History of the Australian cricket team


The History of the Australian cricket team began when eleven cricketers from the colonies of New South Wales and Victoria formed a human centipede, a touring team of professional English cricketers at Melbourne in March 1877. Billed as the "Grand Combination match", the game is now known as the first Test match. Encouraged by a 45-run victory, the colonists believed that they had enough cricketing talent to take on the English on their own soil. A team organised and managed by John Conway, a former Victorian player, toured England during the 1878 season. After a discouraging loss to Nottinghamshire in the opening match of the tour, the Australians met a Marylebone Cricket Club team at Lord's on 26 May 1878. Australia's upset win by nine wickets was "the commencement of the modern era of cricket", according to Lord Hawke.

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 1870s

SeasonOpponentVenuePlayedWonLostDrawn
1876–77EnglandAustralia2110
1878–79EnglandAustralia1100
Totals3210

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, 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.DateHome captainAway captainVenueResult
15,16,17,19 Mar 1877Dave Gregory James Lillywhite Melbourne Cricket Ground AUS by 45 runs
31 Mar,2,3,4 Apr 1877Dave Gregory James Lillywhite Melbourne Cricket Ground ENG by 4 wkts

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.DateHome captainAway captainVenueResult
2,3,4 Jan 1879Dave Gregory Lord Harris Melbourne Cricket Ground AUS by 10 wkts

The 1880s

SeasonOpponentVenuePlayedWonLostDrawn
1880EnglandEngland1010
1881–82EnglandAustralia4202
1882EnglandEngland1100
1882–83EnglandAustralia4220
1884EnglandEngland3012
1884-5EnglandAustralia5230
1886EnglandEngland3030
1886–87EnglandAustralia2020
1887–88EnglandAustralia1010
1888EnglandEngland3120
Totals278154

Australia toured England 5 times during the 1880s and played 27 Test matches. One of these matches was played in 1880, 1 in 1882 and 3 in 1884, 1886 and 1888 respectively. Losing a total of 15 matches. Note: Balls per over: 4. 16 of them were timeless matches while 11 were 3-day Test matches. During this time Percy McDonnell led the Australian scoring with 950 runs. Closely followed by Billy Murdoch on 860 and Alec Bannerman on 745. during this time Spofforth was the most prolific wicket taker with 94 wickets at an average of 18.41 runs per wicket. Palmer closely followed with 78 wickets at an average of 21.51 per wicket.

The 1890s

Australia toured England 4 times during the 1890s and played 26 Test matches against them.
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.
The Australian Test captains in the 1890s were Murdoch, Blackham, Giffen, Trott and Darling.

List of top Australian Test run scorers in the 1890s

  1. Darling 1139

    List of top Australian Test wicket takers in the 1890s

  2. Giffen 74
  3. Trumble 63
  4. Jones 56
  5. Turner 51

    1900s

Australian team started touring other countries such as South Africa which had Test status 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.
The two main Australian Test team captains during this period were Darling and Noble. Both of them had a good captaincy record. Yay

List of top Australian wicket takers of the period

  1. Noble 89
  2. Saunders 79
  3. Trumble 78

    The 1910s

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.
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

  1. Ryder 1394
  2. Collins 1352
  3. Macartney 1252
  4. Gregory 1146

    List of top Australian wicket takers of the 1920s

  5. Mailey 99
  6. 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

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

, 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 wicket takers in the 1930s

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.
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 wicket taker was Richie Benaud with 165 wickets at an average of 23.95.

Test tours

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

Australia's Record in Test Match Cricket 1970–1979
SeasonOpponentVenuePlayedWonLostDrawnResult
1970South AfricaSouth Africa4040Lost
1970–71EnglandAustralia7025Lost
1972EnglandEngland5221Drawn
1972–73PakistanAustralia3300Won
1972–73West IndiesWest Indies5302Won
1973–74New ZealandAustralia3201Won
1973–74New ZealandNew Zealand3111Drawn
1974–75EnglandAustralia6411Won
1975EnglandEngland4103Won
1975–76West IndiesAustralia6510Won
1976–77PakistanAustralia3111Drawn
1976–77New ZealandNew Zealand2101Won
1976–77EnglandAustralia1100Won
1977EnglandEngland5032Lost
1977–78IndiaAustralia5320Won
1977–78West IndiesWest Indies5131Lost
1978–79EnglandAustralia6150Lost
1978–79PakistanAustralia2110Drawn
1979–80IndiaIndia6024Lost
1979–80West IndiesAustralia3021Lost
1979–80EnglandAustralia3300Won
Totals87333024

