fun pics

OBAMA KEPT HIS PROMISE

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg says Americans have kept their promise after Sept. 11, 2001, to capture or kill Osama bin Laden.
President Barack Obama announced Sunday night Osama bin Laden was killed in an operation led by the United States.
Bloomberg says the killing of the terrorist leader doesn't lessen the suffering Americans experienced at his hands the day the World Trade Center was destroyed but is a “critically important victory'' for the nation. He says it's a tribute to the men and women in the armed forces who've fought so hard.
The 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks is just months away.
Bloomberg says in a statement he hopes news of a dead Osama bin Laden will “bring some closure and comfort to all those who lost loved ones'' that day.

With Sunday night's announcement, President Obama concluded one of the most protracted, tense and unhappy periods in U.S. history. For a decade, the perpetrator of an atrocious attack on the American people eluded retribution. Now, finally, he is dead.

In disclosing Osama bin Laden's death, the president was impeccably clear about America's interests in the pursuit of this despicable enemy of the United States. Bin Laden, he said, had continued plotting attacks long after 9/11, and his death "marks the most significant achievement to date" in the effort to defeat Al Qaeda. This nation, Obama reminded his country and the world, "is not and never will be at war with Islam." Indeed, Bin Laden's victims included many Muslims; his death will save many more. The war in Afghanistan was aimed specifically against Bin Laden and his terrorist organization (along with the Taliban government that hosted him). That war is not over, but the snake is now severed from its head. And, in a tribute to the intelligence services that made this possible, Obama announced that "no Americans were harmed."

Photos: Crowds celebrate Osama bin Laden's death

Bin Laden's death will not end terrorism, do away with Al Qaeda or conclude the global war that began after 9/11 because too many people in too many nations accept his delusion that the United States is implacably at odds with the values of Islam. But they are wrong to see America as their foe, and wrong to see Bin Laden as their hero.

Bin Laden's death will create new tensions in U.S. diplomacy. Pakistan reportedly assisted in locating Bin Laden and thus in assassinating him. But relations with Pakistan are badly strained, and now the threat of retribution to that regime is real. Obama recognized it in his speech, and he must follow through with protection for those who helped protect U.S. interests and values.

As news of Bin Laden's death was announced, crowds massed in Washington and at ground zero in New York. Fireworks sparkled in Los Angeles. It is difficult to join in a parade for an assassination, but Bin Laden deliberately established himself as a specific and particular enemy of this nation. Here is an excerpt from one of his blithering harangues: "We — with God's help — call on every Muslim who believes in God and wishes to be rewarded to comply with God's order to kill the Americans and plunder their money wherever and whenever they find it." Those are the words of a fanatic.

For weeks, the nation's political discourse has been dominated by the silly and stupid. Donald Trump has challenged the president's legitimacy, only to be humiliated by Obama's provable birth certificate. Now, it is clear that while Obama was contesting that fatuous challenge to his leadership, he was simultaneously sifting intelligence of the most sensitive nature and authorizing an action of stupendous consequence.

Sunday night's announcement should remind the nation that the presidency is not just an office to be contested and that American values are not merely empty words to be used as political rhetoric. Obama ordered the seizure of America's most vile enemy, who resisted and was shot down. The world is better and safer for his death.

OSAMA DEAD

IPL -lalit modi case

More trouble for Modi?

More trouble seems to be in store for former IPL chief Lalit Modi with the government likely to seek his deportation three days after revoking his passport.
Modi has been given until March 31 to either file an appeal or move court over the cancellation of his passport and it has come to light that the Enforcement Directorate is considering the option of deporting Modi to probe into alleged violation of foreign exchange laws while he was the IPL chief.
Modi's lawyer Mehmood Abdi said that they are considering all the options available to them before taking any step.
"It is under active consideration. All options are being weighed. We will see what action needs to be taken on it (passport revocation)," Abdi said.
Modi has been eluding investigating since more than six months now and is believed to be in London. Abdi has been representing Modi in India but now it seems there is no alternative for Modi but to come out in the open.
If it comes to deportation, it is likely to be a complicated and a delayed affair because of the legal issues involved.
The ED is yet also decide on taking the much harsher step of invoking the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
It is believed that even though ED is keen to investigate Modi, the probe pertains to IPL and not Modi alone and hence it is being more thorough in the process.

 

IPL -lalit modi case

High Court dismisses Lalit Modi's plea 

Mumbai: Paving way for the Board of Control for Cricket in India Disciplinary Committee to resume its enquiry against former IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi, the Bombay High Court has dismissed his application seeking confirmation of an earlier interim stay on the proceedings.
“No ground has been made out in Mr. Modi's application. We are determined that he is trying to delay the proceedings before the Disciplinary Committee (DC) on one ground or the other,” Justice S.J. Kathawala observed in his ruling.
The Court further said that it was essential that the Disciplinary Committee was allowed to complete its inquiry.
The BCCI formed the Committee last year to look into charges of financial improprieties against Modi during his tenure as IPL Commissioner.
Challenged
Justice Kathawala, on December 25 last year, had granted interim stay on the proceedings of DC, after Mr. Modi approached the Court challenging DC's continuance. “If Modi is allowed to succeed in his endeavour of delaying the enquiry before the Disciplinary Committee, the entire purpose and object of the enquiry against him would be lost,” the court said.
“There are several witnesses who are foreign nationals coming from abroad to give their evidence in the matter... who may subsequently not be available to depose before the Disciplinary Committee,” Justice Kathawala said.
The court has kept Mr. Modi's main suit against the DC pending. In this suit, Mr. Modi has challenged the very existence of the Committee, saying its term expired on September 29 last year and it was not reconstituted. — PTI

this might be the last world cup of sachin says dhoni

2011 world cup

The 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup will be the tenth Cricket World Cup and will be hosted by three South Asian Test cricket playing countries: India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. It will be Bangladesh's first time co-hosting a Cricket World Cup. The World Cup will use cricket's One Day International format, with fourteen national cricket teams scheduled[1] to compete. The World Cup will take place between February and early April 2011, with the first match to be played on 19 February 2011 with co-hosts India and Bangladesh facing off at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka.[2] The opening ceremony was held on 17 February 2011 at Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka, two days before the start of the tournament,[3] with the final on 2 April 2011 at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.

The World Cup was also supposed to be co-hosted by Pakistan, but in the wake of the 2009 attack on the Sri Lanka national cricket team in Lahore, the International Cricket Council (ICC) decided to strip Pakistan of its hosting rights.[4] The headquarters of the organising committee were originally situated in Lahore, but have now been shifted to Mumbai.[5] Pakistan was supposed to hold 14 matches, including one semi-final.[6] Eight of Pakistan's matches were awarded to India, four to Sri Lanka and two to Bangladesh.[7]
Contents

* 1 Host selection
o 1.1 Bids
* 2 Format
* 3 Qualification
* 4 Preparations
o 4.1 Pakistan stripped of co-host status
o 4.2 Allocation of matches
* 5 Opening Ceremony
* 6 Prize
o 6.1 Trophy
o 6.2 Prize money
* 7 Venues
o 7.1 Mascot
o 7.2 Official song
o 7.3 Ambassador
* 8 Media coverage
* 9 Umpires
* 10 Squads
* 11 Matches
o 11.1 Warm-up matches
o 11.2 Group stage
+ 11.2.1 Group A
+ 11.2.2 Group B
o 11.3 Knockout stage
+ 11.3.1 Quarter-Finals
+ 11.3.2 Semi-Finals
+ 11.3.3 Final
* 12 See also
* 13 References and notes
* 14 External links

Host selection
Bids

The ICC originally announced its decision which countries would host the 2011 World Cup on 30 April 2006. Australia and New Zealand also bid for the tournament, and a successful Australasian bid for the 2011 World Cup would have seen a 50-50 split in games, with the final still up for negotiation. The Trans–Tasman bid, Beyond Boundaries, was the only bid for 2011 delivered to ICC headquarters in Dubai ahead of the 1 March deadline. Considerable merits of the Australasian bid were the superior venues and infrastructure and the total support of both the New Zealand and Australian governments on tax and customs issues during the tournament, according to Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland.[8] The New Zealand government had also given assurance that Zimbabwe would be allowed to compete in the tournament, following political discussions in the country whether their cricket team should be allowed to tour Zimbabwe in 2005.

ICC President Ehsan Mani said the extra time taken by the Asian block to hand over its bid compliance book had harmed the four-nation bid. However, when the time came to vote, Asia won the hosting rights by seven votes to three.[8] The Pakistan Cricket Board has revealed that it was the vote of the West Indies Cricket Board that swung the matter, as the Asian bid had the support of the four bidding countries along with South Africa and Zimbabwe.[9] It was reported in Pakistani newspaper Dawn that the Asian countries promised to hold fund-raising events for West Indian cricket during the 2007 World Cup, which may have influenced the vote.[10] However, chairman of the Monitoring Committee of the Asian bid, I. S. Bindra, said it was their promise of extra profits in the region of US$ 400 million that swung the vote,[11] that there "was no quid pro quo for their support",[12] and that playing the West Indies had "nothing to do with the World Cup bid".[12]

ICC prefers to rotate World Cup venues between major cricket playing nations. The world cups have been hosted by England (Three times 1975,1979,1983), India/Pakistan 1987, Australia/New Zealand 1992, India/Pakistan/Sri Lanka 1996, England (UK,Netherlands) 1999, South Africa (Zimbabwe,Kenya) 2003, West Indies 2007. For the 2011 World Cup Australia/New Zealand were a strong contender ahead of India/Pakistan/Sri Lanka/Bangladesh because they had not hosted a World cup since 1992. In the final voting India won because they argued that since they were a bigger group of countries they should be assigned a World cup more frequently. Due to this, Australia/New Zealand were awarded the 2015 World Cup.
Format

Late in 2007, the four host nations agreed upon a revised format for the 2011 World Cup identical to the 1996 World Cup, the only change being the no. of teams as it was 12 in 1996 and 14 in 2011. The first round of the tournament will be a round-robin in which the 14 teams are divided into 2 groups of 7 teams each. The 7 teams play each other once with the top 4 from each group qualifying for the quarter-finals.[13] The format ensures that each team gets to play a minimum of 6 matches even if they are ruled out of the tournament due to early defeats.
Qualification
Main articles: ICC World Cricket League 2007-09 and 2009 ICC World Cup Qualifier

Teams qualified for the World Cup

Group A Group B
Full Members
Australia Bangladesh
New Zealand England
Pakistan India
Sri Lanka South Africa
Zimbabwe West Indies
Associate Members
Canada Ireland
Kenya Netherlands

As per ICC regulations, all 10 full members automatically qualify for the World Cup.

