppose the policy of
Greg Chappell, Ian's younger brother, succeeded him as captain in 1975-76 and lead the Australian team in the Centenary Test in Melbourne in March 1977. A celebration of 100 years of Test cricket, Australia won the Test by 45 runs, the precise result of the corresponding game 100 years earlier.[28]
While Australian cricket celebrated, the Australian media tycoon Kerry Packer was making plans to wrest away the television rights for Australian cricket. During the 1977 Ashes tour, the cricket world became aware that Packer had signed 35 of the world's top cricketers for a series of matches, including 18 Australians, 13 of whom were part of the tour party.[29] World Series Cricket, as the breakaway group was known split Australian cricket in two for nearly three years. Former Australian captain, Bob Simpson was recalled from retirement to lead an inexperienced team in a home series against India in 1977–78, won 3-2 and then a tour to the West Indies, marred by an ugly riot.[5] For the 1978-79 Ashes series, he was replaced by the young Victorian, Graham Yallop. The subsequent thrashing, a 5-1 victory for England, and the success of World Series Cricket forced the Australian Cricket Board to concede on Packer's terms.[5]
The settlement between the ACB and WSC lead to the introduction of a series of innovations including night cricket, coloured clothing and an annual limited overs tri-series called the
Modern dominance
The long road back for Australian cricket started in India in 1986–87. Border, along with Bob Simpson in a new role as coach, set out to identify a group of players that a team could form around.[31] These players showed some of the steel necessary in the famous tied Test at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Returning to the subcontinent for the World Cup in 1987, Australia surprised the cricket world by defeating England at Eden Gardens in Kolkata to win the tournament with a disciplined brand of cricket.[32] By the 1989 Ashes tour, the development of players such as Steve Waugh and David Boon and the discovery of Mark Taylor and Ian Healy had reaped rewards. The 4-0 drubbing of England was the first time since 1934 that Australia had recovered the Ashes away from home and marked the resurgence of Australia as a cricketing power.[33] Australia would hold the Ashes for the next 16 years.[34]
The most successful leg spin bowler in the history of the game, Shane Warne, made his debut in 1991-92 in the third Test against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground. He had an undistinguished Test debut, taking 1/150 off 45 overs, and recording figures of 1/228 in his first Test series. From this modest beginning, Warne dominated Australian cricket for 15 years, taking 708 wickets at an average of 25.41.[35] When the fast medium bowler, Glenn McGrath was first selected in the Australian team for the Perth test against New Zealand in 1993–94, the core of a highly successful bowling attack was formed. In 1994–95, under new captain Taylor, the Australians defeated the then dominant West Indies in the Caribbean to recover the Frank Worrell Trophy for the first time since 1978 and staked a claim to be considered the best team in the world.[36]
Following a disappointing World Cup at home in 1992, Australia then entered a run of extraordinarily successful World Cup campaigns; runners up to Sri Lanka in 1996 in the subcontinent, fighting back after early setbacks to win in England in 1999 and unbeaten on their way to another victory in South Africa.[37] The change in captain from Taylor to Steve Waugh made little difference in the success of the Australian team. Waugh made a slightly rocky start to his term as captain, drawing 2-2 with the West Indies in the Caribbean and losing to Sri Lanka 1-0 away. A victory in the Australian team's first ever Test match against Zimbabwe was the start of an unparalleled 16 Test winning streak. The streak was finally ended in 2001 in Kolkata with a remarkable victory by India after being asked to follow-on. For Waugh, India would remain unconquered territory.[38]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5c/Australia_vs_India.jpg/220px-Australia_vs_India.jpg)
Australia's success was not without its detractors. Accusations of racism were made against the Australian team, one incident leading to a suspension for Darren Lehmann in 2003.[39] Contacts between Warne and batsman Mark Waugh and illegal bookmakers, at first kept under cover by the ACB, were later revealed by the Australian press, sparking accusations of hypocrisy given Australian cricket's earlier attitude toward match fixing allegations.[40] Warne would later be suspended from all forms of cricket for 12 months after testing positive to banned diuretics hydrochlorothiazide and amiloride.[40] The brand of cricket played by the Australian team was praised for its spirit and aggressiveness but critics charged that this aggressive approach lead to ugly sledging incidents such as the confrontation between McGrath and West Indian batsman, Ramnaresh Sarwan at the Antigua Recreation Ground in 2003.[41] Tasmanian batsman Ricky Ponting would admit to an alcohol problem after incidents in India and in Sydney.[42]
A rehabilitated Ponting would succeed Waugh as captain in 2004. While injured for most of the 2004-05 series against India, his team under acting captain Adam Gilchrist defeated India in India, the first Australian series win in India since Bill Lawry's team in 1969–70. A 2-1 defeat in the 2005 Ashes series in England was quickly avenged at home with a 5-0 thrashing of England in 2006-07. The whitewash was the first in an Ashes series since Warwick Armstrong's team in 1920–21.[43] Following the series, the successful bowling combination of McGrath and Warne retired from Test cricket, with a record that will be hard to match as the Australian team endeavours to retain its place at the top of world cricket.[44] Most recently Australia won the 2007 Cricket World Cup in the Caribbean and were unbeaten through the tournament. Australian cricketer Matthew Hayden scored the most runs in the tournament. The finals happened to be Glenn McGrath's last match and he was also the highest wicket taker of the tournament and the player of the tournament.