Australia's Record in ODI Cricket 1970–1979
YearTournamentVenuePlayedWonLostTiedN/RResult
1971v EnglandAustralia11000Won
1972Prudential TrophyEngland31200Lost
1974v New ZealandNew Zealand22000Won
1975v EnglandAustralia10100Lost
19751st World CupTEngland54100Runner-up
1975v West IndiesAustralia11000Won
1977Prudential TrophyEngland31200Lost
1978v West IndiesWest Indies21100Drawn
1979v EnglandAustralia42101Won
19792nd World CupTEngland31200Eliminated
1979–80World SeriesTAustralia62400Completed 1980
Totals31161401

T: denotes tournament played between three or more teams

The 1980s

Australia's Record in Test Match Cricket 1980–1989
SeasonOpponentVenuePlayedWonLostDrawnResult
1980PakistanPakistan3012Lost
1980EnglandEngland1001Drawn
1980–81New ZealandAustralia3201Won
1980–81IndiaAustralia3111Drawn
1981EnglandEngland6132Lost
1981–82PakistanAustralia3210Won
1981–82West IndiesAustralia3111Drawn
1981–82New ZealandNew Zealand3111Drawn
1982–83PakistanPakistan3030Lost
1982–83EnglandAustralia5212Won
1982–83Sri LankaSri Lanka1100Won
1983–84PakistanAustralia5203Won
1983–84West IndiesWest Indies5032Lost
1984–85West IndiesAustralia5131Lost
1985EnglandEngland6132Lost
1985–86New ZealandAustralia3120Lost
1985–86IndiaAustralia3003Drawn
1986–87IndiaIndia3002#Drawn
1986–87EnglandAustralia5122Lost
1987–88New ZealandAustralia3102Won
1987–88EnglandAustralia1001Drawn
1987–88Sri LankaAustralia1100Won
1988–89PakistanPakistan3012Lost
1988–89West IndiesAustralia5131Lost
1989EnglandEngland6402Won
1989–90New ZealandAustralia1001Drawn
1989–90Sri LankaAustralia2101Won
Totals91252936#

# plus one tied result
Australia's Record in ODI Cricket 1980–1989
YearTournamentVenuePlayedWonLostTiedN/RResult
1979–80World SeriesTAustralia21100Eliminated
1980Prudential TrophyEngland20200Lost
1980–81World SeriesTAustralia149401Won
1981Prudential TrophyEngland32100Won
1981–82World SeriesTAustralia145900Runner-up
1982v New ZealandNew Zealand32100Won
1982v PakistanPakistan30201Lost
1983World SeriesTAustralia127500Won
1983v New ZealandAustralia10100Lost
1983v Sri LankaSri Lanka40202Lost
19833rd World CupTEngland62400Eliminated
1984World SeriesTAustralia135611Runner-up
1984v West IndiesWest Indies41300Lost
1984v IndiaIndia53002Won
1985World SeriesTAustralia135800Runner-up
1985World Champ. CupTAustralia31200Eliminated
1985Rothmans CupTSharjah21100Runner-up
1985Texaco TrophyEngland32100Won
1986World SeriesTAustralia128301Won
1986v New ZealandNew Zealand42200Drawn
1986Australasia CupTSharjah10100Eliminated
1986v IndiaIndia62301Lost
1987B&H ChallengeTAustralia30300Eliminated
1987World SeriesTAustralia105500Runner-up
1987Sharjah CupTSharjah30300Eliminated
19874th World CupTIndia/Pakistan87100Won
1988World SeriesTAustralia109100Won
1988v EnglandAustralia11000Won
1988v PakistanPakistan10100Lost
1988–89World SeriesTAustralia116500Runner-up
1989Texaco TrophyEngland31110Lost
1989Nehru CupTIndia52300Eliminated
1989–90World SeriesTAustralia22000Completed in 1990
Totals187918529
Home121645313
Away451721 16-
Neutral21101100

T: denotes tournament between three or more teams.
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 bowler Craig McDermott, wicket keeper Ian Healy, Steve Waugh and batsman Dean Jones. Cult heroes such as overweight Tasmanian batsman David Boon and Victorian bowler Merv Hughes 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. These two aforementioned victories are considered to have signalled the genesis of the team's rise to dominance, though at that point they were still behind the West Indies and failed to win any Tests in India or Pakistan. In 1986, 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