The ICC also organised a qualifying tournament in South Africa to determine which Associate teams would participate in 2011 event. Ireland, who had been the best performing Associate nation since the last World Cup, won the tournament, beating Canada in the final. The Netherlands and Kenya also qualified by virtue of finishing third and fourth respectively.[14]
Preparations
Pakistan stripped of co-host status

Pakistan was stripped of its rights as co-host of the 2011 World Cup by the ICC on 17 April 2009[15][16] due to ongoing concerns about the "uncertain security situation" prevailing in the country, especially in the aftermath of terrorist attacks in Lahore during Sri Lanka's tour in 2009.

It is estimated that the PCB will lose $10.5 million due to the tournament being taken away from them.[17] This figure only includes the match-fee of $750,000 per match guaranteed by the ICC. The overall loss to the PCB and the Pakistani economy is expected to be much greater.

On 9 April 2009, PCB chairman Ijaz Butt revealed that they had issued a legal notice to oppose ICC's decision.[18] However, the ICC claims that PCB is still a co-host and they have only shifted the matches out of Pakistan.[19] Pakistan had proposed that South Asia host the 2015 World Cup and Australia/New Zealand host 2011, however this option did not find favour with their co-hosts and hence didn't materialise.[20]
Allocation of matches

On 11 April 2005, Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Shaharyar Khan announced an agreement about the allocation of games.[21] The original plan involved India hosting the final, while Pakistan and Sri Lanka would host the semi-finals.[22] and the opening ceremony will take place in Bangladesh.[23]

After being stripped of its co-host status, Pakistan made the bid to host its home games in the cities of UAE as a neutral home venue. This is a result of Pakistan playing matches in the preceding months in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah. The pitches in these stadiums have also been developed to suit the Pakistani players. This would not harm any timing schedules as there are regular flights from the city of Mumbai to Dubai.

However, on 28 April 2009, the ICC announced the re-allocation of matches originally intended to be played in Pakistan. As a result, India will now host 29 matches across eight venues including the final and one semi-final; Sri Lanka will host 12 in three venues, including one semi-final; while Bangladesh will stage 8 at two grounds as well as the opening ceremony on 17 February 2011.[24]

On 1 June 2010, the first phase of tickets for the 2011 World Cup in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have been put on sale following a meeting of the tournament's Central Organising Committee in Mumbai. The tickets have been priced affordably, with the cheapest costing 20 cents US in Sri Lanka, the committee said.[25] In January 2011, the ICC declared the Eden Gardens ground in Kolkata, India to be unfit and unlikely to be complete by 27 February when it was scheduled to host a match between India and England. As a result, the match was moved to Bangalore.[26]
Opening Ceremony
Main article: 2011 Cricket World Cup opening ceremony

The Opening Ceremony was held in Bangladesh. The venue for the opening ceremony was Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The event took place on 17 February 2011, 2 days prior to the first match of the World Cup.
Prize
The ICC World Cup Trophy
Trophy
Main article: Cricket World Cup Trophy

The ICC Cricket World Cup Trophy is a running trophy, presented to the winning team since 1999. It was designed by Garrard & Co within 2 months. The original trophy is kept with the ICC at headquarters in Dubai. The winning team is given a replica. The only difference between the two is that the original has the names of all the previous winners inscribed on it.
Prize money

The 2011 Cricket World Cup winning team would be taking home a prize money of US$ 3 million and US$ 1.5 million for runner-up, with the International Cricket Council deciding to double the total allocation for the coveted tournament to US$ 10 million. The decision was taken at the ICC Board meeting which was held in Dubai on April 20, 2010.[27][28] The total prize money on offer for the tournament for the teams placing from 1st to 8th is US$7.48 million.[29]

As usual the bulk of the net proceeds of the tournament will be distributed by the ICC to its member associations. This is expected to amount to several hundred million U.S. dollars.

south africas cricket team

The South Africa national cricket team, also known as The Proteas (formerly known as The Springboks) are a national cricket team representing South Africa. They are administrated by Cricket South Africa.

South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and One Day International status. Through the mid-nineties to the present, the Proteas have been labeled as the archetypal chokers in international cricket, especially due to their not winning a Cricket world cup even after being one of the top favorites and their general inability to win the big matches on the big occasions.[4][5]

As of 29 December 2010, the South African team has played 357 Test matches, winning 125 (35.11%), losing 124 (34.55%) and drawing 108(30.33%) of its games.[6]

As of 3 October 2009, the South African team has played 426 ODI Matches, winning 264 (61.97%), losing 145 (34.04%), drawing 5 (1.17%) and getting a "No Result" in 12 (2.82%) of its games.[7]
Contents
[hide]

* 1 History
* 2 Tournaments
o 2.1 Tournament history
+ 2.1.1 World Cup
+ 2.1.2 ICC World Twenty20
+ 2.1.3 ICC Champions Trophy
+ 2.1.4 ICC Knockout
+ 2.1.5 Commonwealth Games
* 3 Personnel
* 4 See also
* 5 Notes
* 6 External links

[edit] History

In 1935 Dave Nourse achieved the highest individual score by a South African of 231 against Australia in Johannesburg.[8]

The South African cricket teamtoured England in 1947. At Nottingham, Captain Alan Melville and vice-captain, Nourse achieved a Test match record for a third wicket partnership of 319. The following year Nourse, 38 year old captain of Natal, was appointed Captain for the 1948 MCC Test matches in South Africa.[8]

In 1970, the ICC voted to suspend South Africa from international cricket indefinitely because of its government's policy of apartheid, an overtly racist policy, which led them to play only against the white nations (England, Australia, New Zealand), and field only white players. This decision excluded players such as Graeme Pollock, Barry Richards and Mike Procter from partaking in international Test Cricket. It would also cause the emigration of future stars like Allan Lamb and Robin Smith, who both played for England, and Kepler Wessels, who initially played for Australia, before returning to South Africa.

The ICC reinstated South Africa as a Test nation in 1991 after the deconstruction of apartheid, and the team played its first sanctioned match since 1970 (and its first ever One-Day International) against India in Calcutta on 10 November 1991.

Since South Africa have been reinstated they have achieved mixed success, and hosted the International Cricket Council Cricket World Cup in 2003. However, it is widely believed the sides containing the likes of Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock, Gary Kirsten and Hansie Cronje grossly underachieved, gaining a reputation as "chokers", due to them reaching the semi-finals of the Cricket World Cup three times, but failing to progress into the finals, with Herschelle Gibbs famously dropping Australian captain Steve Waugh in 1999 in a Super Six match. In the second part of the 1990s, South Africa had the highest winning percentage in ODIs of any team, but they were knocked out of the 1996 World Cup in the quarter-finals, and then were eliminated on countback after tying their semi-final against Australia in 1999. In 2003, South Africa were one of the favourites but were eliminated by one run in the group stages after they had mistakenly counted the number of runs they needed.

They have also had bad press for failing in vital matches in global tournaments including the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy and the 2007 ICC World Twenty20.[9]

With Donald retiring, Cronje banned for match-fixing and later died in a plane crash, and Pollock also retiring from international cricket, the team has once again changed shape. It is currently captained by Graeme Smith, although following injuries to Smith and Jacques Kallis, Ashwell Prince deputised as Test captain on 12 July 2006. At the age of 29, he became the first non-white man to captain the once all-white South African cricket team. Due to a racial quota policy, the side was once required to contain black players, unlike the past. However, that policy was rescinded in 2007.[10]
[edit] Tournaments

South Africa has a record of failing to win major tournaments and is much-maligned because of this. The 1992 Cricket World Cup, for example, featured a rain-affected semi-final played before the introduction of the rain rule. South Africa needed 22 runs from 13 balls when rain intervened. After the delay they were left in the situation of requiring 22 runs from one ball in order to progress. In 1996 they were eliminated in the quarter-finals despite being one of the fancied teams and having qualified first in their group. At the 1999 Cricket World Cup, South Africa played against Australia in the last Super Six match as well as the knock-out semifinal. Australia defeated the Proteas in the Super Six match and recorded a thrilling tie in the semifinal, which was enough to knock the Africans out of the tournament since Australia had previously beaten them (in the match immediately beforehand). It is in the Super Six match that Steve Waugh is reported to have told Herschelle Gibbs "Mate, you just dropped the World Cup" when the latter dropped him en route to a match-winning century, a comment which has been denied by Waugh himself in interviews. The image of the crestfallen South Africans following the run-out of their last batsman Allan Donald while the Australians celebrated in a huddle has become an iconic sporting image.

South Africa hosted the 2003 Cricket World Cup, but failed to progress beyond the group stage due to a misunderstanding of how many runs they needed to score in a rain-affected run chase. As a result of this, Shaun Pollock resigned as captain and was replaced by young batsman Graeme Smith, although Pollock continued to play for the team. Under Smith's leadership, South Africa has achieved some success, although they have been hampered by the retirements of many star players, including fast bowler Allan Donald and one-day specialist Jonty Rhodes. As a result, they had a poor 2004, only winning against the West Indies.