The
On 12 January 2019, Australia won the first ODI against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground by 34 runs, to record their 1,000th win in international cricket.[46]
The
Cricket World Cup Record
Year | Round | Games | Won | Tied/No result | Lost | Captain |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Runner Up | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | Ian Chappell |
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Group Stage | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | Kim Hughes |
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Group Stage | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | Kim Hughes |
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Champions | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | Allan Border |
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Round-Robin Stage | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | Allan Border |
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Runners Up | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | Mark Taylor |
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Champions | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | Steve Waugh |
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Champions | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | Ricky Ponting |
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Champions | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | Ricky Ponting |
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Quarter-finals | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | Ricky Ponting |
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Champions | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | Michael Clarke |
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Semi-finals | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | Aaron Finch |
Total | Five time Champions | 96 | 70 | 2 | 24 |
White: Group/Round-Robin Stage
Green: Quarter-finals/Super Six
Light Blue: Semifinals
Silver: Runner Up
Gold: Champions
Teamwise record
Opponent | M | W | L | T | NR | Win % | First played |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 2015 |
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4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 75 | 1999 |
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2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 1979 |
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8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 62.50 | 1975 |
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13 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 61.53 | 1983 |
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1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 2007 |
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3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 1996 |
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1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 2003 |
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2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 2003 |
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11 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 72.72 | 1987 |
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10 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 1975 |
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2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 1999 |
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6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 50 | 1992 |
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11 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 72.72 | 1975 |
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10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 1975 |
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9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 88.88 | 1983 |
Total | 92 | 66 | 23 | 0 | 3 | 71.73 | - |
See also
- Cricket in Australia
- History of the Australian cricket team
- History of Australian cricket to 1876
- History of Australian cricket from 1876–77 to 1890
- History of Australian cricket from 1890-91 to 1900
- History of Australian cricket from 1900-01 to 1918
- History of Australian cricket from 1918-19 to 1930
- History of Australian cricket from 1930-31 to 1945
- History of Australian cricket from 1945-46 to 1960
- History of Australian cricket from 1960-61 to 1970
- History of Australian cricket from 1970–71 to 1985
- History of Australian cricket from 1985-86 to 2000
- History of Australian cricket from 2000-01
- List of years in Australian Test cricket
References
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- ^ "Cricket Match", The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, p. 2, 12 December 1833, retrieved 4 October 2013
- ^ "The Return Cricket Match", The Australian, 7 February 1834
- ^ "Military – First Innings", The Australian, 28 February 1834
- ^ ISBN 0-86770-043-2.
- ^ "The Grand Cricket Match", The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, p. 2, 5 April 1834
- ^ "Immigrants. First Innings.", The Australian, p. 2, 4 April 1834
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- Cricinfo. Retrieved 5 April 2007.
- ABC Radio National transcript – The Sports Factor. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 1997. Archived from the originalon 15 April 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2007.
- ^ Hutchins, B:"Social-Conservatism, Australian Politics and Cricket: The Triumvirate of Prime Minister John Howard, Sir Robert Menzies and Sir Donald Bradman", Journal of Australian Studies, no.67, 2001.
- ISBN 0-7553-1006-3.
- ^ Benaud, Richie (1962). A tale of two Tests. London: Hodder & Staughton.
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- ^ Laidlaw, Daniel (23 May 2003). "Why the Aussies can't not sledge". Rediff.com. Retrieved 6 April 2007.
- Cricinfo. Retrieved 6 April 2007.
- ^ Roebuck, Peter (6 January 2007). "Stage was set the day complacency met commitment". The Age. Retrieved 4 June 2007.
- ^ Meher-Homji, Kersi (2 January 2007). "A fitting stage for the legends' final act". The Age. Retrieved 4 June 2007.
- ^ "Your invite to Australia's party". cricket.com.au.
- ^ "Jhye Richardson sets up Australia's 1000th win". International Cricket Council. Archived from the original on 13 January 2019. Retrieved 12 January 2019.