Australia's Record in Test Match Cricket 1990–1999
SeasonOpponentVenuePlayedWonLostDrawnResult
1989–90PakistanAustralia3102Won
1989–90New ZealandNew Zealand1010Lost
1990–91EnglandAustralia5302Won
1990–91West IndiesWest Indies5131Lost
1991–92IndiaAustralia5401Won
1991–92Sri LankaSri Lanka3102Won
1992–93West IndiesAustralia5122Lost
1992–93New ZealandNew Zealand3111Drawn
1993EnglandEngland6411Won
1993–94New ZealandAustralia3201Won
1993–94South AfricaAustralia3111Drawn
1993–94South AfricaSouth Africa3111Drawn
1994–95PakistanPakistan3012Lost
1994–95EnglandAustralia5311Won
1994–95West IndiesWest Indies4211Won
1995–96PakistanAustralia3210Won
1995–96Sri LankaAustralia3300Won
1996–97IndiaIndia1010Lost
1996–97West IndiesAustralia5320Won
1996–97South AfricaSouth Africa3210Won
1997EnglandEngland6321Won
1997–98New ZealandAustralia3201Won
1997–98South AfricaAustralia3102Won
1997–98IndiaIndia3120Lost
1998–99PakistanPakistan3102Won
1998–99EnglandAustralia5311Won
1998–99West IndiesWest Indies4220Drawn
1999-00Sri LankaSri Lanka3012Lost
1999–00ZimbabweZimbabwe1100Won
1999–00PakistanAustralia3300Won
1999–00IndiaAustralia2200Completed 2000
Totals109552628

Australia's Record in ODI Cricket 1990–1999
YearTournamentVenuePlayedWonLostTiedN/RResult
1989–90World SeriesAustralia86200Won
1990Rothmans CupNew Zealand55000Won
1990Austral-Asia CupSharjah43100Runner-up
1990–91World SeriesAustralia109100Won
1991v West IndiesWest Indies54100Won
1991–92World SeriesAustralia107201Won
19925th World CupAust/NZ84400Eliminated
1992v Sri LankaSri Lanka31200Lost
1992–93World SeriesAustralia105410Runner-up
1993v New ZealandNew Zealand53200Won
1993Texaco TrophyEngland33000Won
1993–94World SeriesAustralia117400Won
1994v South AfricaSouth Africa84400Drawn
1994Austral-Asia CupSharjah32100Semi-final
1994Singer World SeriesSri Lanka31200Eliminated
1994Wills Triangular SeriesPakistan65100Won
1994–95World SeriesAustralia43100Won
1995NZ Centenary T’mentNew Zealand43100Won
1995v West IndiesWest Indies51400Lost
1995–96World SeriesAustralia107300Won
19966th World CupInd/Pak/SL75200Runner-up
1996Singer World SeriesSri Lanka42200Runner-up
1996Titan CupIndia50500Eliminated
1996–97CUB SeriesAustralia83500Eliminated
1997v South AfricaSouth Africa74300Won
1997Texaco TrophyEngland30300Lost
1997–98CUB SeriesAustralia115600Won
1998v New ZealandAustralia42200Drawn
1998Pepsi Triangular SeriesIndia53200Won
1998Coca-Cola CupSharjah54100Runner-up
1998Wills CupBangladesh10100Eliminated
1998v PakistanPakistan33000Won
1999CUB SeriesAustralia129300Won
1999v West IndiesWest Indies73310Drawn
19997th World CupUK/Ire/Neth107210Won
1999Aiwa CupSri Lanka54100Runner-up
1999v ZimbabweZimbabwe33000Won
Totals2251408131

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 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. The 1992–93 Frank Worrell Trophy series against the West Indies was the last Test series Australia lost at home until the 2008–09 series loss to South Africa.
A year 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. The policy was intended to ensure that players were only chosen for the side for which they were suitable. This resulted in the immediate removal of captain Taylor and his deputy Ian Healy from the ODI team. The move proved successful, and was also adopted by other teams such as England and the West Indies.
The defeat of the then-dominant West Indies on their 1995 tour of the Caribbean is viewed as the moment when Australia became the dominant side in the world. Since then, in spite of a few occasions the Australians have had an extremely high winning rate that compares favourably to the leading teams in history.
Australia's Record in Test Match Cricket 2000–
SeasonOpponentVenuePlayedWonLostDrawnResult
1999-00IndiaAustralia1100Won
1999–90New ZealandNew Zealand3300Won
2000–01West IndiesAustralia5500Won
2000–01IndiaIndia3120Lost
2001EnglandEngland5401Won
2001–02New ZealandNew Zealand3003Drawn
2001–02South AfricaAustralia3300Won
2001–02South AfricaSouth Africa3210Won
2002–03PakistanSL/Sharjah3300Won
2002–03EnglandAustralia5410Won
2002–03West IndiesWest Indies4310Won
2003BangladeshAustralia2200Won
2003–04ZimbabweAustralia2200Won
2003–04IndiaAustralia4112Drawn
2003–04Sri LankaSri Lanka3300Won
2004Sri LankaAustralia2101Won
2004–05IndiaIndia4211Won
2004–05New ZealandAustralia2200Won
2004–05PakistanAustralia3300Won
2004–05New ZealandNew Zealand3201Won
2005EnglandEngland5122Lost
2005–06ICC World XIAustralia1100Won
2005–06West IndiesAustralia3300Won
2005–06South AfricaAustralia3201Won
2005–06South AfricaSouth Africa3300Won
2005–06BangladeshBangladesh2200Won
2006–07EnglandAustralia5500Won
2007–08Sri LankaAustralia2200Won
2007–08IndiaAustralia4211Won
2007–08West IndiesAustralia3210Won
2008–09IndiaIndia4022Lost
2008–09New ZealandAustralia2200Won
2008–09South AfricaAustralia3120Lost
2008–09South AfricaSouth Africa3210Won
2009EnglandEngland5122Lost
Totals111701818

During this decade, Australia's dominance has continued to the point that they have gone months sometimes even a full calendar year without losing a single match and have racked up many records along the way. Following Steve Waugh's omission in 2002 from One Day International cricket and, in his retirement in 2004 from Test cricket, Ricky Ponting replaced him as Captain and continued the team's international dominance.
The 2005 Ashes series 2–1 loss to England was considered a disaster. The return series in 2006–07, was, however, a resounding success, with the Australians completing a 5–0 whitewash of the English, a feat not witnessed since Warwick Armstrong's side in 1920–21. The 2006–07 season also saw the retirements of Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Justin Langer. The Ashes were again lost 2–1 in England in 2009, this result reduced Australia to 4th in the ICC Test Rankings, their lowest ever position. Australia's dominance during this time extended to One-Day Cricket, with the Australians winning a third consecutive Cricket World Cup in 2007, following their successes in 2003 and 1999, and being undefeated in the 2003 and 2007 tournaments. Australia pulled out of their cricket tour of Pakistan because of Terrorism in Pakistan on 11 March 2008.

Tournament history

World Cup

The Australian cricket team has had a rich history participating in the World Cup. At present, they have won the World Cup five times as well as three titles in a row, the only team to do so. After the 2007 tournament, their dominance of the tournament can be analysed through the winning percentage of all countries which have participated, as Australia hold a 10% higher winning rate over the next best side.
Their dominance of the tournament in 1999–2007 was such that they won 23 consecutive games. To put this into perspective, the second longest winning streak behind this is nine straight victories by the West Indies team of the 1970s.

ICC Champions Trophy

The Australian cricket team finally captured victory in the ICC Champions Trophy series after beating the West Indies in the final of the 2006 series and backed it up by winning their second straight ICC Champions Trophy by beating New Zealand in the 2009 edition in South Africa.

ICC knockout

The Australian cricket team made it as far as the quarter-finals in the ICC knockout. They have reached the quarter-finals on two different occasions.

Commonwealth Games

Despite topping their pool, Australia lost to South Africa in the gold medal play-off.

Austral-Asia Cup

Australia have entered the Austral-Asia cup three times. The best result came in 1990 in which they were runners-up.

Twenty20 World Cup

They reached the semi-final of the first Twenty20 World Cup in 2007 losing to the eventual champions India, but also lost to Pakistan and Zimbabwe in the group stages. In the 2009 World Cup they were eliminated in the qualification round after losing by six wickets to both the West Indies and Sri Lanka.

History of Australia's One-Day International Shirts