They had a rollercoaster ride that included dominant wins over England, the West Indies, Ireland, Netherlands and Scotland, and a narrow win over Sri Lanka, but devastating losses to Australia, New Zealand and Bangladesh that cost them the number one ranking. Then they bowed out in the semifinals with their lowest ever score in a World Cup as Australia bowled them out for 149 and won by 7 wickets. South Africa are regarded by many as the best team never to have won the Cricket World Cup.[citation needed]

They also hold the record of the highest successful run chase and made the highest total (the latter record has been surpassed) in One-Day Internationals (438-9 in 49.5 overs), in an iconic match against Australia on 12 March 2006. This game is considered by many to be the greatest One-Day International ever played.
[edit] Tournament history
The South African team at The Oval in August 2008.
[edit] World Cup

For World Cups from 1975 to 1987 inclusive, South Africa were not an ICC member, and therefore ineligible to compete in the tournament.

* 1992: Semi Finals
* 1996: Quarter Finals
* 1999: Semi Finals
* 2003: First round
* 2007: Semi Finals

[edit] ICC World Twenty20

* 2007: Super 8
* 2009: Semi-Finals
* 2010: Super 8

[edit] ICC Champions Trophy

* 2002: Semi Finals
* 2004: First round
* 2006: Semi Finals
* 2009: First round

[edit] ICC Knockout

* 1998: Winners
* 2000: Semi Finals

[edit] Commonwealth Games

* 1998: Gold medal

sri lankan cricket team

The Sri Lankan cricket team is the national cricket team of Sri Lanka. The team first played international cricket in 1926–27, and were later awarded Test status in 1981, which made Sri Lanka the eighth Test cricket playing nation. The team is administered by Sri Lanka Cricket.

Sri Lanka's national cricket team transformed the country from underdog status to a major cricketing nation during the 1990s. The team went on to win the 1996 Cricket World Cup, beating Australia in the finals, and becoming World Champions. Since then, the team has continued to be a major force in international cricket. The Sri Lankan cricket team reached the finals of the 2007 Cricket World Cup but lost to Australia in a rain-affected final match. The batting of Sanath Jayasuriya and Aravinda de Silva (retired), backed up by the bowling of Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas (retired), among many other talented cricketers, has underpinned the successes of Sri Lankan cricket during the last 15 years.

Sri Lanka have won the Cricket World Cup in 1996, the ICC Champions Trophy in 2002 (Co-champions with India), have been runners up in the 2007 Cricket World Cup, and have been runners up in the ICC World Twenty20 in 2009. The Sri Lankan cricket team currently holds several world records, including world records for highest team totals in all three forms of the game, Test, ODI and Twenty20.
Contents

* 1 History of Sri Lankan international cricket
o 1.1 Early years
o 1.2 Test status and beyond
+ 1.2.1 Milestones
o 1.3 2009 shooting incident
+ 1.3.1 Injured
* 2 Governing body
* 3 International grounds
o 3.1 Test
o 3.2 One Day International
* 4 Tournament history
o 4.1 Current Tournaments
+ 4.1.1 ICC Tournaments
+ 4.1.2 Other
o 4.2 Defunct Tournaments
+ 4.2.1 ICC Tournaments
+ 4.2.2 Other
* 5 Current squad
* 6 Statistics and records
o 6.1 Sri Lanka record in Test Matches
o 6.2 National Records by Sri Lanka
+ 6.2.1 Batting records
+ 6.2.2 Bowling records
+ 6.2.3 World Cup Records by Sri Lanka
+ 6.2.4 Other Records
* 7 See also
* 8 References
* 9 External links

[edit] History of Sri Lankan international cricket
[edit] Early years

Ceylon, as the country was known before 1972, played its first first-class match under that name against MCC at Nomads Ground, Victoria Park, Colombo in 1926–27, losing by an innings. [1] The team's first win came against Patiala at Dhruve Pandove Stadium in 1932–33. [2] The Ceylonese side competed in the M. J. Gopalan Trophy games from the 1950s, through the change of name to Sri Lanka, well into the 1970s. Sri Lankan cricket team's One Day International debut came in the 1975 Cricket World Cup and were later awarded test cricket status in 1981, by the International Cricket Council.
[edit] Test status and beyond

* Gained Test Status in 1981 and first played a Test Match in 1982
* Won the 1996 Cricket World Cup hosted by India, Sri Lanka & Pakistan
* Semi Finalists in the 2003 Cricket World Cup hosted by South Africa
* Runners up of the 2007 World Cup hosted by the West Indies
* Runners up of the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 hosted by England
* Semi Finalists in the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 hosted by West Indies

As of April 2010, the Sri Lankan team has played 192 Test matches, winning 31.25%, losing 35.94% and drawing 32.81% of its games.[3]

Sri Lankan cricket's greatest moment undoubtedly came during the aforementioned 1996 World Cup, when they defeated the top-ranked Australian team under the leadership of Arjuna Ranatunga in the Final. Sri Lanka's game style over the course of the series revolutionized One Day International Cricket, and was characterized by highly aggressive batting in the first fifteen overs of the innings in order to take advantage of the fielding restrictions imposed during this period. This strategy has since become a hallmark of One Day International cricket.

Sri Lankan cricket team won the Asia Cup in 1986, 1997, 2004 and 2008. Sri Lanka whitewashed England 5-0 in the NatWest Series in 2006. It was England's heaviest home defeat in 13 years. Sanath Jayasuriya was the Man of the Series.
[edit] Milestones

* Sri Lanka is the only ICC Trophy winning team to have gone on to win the Cricket World Cup at a later date.
* Sri Lanka is the only team to have participated in every edition of the Asia Cup.
* Sri Lanka is the only host team to win a Cricket World Cup.

[edit] 2009 shooting incident
Main article: 2009 attack on the Sri Lanka national cricket team

On March 3, 2009, the Sri Lankan team's convoy was attacked in Lahore, Pakistan by gunmen. This led to the death of five policemen and injuries to seven cricketers and a member of the coaching team.[4] The team was on its way to the Gaddafi Stadium where they were scheduled to begin the third day of the Second Test. After the incident the test match was called off by the Sri Lankan Cricket board. Sri Lanka had agreed to tour Pakistan, replacing India who refused to do so citing security concerns.[5]
[edit] Injured

* Thilan Samaraweera
* Kumar Sangakkara
* Tharanga Paranavitana
* Ajantha Mendis
* Chaminda Vaas
* Mahela Jayawardene
* Suranga Lakmal
* Paul Farbrace

[edit] Governing body
Main article: Sri Lanka Cricket

Sri Lanka Cricket, formerly the Board for Cricket Control in Sri Lanka (BCCSL), is the controlling body for cricket in Sri Lanka. It operates the Sri Lankan cricket team and first-class cricket within Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka Cricket oversees the progress and handling of the major domestic competitions: the First-class tournament Premier Trophy, the List A tournament Premier Limited Overs Tournament and the Twenty20 Tournament. Sri Lanka Cricket also organize and host the Inter-Provincial Cricket Tournament, a competition where five teams take part and represent four different provinces of Sri Lanka.
[edit] International grounds
Main article: List of cricket grounds in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka national cricket team is located in Sri Lanka
Saravanamuttu
SSC
CCC
R. Premadasa
Tyronne Fernando
Galle
Asgiriya
Rangiri Dambulla
Pallekele
Mahinda Rajapaksa
Locations of all international grounds in Sri Lanka.
[edit] Test

Listed in order of date first used for Test match
No Stadium name Location Capacity First used Matches
1 Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium Colombo 15,000 17 February 1982 15
2 Asgiriya Stadium Kandy 10,300 22 April 1982 21
3 Sinhalese Sports Club Ground Colombo 10,000 16 March 1984 34
4 Colombo Cricket Club Ground (now not used) Colombo 6,000 24 March 1984 3
5 R. Premadasa Stadium Colombo 40,000 28 August 1992 7
6 Tyronne Fernando Stadium (now not used) Moratuwa 15,000 8 September 1992 4
7 Galle International Stadium Galle 35,000 3 June 1998 17
8 Pallekele International Cricket Stadium Pallekele, Kandy 35,000 1 December 2010 1
[edit] One Day International
No Stadium name Location Capacity First used Matches
1 Sinhalese Sports Club Ground Colombo 10,000 13 February 1982 56
2 Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium Colombo 15,000 13 April 1983 12
3 Tyronne Fernando Stadium (now not used) Moratuwa 15,000 31 March 1984 6
4 Asgiriya Stadium Kandy 10,300 2 March 1986 6
5 R. Premadasa Stadium Colombo 40,000 5 April 1986 94
6 Galle International Stadium Galle 35,000 25 June 1998 4
7 Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium Dambulla 16,800 23 March 2001 43
8 Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium Hambantota 35,000 20 February 2011 -
9 Pallekele International Cricket Stadium Pallekele, Kandy 35,000 8 March 2011 -
[edit] Tournament history
[edit] Current Tournaments
[edit] ICC Tournaments
World Cup record
Year Round Position GP W L T NR
England 1975 Round 1 7/8 3 0 3 0 0
England 1979 Round 1 5/8 3 1 1 0 1
England 1983 Round 1 7/8 6 1 5 0 0
IndiaPakistan 1987 Round 1 7/8 6 0 6 0 0
Australia New Zealand 1992 Round 1 8/9 8 2 5 0 1
Pakistan India Sri Lanka 1996 Champions 1/12 8 8 0 0 0
England Republic of Ireland Netherlands Scotland 1999 Round 1 9/12 5 2 3 0 0
Kenya South Africa Zimbabwe 2003 Semi finals 3/14 12 6 5 1 0
WI 2007 Second place 2/16 12 9 3 0 0
India Sri Lanka Bangladesh 2011 Qualified /14 – – – – –
Australia New Zealand 2015 Qualified – – – – – –
England 2019 Qualified – – – – – –
Total 12/12 1 title 63 29 31 1 2

Asia Cup record
Year Round Position GP W L T NR
United Arab Emirates 1984 Second place 2/3 2 1 1 0 0
Sri Lanka 1986 Champions 1/3 3 2 1 0 0
Bangladesh 1988 Second place 2/4 4 3 1 0 0
India 1990–91 Second place 2/3 3 2 1 0 0
Pakistan 1993 Not Held
United Arab Emirates 1995 Second place 2/4 4 2 2 0 0
Sri Lanka 1997 Champions 1/4 4 4 0 0 0
Bangladesh 2000 Second place 2/4 4 2 2 0 0
Sri Lanka 2004 Champions 1/6 6 4 2 0 0
Pakistan 2008 Champions 1/6 6 5 1 0 0
Total 9/9 4 titles 36 25 11 0 0

Champions Trophy record
Year Round Position GP W L T NR
Bangladesh 1998 Semi-finals 3 or 4/9 2 1 1 0 0
Kenya 2000 Quarter-finals 5–8/8 2 1 1 0 0
Sri Lanka 2002 Joint 1st 1/12 4 3 0 0 1
England 2004 Round 1 ?/12 2 1 1 0 0
India 2006 Round 1 8/10 6 4 2 0 0
South Africa 2009 Round 1 6/8 3 1 2 0 0
Total 6/6 1 title 19 11 7 0 1
World Twenty20 record
Year Round Position GP W L T NR
South Africa 2007 Super 8s 6/12 5 3 2 0 0
England 2009 Second place 2/12 7 6 1 0 0
WI 2010 Semi-finals 3/12 6 3 3 0 0
Total 3/3 0 titles 18 12 6 0 0
[edit] Other
Asia Games record
Year Round Position GP W L T NR
People's Republic of China 2010 Bronze medal match 4/9 3 1 2 0 0
Total 1/1 0 titles 3 1 2 0 0
[edit] Defunct Tournaments
[edit] ICC Tournaments
World Cup Qualifier record
Year Round Position GP W L T AB
England 1979 Champions 1/12 6 4 1 0 1
England 1982 Not eligible
England 1986 Not eligible
Netherlands 1990 Not eligible
Kenya 1994 Not eligible
Malaysia 1997 Not eligible
Canada 2001 Not eligible
Republic of Ireland 2005 Not eligible
South Africa 2009 Not eligible
Total 1/9 1 title 6 4 1 0 1

Australasia Cup record
Year Round Position GP W L T NR
United Arab Emirates 1986 Semi Finals ?/5 1 0 1 0 0
United Arab Emirates 1989–90 Semi Finals ?/6 3 1 2 0 0
United Arab Emirates 1994 First Round ?/6 2 0 2 0 0
Total 3/3 0 titles 6 1 5 0 0

Asian Test Championship record
Year Round Position GP W L D NR
India Sri Lanka Bangladesh Pakistan 1998–99 Second place 2/3 3 0 1 2 0
Sri Lanka Bangladesh Pakistan 2001–02 Champions 1/3 2 2 0 0 0
Total 2/2 1 title 5 2 1 2 0
[edit] Other
Commonwealth Games record
Year Round Position GP W L T NR
Malaysia 1998 Third place 3/16 5 3 2 0 0
Total 1/1 0 Titles 5 3 2 0 0
[edit] Current squad

This lists all the players who have played for Sri Lanka in the past year, and the forms in which they have played.

Key

* S/N: Shirt number

Name Age Batting Style Bowling Style Domestic team Forms S/N
Captain and Middle-Order Batsman and Wicketkeeper
Kumar Sangakkara 33 Left-Handed Bat Right-Arm Medium Nondescripts Test, ODI, Twenty20 11
Vice Captain and Spin Bowler
Muttiah Muralitharan 38 Right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Off-Break Tamil Union Test, ODI, Twenty20 08
Opening Batsmen
Sanath Jayasuriya 41 Left-Handed Bat Slow Left-Arm Orthodox Bloomfield ODI, Twenty20 07
Tharanga Paranavitana 28 Left-Handed Bat Right-Arm Off-Break Sinhalese Test
Upul Tharanga 26 Left-Handed Bat Nondescripts ODI 44
Lahiru Thirimanne 21 Left-Handed Bat Ragama ODI 66
Jeevantha Kulatunga 37 right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Medium Colts ODI, Twenty 20 06
Malinda Warnapura 31 Left-Handed Bat Right-Arm Off-Break Colts Test 10
Middle-Order Batsmen
Mahela Jayawardene 33 Right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Medium Sinhalese Test, ODI, Twenty20 27
Thilina Kandamby 28 Left-Handed Bat Right-Arm Leg-Break Sinhalese ODI, Twenty20 25
Chamara Kapugedera 23 Right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Medium Colombo Test, ODI, Twenty20 16
Thilan Samaraweera 34 Right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Off-Break Sinhalese Test, ODI 03
Chamara Silva 31 Right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Leg-Break Bloomfield ODI, Twenty20 05
Wicket-keepers
Prasanna Jayawardene 31 Right-Handed Bat Bloomfield Test 04
Dinesh Chandimal 21 Right-Handed Bat Nondescripts ODI, Twenty20 17
All rounders
Tillakaratne Dilshan 34 Right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Off-Break Bloomfield Test, ODI, Twenty20 23
Chinthaka Jayasinghe 32 Right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Medium Bloomfield Twenty20 18
Angelo Mathews 23 Right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Fast-Medium Colts Test, ODI, Twenty20 69
Thissara Perera 21 Left-Handed Bat Right-Arm Medium-Fast Colts ODI 15
Muthumudalige Pushpakumara 29 Left-Handed Bat Right-Arm Off-Break Tamil Union ODI, Twenty20 21
Gihan Rupasinghe 24 Left-Handed Bat Right-Arm Leg-Break Tamil Union Twenty20
Kaushalya Weeraratne 30 Left-Handed Bat Right-Arm Medium-Fast Ragama Twenty20 34
Pace Bowlers
Dilhara Fernando 31 Right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Fast-Medium Sinhalese ODI, Twenty20 26
Nuwan Kulasekara 28 Right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Fast-Medium Colts Test, ODI, Twenty20 92
Suranga Lakmal 23 Right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Medium-Fast Tamil Union ODI 82
Lasith Malinga 27 Right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Fast Nondescripts Test, ODI, Twenty20 99
Dammika Prasad 27 Right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Fast-Medium Sinhalese Test, ODI 30
Thilan Thushara 29 Left-Handed Bat Left-Arm Fast-Medium Sinhalese Test, ODI, Twenty20 97
Isuru Udana 23 Right-Handed Bat Left-Arm Medium-Fast Tamil Union Twenty20 61
Chaminda Vaas 37 Left-Handed Bat Left-Arm Fast-Medium Colts Test 22
Chanaka Welegedara 29 Right-Handed Bat Left-Arm Fast-Medium Moors Test, ODI 12
Spin Bowlers
Malinga Bandara 31 Right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Leg-Break Nondescripts ODI, Twenty20 72
Rangana Herath 33 Left-Handed Bat Slow Left-Arm Orthodox Moors Test 78
Ajantha Mendis 25 Right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Off-Break
Right-Arm Leg-Break Sri Lanka Army Test, ODI, Twenty20 40
Suraj Randiv 26 Right-Handed Bat Right-Arm Off-Break Bloomfield ODI, Twenty20 88
[edit] Statistics and records
[edit] Sri Lanka record in Test Matches

Last updated on 04 December 2010
Won Tied Lost Drawn Total
Sri Lanka v Australia home 1 0 5 4 10
away 0 0 8 2 10
total 1 0 13 6 20
Sri Lanka v Bangladesh home 8 0 0 0 8
away 4 0 0 0 4
total 12 0 0 0 12
Sri Lanka v England home 4 0 3 4 11
away 2 0 5 3 10
total 6 0 8 7 21
Sri Lanka v India home 6 0 4 8 18
away 0 0 10 7 17
total 6 0 14 15 35
Sri Lanka v New Zealand home 5 0 3 5 13
away 2 0 6 5 13
total 7 0 9 10 26
Sri Lanka v Pakistan home 3 0 6 6 15
away 6 0 9 7 22
total 9 0 15 13 37
Sri Lanka v South Africa home 4 0 2 4 10
away 0 0 6 1 7
total 4 0 8 5 17
Sri Lanka v West Indies home 5 0 0 3 8
away 1 0 3 2 6
total 6 0 3 5 14
Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe home 7 0 0 0 7
away 3 0 0 5 8
total 10 0 0 5 15
Home 43 0 23 34 100
Away 18 0 47 32 97
Overall 61 0 70 66 197
% Breakdown
[edit] National Records by Sri Lanka

Records are bold if it is a World Record.
[edit] Batting records

Test Matches

* Highest team total – 952/6 against India in 1997.
* Highest aggregate of runs- Mahela Jayawardene (8221) in 101 matches at an Average of 53.38
* Most number of matches played – Muttiah Muralitharan (126).
* Most number of matches as captain – Arjuna Ranatunga (56) from 1989 to 1999.
* Highest individual score – 374 by Mahela Jayawardene against South Africa in July 2006.
* Highest partnership – 624 for the third wicket by Kumar Sangakkara (287) & Mahela Jayawardene (374) against South Africa in 2006.
* Most number of centuries – Mahela Jayawardene (25) in 101 matches.
* Most number of half centuries – Arjuna Ranatunga (38) in 93 matches.
* Most number of dismissals(includes wicket-keeping) – Kumar Sangakkara (173 dismissals) in 79 matches.
* Most number of catches – Mahela Jayawardene (142) in 101 matches.
* Highest average (qualification 20 inns.) – Kumar Sangakkara (54.59)

ODI Matches

* Highest team total- 443/9 against Netherlands in July 2006.
* Highest aggregate of runs – Sanath Jayasuriya (13,151) in 432 matches at an average of 32.71.
* Most number of matches played – Sanath Jayasuriya (432).
* Most number of matches as captain – Arjuna Ranatunga (193) from 1988 to 1999.
* Highest individual score – 189 by Sanath Jayasuriya against India in October, 2000.
* Highest partnership – 286 for the first wicket by Sanath Jayasuriya (152) & Upul Tharanga (109) against England in July 2006.
* Most number of centuries – Sanath Jayasuriya (28) in 432 matches.
* Most number of half centuries – Sanath Jayasuriya (67) in 432 matches.
* Most number of dismissals(includes wicket-keeping) – Kumar Sangakkara(291 dismissals) in 246 matches.
* Most number of catches – Mahela Jayawardene (159) in 299 matches.
* Highest average (qualification 20 inns.) – Marvan Atapattu (37.57).
* Highest number of sixes in a match – Sanath Jayasuriya (11).
* Highest number of sixes in a career – Sanath Jayasuriya (268).

Twenty20 Matches

* Highest team total – 260/6 against Kenya on 14 September 2007.
* Highest winning margin – 172 runs against Kenya in 14 September 2007.

[edit] Bowling records

Test Matches

* Most number of wickets – 800 by Muttiah Muralitharan at an average of 21.77 in 132 matches.
* Best individual bowling – 9-51 by Muttiah Muralitharan against Zimbabwe in January 2002.
* Best bowling in a match – 16-220 by Muttiah Muralitharan against England in August 1998.
* Most number of 10 wicket hauls – Muttiah Muralitharan (22).
* Most number of 5 wicket hauls – Muttiah Muralitharan (67).
* Best average – 18.94 by Ajantha Mendis.
* Most number of wickets taken bowled – Muttiah Muralitharan (157).
* Most number of wickets taken stumped – Muttiah Muralitharan (41).

ODI Matches

* Most number of wickets – 505 by Muttiah Muralitharan at 22.74 in 329 matches.
* Best individual bowling – 8-19 by Chaminda Vaas against Zimbabwe in December 2001.
* Most number of 5 wicket hauls – Muttiah Muralitharan (8).
* Best Average – 10.25 by Ajantha Mendis.
* Most Test Wickets – Muttiah Muralitharan ( broken in 2007 against England at home)
* Only bowler to take 4 wickets in 4 consecutive balls – Lasith Malinga against South Africa in March 2007.
* Only bowler to have taken two ODI Hat-tricks in a career – Chaminda Vaas against Zimbabwe in 2001 and Bangladesh in 2003.
* Only bowler to have taken 8 wickets in a ODI – Chaminda Vaas against Zimbabwe in 2001.

[edit] World Cup Records by Sri Lanka

* Highest team total – 398/5 against Kenya in 1996.
* Highest partnership(runs) – 183 for the third wicket by Sanath Jayasuriya(115) and Mahela Jayawardene (82) against West Indies in 2007.

- 183 for the third wicket by Asanka Gurusinha (84) and Aravinda de Silva (145) against Kenya in 1996.

* Most number of runs – Sanath Jayasuriya (1165) in 38 matches.
* Highest individual score – Aravinda de Silva (145) against Kenya in 1996.
* Most number of matches played – Sanath Jayasuriya (38).
* Best individual bowling – 6-25 by Chaminda Vaas against Bangladesh in 2003.
* Most number of dismissals (includes wicket-keeping) – Kumar Sangakkara (32) in 21 matches.
* Most number of wickets – Muttiah Muralitharan (53) in 31 matches.
* World's only bowler to take four wickets in four consecutive balls – Lasith Malinga against South Africa in 2007.
* First Sri Lankan bowler to take a World Cup Hatrick – Chaminda Vaas against Bangladesh in 2003.
* World's only bowler to have taken a World Cup Hat-trick in the first three balls of a match – Chaminda Vaas against Bangladesh in 2003.

[edit] Other Records

* The world's Highest total in a Test match: 952-6 vs India
* The world's Highest score in a ODI match: 443-9 vs The Netherlands on the 4th of July 2006
* The world's Highest score in a 20-20 match: 260-6 vs Kenya on the 14th of September 2007.
* The world's Fastest ODI half-century was scored by Sanath Jayasuriya (17 balls).

england cricket team

The England and Wales cricket team (Welsh: Tîm criced Lloegr) is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) from 1903 until the end of 1996.[1][2]

England and Australia were the first teams to be granted Test status on 15 March 1877 and they gained full membership to the International Cricket Council (ICC) on 15 June 1909. England and Australia also took part in the first One Day International (ODI) on 5 January 1971. England are the current holders of the Ashes, which is the Test match series contest between England and Australia and which has been played since the 1882–83 Australian season.

As of 7 January 2011, England has won 321 of the 908 Test matches played (drawing in 326), and is ranked third in the ICC Test Championship.[3][4] England's One Day International record includes finishing as runners-up in 3 Cricket World Cups (1979, 1987 and 1992), and again as runners up in the ICC Champions Trophy in 2004. The team is currently in fifth place in the ICC ODI Championship.[4]

England's first international Twenty20 match was played on 13 June 2005 against Australia. The England team are the current ICC World Twenty20 champions having won the 2010 ICC World Twenty20, beating Australia by seven wickets in the final.
Contents

* 1 History
o 1.1 Early tours
o 1.2 The Ashes
o 1.3 Inter-war period
o 1.4 Post-war period
o 1.5 1971 to 2000
o 1.6 21st century
* 2 Upcoming fixtures
* 3 Performances
* 4 Governing body
* 5 Team colours
* 6 International grounds
o 6.1 Test and ODI
o 6.2 ODI only
* 7 Statistics and records
o 7.1 Tournament history
+ 7.1.1 World Cup
+ 7.1.2 ICC Champions Trophy
+ 7.1.3 ICC World Twenty20
o 7.2 England record in Test matches
+ 7.2.1 Team records
+ 7.2.2 Individual records
+ 7.2.3 Batting
+ 7.2.4 Bowling
+ 7.2.5 Fielding
o 7.3 England record in One Day Internationals
+ 7.3.1 Team records
+ 7.3.2 Individual records
+ 7.3.3 Batting
+ 7.3.4 Bowling
+ 7.3.5 Wicketkeeping
o 7.4 Most England Test caps
* 8 Current squad
o 8.1 Coaching staff
* 9 Eligibility of players
* 10 See also
* 11 References
* 12 Bibliography
* 13 External links

[edit] History
For more details on this topic, see History of the England Cricket Team pre 1939 and History of the England Cricket Team since 1945.
The first England team to tour Australia.

The first recorded incidence of a team with a claim to represent England comes from 9 July 1739 when an "All-England" team, which consisted of eleven gentlemen from any part of England exclusive of Kent, played against "the Unconquerable County" of Kent and lost by a "very few notches".[5] Such matches were repeated on numerous occasions for the best part of a century.

In 1846 William Clarke formed the All-England Eleven. This team would eventually compete against a United All-England Eleven with annual matches occurring between 1857 to 1866. These matches were arguably the most important contest of the English season, if judged by the quality of the players.
[edit] Early tours

The first overseas tour occurred in September 1859 with England touring North America. This team had six players from the All-England Eleven, six from the United All-England Eleven and was captained by George Parr.

With the outbreak of the American Civil War, attention turned elsewhere with the inaugural tour of Australia taking place in 1861–2. English tourists visited Australia and New Zealand in 1861–62 with this first tour organised as a commercial venture by Mssrs Spiers and Pond, restaurateurs of Melbourne. Most tours prior to 1877 were played "against odds", with the opposing team fielding more than 11 players in order to make for a more even contest.[6] This first Australian tour were mostly against odds of at least 18 to 11.

The tour was so successful that George Parr led a second tour in 1863-4. James Lillywhite led a subsequent England team which sailed on the P&O steamship Poonah on 21 September 1876. They would play a combined Australian XI, for once on even terms of 11 a side. The match, starting on 15 March 1877 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground came to be regarded as the inaugural Test match. The combined Australian XI won this Test match by 45 runs with Charles Bannerman of Australia scoring the first Test century. At the time, this match carried little significance and was classed as another tour match and was labelled as the James Lillywhite's XI v South Australia and New South Wales.[6] The first Test match on English soil occurred in 1880 with England winning this series 1–0. The series was also the first for England to field a fully representative side with W.G. Grace being present in the team.[7]
[edit] The Ashes

England would lose their first home series 1–0 in 1882 with The Sporting Times famously printing an obituary on English cricket:
“ In Affectionate Remembrance of ENGLISH CRICKET, which died at the Oval on 29th AUGUST, 1882, Deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing friends and acquaintances R.I.P. N.B. - The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia.[8] ”

As a result of this loss the tour of 1882–83 was dubbed by England captain Ivo Bligh as "the quest to regain the ashes". England with a mixture of amateurs and professionals won the series 2–1.[9] Bligh was presented with an urn that contained some ashes, which have variously been said to be of a bail, ball or even a woman's veil and so The Ashes was born. A fourth match was then played which Australia won by 4 wickets but the match was not considered part of the Ashes series.[9][10] England would dominate many of these early contests with England winning the Ashes series 10 times between 1884–98.[11] During this period England also played their first Test match against South Africa in 1889 at Port Elizabeth.[12]

The 1899 Ashes series was the first tour where the MCC and the counties appointed a selection committee. There were three active players: Lord Hawke, W.G. Grace and HW Bainbridge who was the captain of Warwickshire. Prior to this, England teams for home Tests had been chosen by the club on whose ground the match was to be played.

The turn of the century saw mixed results for England as they lost four of the eight Ashes series between 1900 and 1914.[13] During this period England would lose their first series against South Africa in the 1905/06 season 4–1 as their batting faltered.[14] The 1912 season saw England take part in a unique experiment. A nine Test triangular tournament involving England, South Africa and Australia was set-up. The series was hampered by a very wet summer and player disputes however and the tournament was considered a failure with the Daily Telegraph stating:[15]
“ Nine Tests provide a surfeit of cricket, and contests between Australia and South Africa are not a great attraction to the British public. ”

With Australia sending a weakened team and the South African bowlers being ineffective England dominated the tournament winning four of their six matches. The Australia v South Africa match, at Lord's, was notable for a visit by King George V, the first time a reigning monarch had watched Test cricket.[16] England would go on one more tour against South Africa before the outbreak of World War I.
[edit] Inter-war period

England's first match after the war was in the 1920–21 season against Australia. Still feeling the effects of the war England went down to a series of crushing defeats, and suffered their first whitewash losing the series 5–0. Six Australians scored hundreds while Mailey spun out 36 English batsmen. Things were no better in the next few Ashes series losing the 1921 Ashes series 3–0 and the 1924–5 Ashes 4–1. England's fortunes were to change in 1926 as they regained the Ashes and were a formidable team during this period dispatching Australia 4–1 in the 1928–29 Ashes tour.

On the same year the West Indies became the fourth nation to be granted Test status and played their first game against England. England won each of these three Tests by an innings, and a view was expressed in the press that their elevation had proved a mistake although Learie Constantine did the double on the tour. In the 1929–30 season England went on two concurrent tours with one team going to New Zealand (who were granted Test status earlier that year) and the other to the West Indies. Despite sending two separate teams England won both tours beating New Zealand 1–0 and the West Indies 2–1.
Bill Woodfull evades a Bodyline ball. Note the number of leg-side fielders.

The 1930 Ashes series saw a young Don Bradman dominate the tour, scoring 974 runs in his seven Test innings. He scored 254 at Lord's, 334 at Headingley and 232 at the Oval. Australia regained the Ashes winning the series 3–1. As a result of Bradman's prolific run-scoring the England captain Douglas Jardine chose to develop the already existing leg theory into fast leg theory, or bodyline, as a tactic to stop Bradman. Fast leg theory involved bowling fast balls directly at the batsman's body. The batsman would need to defend himself, and if he touched the ball with the bat, he risked being caught by one of a large number of fielders placed on the leg side.
English cricket team at the test match held at the Brisbane Exhibition Ground. England won the match by a record margin of 675 runs.

Using his fast leg theory England won the next Ashes series 4–1. But complaints about the Bodyline tactic caused crowd disruption on the tour, and threats of diplomatic action from the Australian Cricket Board, which during the tour sent the following cable to the MCC in London:
“ Bodyline bowling assumed such proportions as to menace best interests of game, making protection of body by batsmen the main consideration. Causing intensely bitter feeling between players as well as injury. In our opinion is unsportsmanlike. Unless stopped at once likely to upset friendly relations existing between Australia and England. ”

Later, Jardine was removed from the captaincy and the laws of cricket changed so that no more than one fast ball aimed at the body was permitted per over, and having more than two fielders behind square leg were banned.

England's following tour of India in the 1933–34 season was the first Test match to be staged in the subcontinent. The series was also notable for Morris Nichols and Nobby Clark bowling so many bouncers that the Indian batsman wore solar topees instead of caps to protect themselves.

Australia won the 1934 Ashes series 2–1 and would keep the urn for the following 19 years. Many of the wickets of the time were friendly to batsmen resulting in a large proportion of matches ending in high scoring draws and many batting records being set.

The 1938–39 tour of South Africa saw another experiment with the deciding Test being a timeless Test that was played to a finish. England lead 1–0 going into the final timeless match at Durban. Despite the final Test being ‘timeless’ the game ended in a draw, after 10 days as England had to catch the train to catch the boat home. A record 1981 runs were scored, and the concept of timeless Tests was abandoned. England would go in one final tour of the West Indies in 1939 before World War II, although a team for an MCC tour of India was selected more in hope than expectation of the matches being played.
[edit] Post-war period

After World War II, England fell under difficult times suffering a heavy defeat 3–0 to Australia. This followed by a 4–0 loss to Bradman's 'invincibles' and a stunning 2–0 loss to the West Indies. These loses were tempered by victories against India and South Africa.

Their fortunes would change in the 1953 Ashes tour as they won the series 1–0. England would not lose a series between their 1950–51 and 1958–59 tours of Australia and secured famous victory in 1954–55 thanks to Typhoon Tyson whose 6–85 at Sydney and 7–27 at Melbourne are remembered as the fastest bowling ever seen in Australia. The 1956 series was remembered for the bowling of Jim Laker who took 46 wickets at 9.62 which included bowling figures of 19/90 at Old Trafford. After drawing to South Africa, England defeated the West Indies and New Zealand comfortably. The England team would then leave for Australia in the 1958–59 season with a team that had been hailed as the strongest ever to leave on an Ashes tour but lost the series 4–0 as Richie Benaud's revitalised Australians were too strong.

The early and middle 1960s were poor periods for English cricket. Despite England's strength on paper, Australia held the Ashes and the West Indies dominated England in the early part of the decade. However, from 1968 to 1971 they played 27 consecutive Test matches without defeat, winning 9 and drawing 18 (including the abandoned Test at Melbourne in 1970–71). The sequence began when they drew with Australia at Lords in the Second Test of the 1968 Ashes series and ended in 1971 when India won the Third Test at the Oval by 4 wickets. They played 13 Tests with only one defeat immediately beforehand and so played a total of 40 consecutive Tests with only one defeat, dating from their innings victory over the West Indies at The Oval in 1966. During this period they beat New Zealand, India, the West Indies, Pakistan and, under Ray Illingworth's determined leadership, regained the The Ashes from Australia in 1970–71.
[edit] 1971 to 2000

They then suffered a loss of form losing to India and a rising West Indian side. This culminated in a 4–1 defeat in the 1974–75 Ashes series. The inaugural 1975 Cricket World Cup saw England reach the semi-finals and was to be the turning point in England's fortunes. The results of the Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket (WCS) were felt in Test cricket with Australia and Pakistan losing many of its star players. England replaced captain Tony Greig, who had joined WCS, with Mike Brearley while Geoffrey Boycott returned from his Test exile. England would defeat a divided Australian side 3–0 in the centenary Ashes series. This was followed by a comfortable 4–0 win against Pakistan and a World Cup final appearance against the West Indies.

With Ian Botham and Bob Willis at their peak with the ball, Boycott and Graham Gooch opening the batting, and a young David Gower in the middle order, England had a promising team whose early results were encouraging. However, the team's lack of real quality was evidenced by a string of defeats, some heavy, against West Indies, the outstanding Test team at the time. England won the 1981 Ashes series 3–1, coming from behind after Brearley, who had retired, was reinstated as captain. The third Test at Headingley saw England win by 18 runs after following-on, only the second time in the history of England v Australia Tests that this has been achieved. After losing the Ashes in 1982–83, England recovered them in 1985 when they comfortably beat a poor Australian team. But England suffered two series "whitewashes" against the West Indies in 1984 and on the 1985–86 tour.

A shocked England team never truly recovered from this defeat and, although they managed to retain the Ashes in 1986–87, they would only win one further Test series in the 1980s against newcomers Sri Lanka. Australia meanwhile staged a recovery and easily defeated England in 1989 to begin a long period of domination.

England continued to decline through the 1990s, a situation not helped by squabbles between players and selectors. Another reason for their poor performances were the demands of County Cricket teams on their players, meaning that England could rarely field a full strength team on their tours. This would eventually lead to the ECB taking over the MCC as the governing body of England and the implementation of central contracts.

There was a string of disappointing results as England did not win a Test match for two and half years. However, England's performance in ODI cricket was still good, as they defeated Australia, the West Indies and South Africa to reach the final of the 1992 Cricket World Cup. Shortly after the World Cup Mike Atherton replaced Gooch as England captain but his captaincy was regarded as a failure with England winning only one Test series under his captaincy. A surprise win against South Africa in 1998 was England's first five Test series win since 1986–87, but this would be a false dawn as they were eliminated in the first round of the 1999 Cricket World Cup (which they hosted) and lost a home Test series against New Zealand 2–1, resulting in England being officially ranked as the worst Test nation at the end of the 20th century.[17]
[edit] 21st century

With the appointment of Duncan Fletcher as coach and Nasser Hussain as captain, England began to rebuild the team. They won four consecutive Test series which included impressive wins against West Indies (a first in 32 years) and Pakistan. England were still no match for Steve Waugh's Australia and lost the 2001 Ashes 4–1. Good results against India and Sri Lanka gave England some hope for the 2002–03 Ashes series but a 4–1 defeat showed that they were still inferior to Australia. But that setback did not stop England's resurgence as they defeated the West Indies 3–0 and followed up with whitewashes against New Zealand and the West Indies at home. A victory in the first Test against South Africa at Port Elizabeth meant England had won their eighth successive Test, their best sequence of Test match wins for 75 years.

In 2005, England under Michael Vaughan's captaincy and aided by Kevin Pietersen's batting in his maiden series (most notably 158 at the Oval), and Andrew Flintoff's superb all-round performances, defeated Australia 2–1 to regain the Ashes for the first time in 18 years. Following the 2005 Ashes win, the team suffered from a serious spate of injuries to key players such as Vaughan, Flintoff, Ashley Giles, Steve Harmison and Simon Jones. As a result, the team underwent an enforced period of transition.

In the home Test series victory against Pakistan in July and August 2006, several promising new players emerged. Most notable were the left-arm orthodox spin bowler Monty Panesar, the first Sikh to play Test cricket for England; and left-handed opening batsman Alastair Cook. Meanwhile England's injury problems allowed previously marginal Test players such as Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell to consolidate their places in the team.

The 2006–07 Ashes series was keenly anticipated and was expected to provide a level of competition comparable to the 2005 series. In the event, England, captained by Flintoff, lost all 5 Tests to concede the first Ashes whitewash in 86 years.

England's form in ODIs had been consistently poor. They only narrowly avoided the ignominy of having to play in the qualifying rounds of the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy. Despite this, in the ODI triangular in Australia, England recorded its first ODI tournament win overseas since 1997. But, in the 2007 Cricket World Cup, England lost to most of the Test playing nations they faced, beating only the West Indies and Bangladesh, although they also avoided defeat by any of the non-Test playing nations. Even so, the unimpressive nature of most of their victories in the tournament, combined with heavy defeats by New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, left many commentators criticising the manner in which the England team approached the one-day game. Coach Duncan Fletcher resigned after eight years in the job as a result and was succeeded by former Sussex coach Peter Moores.

Since then, England's Test record has been indifferent and the team has slumped to fifth in the ICC rankings. There was a convincing 3–0 Test series win over West Indies in 2007 but it was followed in the second half of the summer by a 1–0 loss to India, although England did defeat India 4–3 in the ODI series.

In 2007, England toured Sri Lanka and New Zealand, losing the first series 1–0 and winning the second 2–1. They followed up at home in May 2007 with a 2–0 win against New Zealand, these results easing the pressure on Moores, who was not at ease with his team, particularly Pietersen, who succeeded Vaughan as captain in 2008, after England had been well beaten by South Africa at home.

The poor relationship between Moores and Pietersen came to a head in India on the 2008–09 tour. England lost the series 1–0 and both men resigned their positions, although Pietersen remained a member of the England team. Against this background, England toured the West Indies and, in a disappointing performance, lost the Test series 1–0. Almost immediately, they played West Indies in a home series which they won 1–0.

The second Twenty20 World Cup was held in England in 2009 but England suffered an opening day defeat to the Netherlands. They recovered to defeat both eventual champions Pakistan and reigning champions India but were then knocked out by West Indies.

This was followed by the 2009 Ashes series which featured the first Test match played in Wales, at SWALEC Stadium, Cardiff. England drew that match thanks to a last wicket stand by bowlers James Anderson and Monty Panesar. They won the second Test at Lords while the rain-affected third Test at Edgbaston was drawn. In the fourth Test at Headingley, England suffered one of their worst results for some years and were heavily beaten by an innings. The series was decided at The Oval, where England had to win to recover the Ashes. Thanks to fine bowling by Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann and a debut century by Jonathan Trott, England won by 177 runs.

After a drawn Test series in South Africa, England won their ICC tournament, the 2010 ICC World Twenty20. The following winter, they beat Australia 3-1 to retain the Ashes; their first series win in Australia for 24 years, which included three innings victories.

This victory has left England in third place in the ICC rankings, whilst back-to-back Ashes defeats have contributed to Australia falling from first to fifth.

australian cricket team

The Australian cricket team is the national men's cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877.[2] The team also plays One Day International cricket and Twenty20 International, participating in both the first ODI, against England in the 1970–71 season [3] and the first Twenty20 International, against New Zealand in the 2004–05 season,[4] winning both games. The team mainly draws its players from teams playing in the Australian domestic competitions – the Sheffield Shield, the Australian Domestic One-Day Series and the Twenty20 Big Bash.

The Australian team has played 730 Test matches, winning 341, losing 192, drawing 195 and tying two.[5] Australia is ranked the number-one team overall in Test cricket in terms of overall wins, win-loss ratio and wins percentage. Australia is currently ranked fifth in the ICC Test Championship behind India, South Africa, England and Sri Lanka, and led the Test rankings for a record time of 73 months from 2003 to 2008.

Australia have played 751 ODI matches, winning 464, losing 255, tying eight and with 24 ending in no-result.[6] They have led the ICC ODI Championship since its inception for all but a period of 48 days in 2007. Australia have made six World Cup final appearances and have won the World Cup a record four times in total; 1987 Cricket World Cup, 1999 Cricket World Cup, 2003 Cricket World Cup & 2007 Cricket World Cup.

The team is currently undefeated in 29 consecutive World Cup matches. Australia have also won the ICC Champions Trophy twice – in 2006 and in 2009 – making them the first and the only team to become back to back winners in the Champions Trophy tournaments. The team has also played 39 Twenty20 Internationals,[7] making the final of the ICC World Twenty20 in 2010 before losing it to England.
Contents
[hide]

* 1 History
o 1.1 Early History
o 1.2 Golden Age
o 1.3 Cricket between the wars
o 1.4 The Bradman Era
o 1.5 Cricket after World War II
o 1.6 1970s and onward
o 1.7 Modern Era
+ 1.7.1 India
+ 1.7.2 Pakistani Tour 2004–05
+ 1.7.3 2005 Ashes
+ 1.7.4 ICC Super Series
+ 1.7.5 West Indies
+ 1.7.6 South Africa Tour
+ 1.7.7 Bangladesh Tour
+ 1.7.8 2006–07 Ashes
+ 1.7.9 2006–07 ODI season
+ 1.7.10 2007 World Cup
+ 1.7.11 Recent Seasons
* 2 Upcoming fixtures
* 3 Team colours
* 4 International grounds
* 5 Personnel
o 5.1 Coaching staff
* 6 Test match records
o 6.1 Team
o 6.2 Appearances
o 6.3 Batting
o 6.4 Bowling
o 6.5 Fielding and wicketkeeping
* 7 One Day International records
o 7.1 Team
* 8 Tournament history
* 9 Under the Southern Cross I Stand
* 10 See also
* 11 Notes
* 12 External links

[edit] History
Recentism.svg
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1878 team
Main article: History of the Australian cricket team
[edit] Early History
Main article: History of Australian cricket from 1876–77 to 1890

The Australian cricket team participated in the first Test match at the MCG in 1877, defeating an English team by 45 runs, with Charles Bannerman making the first Test century, a score of 165 retired hurt. Test cricket, which only occurred between Australia and England at the time, was limited by the long distance between the two countries, which would take several months by sea. Despite Australia's much smaller population, the team was very competitive in early games, producing stars such as Jack Blackham, Billy Murdoch, Fred "The Demon" Spofforth, George Bonnor, Percy McDonnell, George Giffen and Charles "The Terror" Turner. Most cricketers at the time were either from New South Wales or Victoria, with the notable exception of George Giffen, the star South Australian all-rounder.

A highlight of Australia's early history was the 1882 Test match against England at The Oval. In this match Fred Spofforth took 7/44 in the game's fourth 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 announcement made that "the body was cremated and the ashes taken to Australia." This was the start of the famous Ashes series in which Australia and England play a Test match series to decide the holder of the Ashes. To this day, the contest is one of the fiercest rivalries in sport.
[edit] Golden Age
Main article: History of Australian cricket from 1890–91 to 1900
Main article: History of Australian cricket from 1900-01 to 1918

The so-called 'Golden Age' of Australian test cricket occurred around the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, with the team under the captaincy of Joe Darling, Monty Noble and Clem Hill winning eight of ten tours it participated in between the 1897–98 English tour of Australia and the 1910–11 South African tour of Australia. Outstanding batsman such as Joe Darling, Clem Hill, Reggie Duff, Syd Gregory, Warren Bardsley and Victor Trumper, brilliant all-rounders including Monty Noble, George Giffen, Harry Trott and Warwick Armstrong and excellent bowlers including Ernie Jones, Hugh Trumble, Tibby Cotter, Bill Howell, Jack Saunders and Bill Whitty, all helped Australia to become the dominant cricketing nation for most of this period.

Victor Trumper became one of Australia's first sporting heroes, and was widely considered Australia's greatest batsman before Bradman and one of the most popular players. He played a record (at the time) number of tests at 48, and scored 3163 (another record) runs at a high for the time average of 39.04. His early death in 1915 at the age of 37 from kidney disease caused national mourning. The Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, in its obituary for him, called him Australia's greatest batsman: "Of all the great Australian batsmen Victor Trumper was by general consent the best and most brilliant." [8]

The years leading up to the start of World War I were marred by conflict between the players, led by Clem Hill, Victor Trumper and Frank Laver, the Australian Board of Control for International Cricket (formed in 1905), led by Peter McAlister, who were attempting to gain more control of tours from the players. This led to six leading players (the so-called "Big Six") walking out on the 1912 Triangular Tournament in England, with Australia fielding what was generally considered a second-rate side. This was the last series before the war, and no more cricket was played by Australia for eight years, with Tibby Cotter being killed in Palestine during the war.
[edit] Cricket between the wars
Main article: History of Australian cricket from 1918-19 to 1930

Test cricket resumed in the 1920/21 season in Australia with a touring English team, captained by Johnny Douglas losing all five Tests to Australia, captained by the "Big Ship" Warwick Armstrong. Several players from before the war, including Warwick Armstrong, Charlie Macartney, Charles Kelleway, Warren Bardsley and the wicket-keeper Sammy Carter, were instrumental in the team's success, as well as new players Herbie Collins, Jack Ryder, Bert Oldfield, the spinner Arthur Mailey and the so-called "twin destroyers" Jack Gregory and Ted McDonald. The team continued its success on the 1921 Tour of England, winning three out of the five Tests in Warwick Armstrong's last series. The side was on the whole inconsistent in the latter half of the 1920s, losing its first home Ashes series since the 1911–12 season in 1928–29.
[edit] The Bradman Era
Main article: History of Australian cricket from 1930–31 to 1945

The 1930 Tour of England heralded a new age of success for the Australian team. The team, led by Bill Woodfull – the "Great Un-bowlable" – featured legends of the game including Bill Ponsford, Stan McCabe, Clarrie Grimmett and the young pair of Archie Jackson and Don Bradman. Bradman was the outstanding batsman of the series, scoring a record 974 runs, including one century, two double centuries and one triple century, a massive score of 334 at Leeds which including 309 runs in a day. Jackson died of tuberculosis at the age of 24 three years later, after playing eight tests. The team was widely considered unstoppable, winning nine of its next ten Tests.

The 1932–33 England tour of Australia is considered one of the most infamous episodes of cricket, due to the England team's use of bodyline, where captain Douglas Jardine instructed his bowlers Bill Voce and Harold Larwood to bowl fast, short-pitched deliveries aimed at the bodies of the Australian batsmen. The tactic, although effective, was widely considered by Australian crowds as vicious and unsporting. Injuries to Bill Woodfull, who was struck over the heart, and Bert Oldfield, who received a fractured skull (although from a non-Bodyline ball), exacerbated the situation, almost causing a full-scale riot from the 50 000 fans at the Adelaide Oval for the Third Test. The conflict almost escalated into a diplomatic incident between the two countries, as leading Australian political figures, including the Governor of South Australia, Alexander Hore-Ruthven, protested to their English counterparts. The series ended in a 4–1 win for England, but the Bodyline tactics used were banned the year after.

The Australian team managed to overcame the damaging series, winning their next tour of England in 1934. The team was led by Bill Woodfull on his final tour, and was notably dominated by Ponsford and Bradman, who twice put on partnerships of over 380 runs, with Bradman once again scoring a triple-century at Leeds. The bowling was dominated by the spin pair of Bill O'Reilly and Clarrie Grimmett, who took 53 wickets between them, with O'Reilly twice taking seven wicket hauls.

Sir Donald Bradman is widely considered the greatest batsman of all time.[9][10] He dominated the sport from 1930 until his retirement in 1948, setting new records for the highest score in a test innings (334 vs England at Headingley in 1930), the most number of runs (6996), the most number of centuries (29), the most number of double centuries and the greatest Test and first-class batting averages. His record for the highest Test batting average – 99.94 – has never been beaten. It is almost 40 runs above the next highest average. He would have finished with an average of over 100 runs per innings if he had not been dismissed for a duck in his last Test. He was knighted in 1949 for services to cricket. He is generally considered one of Australia's greatest sporting heroes.

Test cricket was again interrupted by war, with the last Test series in 1938 made notable by Len Hutton making a world record 364 for England, with Chuck Fleetwood-Smith conceding 298 runs in England's world record total of 7–903. Ross Gregory, a notable young batsman who played two Tests before the war, was killed in the war.
[edit] Cricket after World War II
Main article: History of Australian cricket from 1945-46 to 1960

The team continued its success after the end of the Second World War, with the first Test (also Australia's first against New Zealand) being played in the 1945–46 season against New Zealand. Australia was by far the most successful team of the 1940s, being undefeated throughout the decade, winning two Ashes series against England and its first Test series against India. The team capitalised on its aging stars Bradman, Sid Barnes, Bill Brown and Lindsay Hassett while new talent, including Ian Johnson, Don Tallon, Arthur Morris, Neil Harvey, Bill Johnston and the fast bowling pair of Ray Lindwall and Keith Miller, who all made their debut in the latter half of the 1940s, and were to form the basis of the team for a good part of the next decade. The team that Don Bradman led to England in 1948 gained the moniker The Invincibles, after going through the tour with losing a single game. Of 31 first-class games played during the tour, they won 23 and drew 8, including winning the five match Test series 4–0, with one draw. The tour was particularly notably for the Fourth Test of the series, in which Australia won by seven wickets chasing a target of 404, setting a new record for the highest runchase in Test cricket, with Arthur Morris and Bradman both scoring centuries, as well as for the final Test in the series, Bradman's last, where he finished with a duck in his last innings after needing only four runs to secure a career average of 100.

Australia was less successful in the 1950s, losing three consecutive Ashes series to England, including a horrendous 1956 Tour of England, where the 'spin twins' Laker and Lock destroyed Australia, taking 61 wickets between them, including Laker taking 19 wickets in the game (a first-class record) at Leeds, a game dubbed Laker's Match.

However, the team rebounded to win five consecutive series in the latter half of the 1950s, first under the leadership of Ian Johnson, then Ian Craig and Richie Benaud. The series against the West Indies in the 1960–61 season was notable for the Tied Test in the first game at The Gabba, which was the first in Test cricket. Australia ended up winning the series 2–1 after a hard fought series that was praised for its excellent standards and sense of fair-play. Stand-out players in that series as well as through the early part of the 1960s were Richie Benaud, who took a then-record number of wickets as a leg-spinner, and who also captained Australia in 28 Tests, including 24 without defeat; Alan Davidson, who became the first player to take 10 wickets and make 100 runs in the same game in the first Test, and was also a notable fast-bowler; Bob Simpson, who also later captained Australia for two different periods of time; Colin McDonald, the first-choice opening batsman for most of the 1950s and early '60s; Norm O'Neill, who made 181 in the Tied Test; Neil Harvey, towards the end of his long career; and Wally Grout, an excellent wicket-keeper who died at the age of 41.
[edit] 1970s and onward

Australia continued its success up until the 1980s, built mainly around the likes of Bob Simpson, the Chappell brothers, Dennis Lillee, and Rod Marsh. The 1980s was a period of relative mediocrity after the turmoil caused by World Series Cricket and the subsequent retirement of several key players, and it was not until the captaincy of Allan Border that the team was restructured. The 1990s and early 21st century were arguably Australia's most successful period, unbeaten in all Ashes series played bar the famous 2005 series and achieving a hat-trick of World Cups. This success has been attributed to the restructuring of the team and system by Border, successive shrewd captains, and the effectiveness of several key players, most notably Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Steve Waugh, Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting. In recent years however, following the retirement of most of this group of players, Australia has lost series to both India and England and has dropped to fifth place in the ICC Test Championship rankings.
[edit] Modern Era
[edit] India

Australian captain Steve Waugh referred to India as the "Final Frontier", as that was the only place where Australia hadn't won a series in over thirty years. Australia lost in the 2001 series 2–1 and when India came to Australia for Waugh's farewell series in 2003–04, they drew the series 1–1 and came close to winning it after scoring a national record 705 but not enforcing the follow-on.

However, later in the year, the side (captained by Adam Gilchrist) won in India for the first time in 35 years. The Australians won this series 2–1 (with one match rained out on the last day).
[edit] 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.
[edit] 2005 Ashes

The 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 impressing in particular. 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 an ankle injury after stepping on a ball in the practice nets; Ponting put England in to bat on a fair batting wicket (England scored 407 runs on the first day) and England eventually won a pulsating match by two runs and so leveled 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 were again outplayed and forced to follow-on for the first time in 191 Test matches and eighteen years. England struggled in their second innings but eventually got the 129 runs they needed to win, losing seven wickets in the process. Australia needed to win the fifth and final Test at The Oval to level the series and retain the Ashes but were hampered by bad weather, a strong England bowling performance on the fourth day and England's excellent batting (led by Kevin Pietersen and tailender Ashley Giles) on the final day before the match ended in a draw, handing England a 2–1 series win.

Ageing stars such as Hayden, Gilchrist, Martyn, Gillespie and Kasprowicz underperformed in the tour with Gillespie 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) also played well.
[edit] 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 swept the World XI Team 3–0 in the One Day International Series, and also won the six-day Test Match.
[edit] West Indies

In November Australia continued to perform well winning a three match Test series with the West Indies comfortably. Stars were Hayden (who was clearly intent on proving that rumors 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 throughout the month.
[edit] South Africa Tour
Main article: Australian cricket team in South Africa in 2005–06
See also: Australia in South Africa, 5th ODI, 2006

In the 2006 cricket tour to South Africa, Australia lost the one-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 number 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.

In the test series that followed however, Australia won convincingly with Brett Lee and Stuart Clark (Man of the Series) playing particularly well.[citation needed]
[edit] 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.
[edit] 2006–07 Ashes
Main article: 2006–07 Ashes series
Warne (right) bowling to Ian Bell at Brisbane Cricket Ground in 2006

After winning the ICC Champions Trophy convincingly, Australia went home for their summer to play England in a five-test series.

The first test took place in Brisbane at the Gabba. The second test took place in Adelaide from 1 December. The third match of the series was held at the WACA Ground in the West Australian city of Perth. 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 would retire from international cricket at the conclusion of the fifth and final Sydney test in January 2007. This also prompted Justin Langer, Australian opening batsmen at the time, to announce his retirement from Test cricket after the 5th test as well. Fast bowler Glenn McGrath later announced he too 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. The fifth match in Sydney ended with Australia capturing a 10 wicket victory. 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.
[edit] 2006–07 ODI season

Following the Ashes victory over England, Australia began the 2007 Commonwealth Bank Tri-series against England and New Zealand with a series of largely comfortable victories, leading to their coach John Buchanan complaining that the lack of opposition was undermining Australia's World Cup bid.[11] However, injuries to key players contributed to Australia losing two matches in the qualification games and the final 2–0 to an also injury hit England. With Ponting rested for the series against New Zealand, Australia under Michael Hussey lost the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy 3–0, their first One Day series loss in New Zealand for 33 years. The loss also cost them the overall number one ranking for the first time since the rankings began.[12]
[edit] 2007 World Cup

Australia dominated the 2007 Cricket World Cup, remaining unbeaten through the tournament. They dominated with the bat and ball. Remarkably they lost just 42 wickets in 11 matches, while claiming 104 out of 110 of their opponents. The best batsman for the tournament was Matthew Hayden, getting three centuries and 659 runs at an average of 73. Australia's keeper Adam Gilchrist starred in the World cup Final, scoring 149 in a convincing and controversial Australian win. Bowler Glenn McGrath was named Man of the Series for his magnificent contribution with the ball.[13]
[edit] Recent Seasons
Main article: Australian cricket team in 2007–08
Main article: Australian cricket team in 2008
Main article: Australian cricket team in 2008–09
Main article: Australian cricket team in 2009–10
HOME AWAY
Test One Day International Twenty20 Test One Day International Twenty20
Last match won 3rd Test v England 2010 7th ODI v England 2011 2nd T20 v England 2011 2nd Test v New Zealand 2010 5th ODI v England 2010 ICC World T20 v West Indies 2010
Last match lost 5th Test v England 2010–11 4th ODI v England 2011 1st T20 v England 2011 2nd Test v India 2010 2nd ODI v India 2010 2nd T20 v South Africa 2009
Last series won Pakistain 2009–10 England 2010–11 West Indies 2009–10 New Zealand 2009–10 New Zealand 2009–10 New Zealand 2004–05
Last series lost England 2010–11 Sri Lanka 2010 Only T20 Sri Lanka 2010 India 2010–11 India 2010–11 South Africa 2008–09
– