Australia National Cricket Team

Golden Era of Australian Cricket

The Australian cricket team went on a rampage winning almost all their tours around about late 19th century and early parts of the 20th century. The teams during these tours are known to have been captained by the greats Joe Darling, Monty Noble and Clem Hill. These players made Australia an absolute dominant force during their time.

Post War Era

Cricket in Australia was halted by conflicts between players who tried to take control of most of the touring that the team did. All this was headed towards the first world war and it brought a halt in the cricket being played. Things became normal again after the 1920s. Australia remained a dominant force as then won all the matches of their tour of England post the break.

Don Bradman Era

Sir Donald Bradman is considered to be one of the greatest players to have ever played cricket. During his time, he broke almost every existing records and created new ones. He still have the highest ever Test batting average of 99.94 which would have been 100 if he had not gotten out on a duck in his last ever Test match. He was knighted in the year 1949 for his tremendous contributions to cricket. He is widely regarded as Australia’s greatest batsman and sportsperson.

The World Cups

The Australian cricket team remains the most successful team when it comes to ICC tournaments. They has won the ICC Cricket World Cup the most number of times which is five.

1975 World Cup

Australia made it to the final of the first ever edition of the men’s cricket World Cup but went down fighting by 17 runs to West Indies in the title-decider.

1979 & 1983 World Cup

Australia lost to England and Pakistan in the group stages to bow out in the first round of the 1979 World Cup, while losing to India and West Indies in the 1983 World Cup to fail in their attempt to make it to the semi-finals.

1987 World Cup

The World Cup was hosted jointly by India and Pakistan in the year 1987. The final was played at the Eden Gardens in Calcutta between Australia and England. Australia won their first ICC Cricket World Cup by defeating England by seven runs.

It was Australia’s second world cup final. They had won the toss and chosen to bat first. They put up a total of 253 runs in their 50 overs. David Boon was the highest scorer for them with 75 runs and was later awarded the Man of the match award. England put up a good fight but it was all for nothing in the end.

1992 World Cup

Australia managed to win only four of their eight group stage matches and did not progress to the knockout stages.

1996 World Cup

Australia, who had earlier forfeited their league stage game in Sri Lanka, finished the runner-up in the 1996 World Cup as they lost out to Sri Lanka in the final.

1999 World Cup

The 1999 World Cup was the seventh edition of the tournament and it was jointly hosted by England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Netherlands with most of the matches primarily played in England.

The final was played at the home of cricket, The Lords, between Australia and Pakistan. Pakistan batted first but they were bowled out inside 40 overs, courtesy of Shane Warne who took 4/33 in the 9 overs he bowled. Australia chased the total very easily on the back of a swift 50 by Adam Gilchrist. Shane Warne was given the Man of the Match award as Australia claimed their second ICC World Cup.

2003 World Cup

Hosted in South Africa, this world cup showed just how dominant the Australian Side were in the tournament as they went undefeated throughout the tournament. The final was played in Johannesburg and it was a very hyped up final as it was against India, a side which had players like Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly who were the tournaments top run scorers.

It was the first final India had been since their World Cup triumph in 1983 and it was Australia’s second consecutive World Cup final. Australia were sent out to bat first by the Indian captain Sourav Ganguly and they made a whopping 359 runs for the loss of just two wickets.

The performance was powered by a 140 run stand by their captain Ricky Ponting with Damien Martyn and Adam Gilchrist scoring 88 and 57 runs respectively. It was all a little too much for India as they lost the early wicket of their star player Sachin Tendulkar. India folded pretty quickly as they were bowled out for just 234 runs. Glenn McGrath took 3 wickets including that of Sachin Tendulkar to win it for Australia. After this world cup victory, Australia had become the first team to win three World Cups.

2007 World Cup

The 2007 World Cup was held in West Indies and the finals were played between Sri Lanka and Australia at the Kensington Oval in Barbados. It was the third consecutive final Australia had been in. Due to early rain, the match was delayed and later brought down to 38 overs match. Australia batted first and posted a total of 281 runs with Adam Gilchrist scored 149 run in just 104 balls.

In the second innings, Sri Lanka were in a comfortable position with Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakkara building a steady partnership. The play was again halted due to bad light.

The game was eventually suspended by the Umpires which mad Australians think that they had won the world cup but they were soon corrected by the Umpires and they were informed that since the play was suspended because bad light and not rain, the remaining overs will be played the following day.

Since Sri Lanka needed 61 runs from 18 balls, the Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene asked his players to bat the remaining deliveries with Ricky Ponting agreeing to play only spinners. The last overs of the match were played in almost complete darkness and the Lankans could only add nine more runs to their total which gave Australia a 53-run win through the DL Method.

Australia became the first country to ever win three World Cups consecutively.

2011 World Cup

Australia were knocked out of the 2011 Word Cup in the quarter finals by India who then went on to win the World Cup.

2015 World Cup

The 2015 World Cup was jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand and coincidentally the finals were also played between the two nations.

The match was played at the MCG. New Zealand had won the toss and they had elected to bat first. They posted a total of 183 runs as it a result of a strong performance by the Australian bowlers. Grant Elliot scored a well made 83 runs in their innings.

Australia wrapped up the game pretty quickly in just 33 overs with Michael Clarke coming out with a captains performance of 74 runs of 72 balls. Australia claimed their fifth World Cup title and the first on their home ground.

2019 World Cup

Australia were defeated by England in the semi finals of the 2019 World Cup.

2023 World Cup

Australia lifted its sixth World Cup title, despite starting the tournament with two losses, winning its next nine matches including a six-wicket victory over hosts India in the final. Travis Head was Player of the Match in the final, scoring a century and taking a crucial diving catch.

Australian Cricket Team Records

Top Test Run Scorers

• Ricky Ponting
• Allan Border
• Steve Waugh
• Michael Clarke
• Matthew Hayden

Top ODI Run Scorers

• Ricky Ponting
• Adam Gilchrist
• Mark Waugh
• Michael Clarke
• Steve Waugh

Top Test Wicket Takers

• Shane Warne
• Glenn McGrath
• Brett Lee
• Mitchell Johnson
• Craig McDermott

Top ODI Wicket Takers

• Glenn McGrath
• Brett Lee
• Shane Warne
• Mitchell Johnson
• Craig McDermott

Major Achievements

• 6 x 50-over World Cup (1987, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2015, 2023)
• ICC World Test Championship (2021-2023)
• T20 World Cup (2021)
• 2 x Champions Trophy (2006, 2009)
• Australia ODI cricket teams highest total in a One Day International innings is 434-4 scored off 50 overs against South Africa at Johannesburg on the 12th of March 2006.
• In 2007 Australia became the only team to win the World Cup 4 times and the first team in history to win it 3 times in a row.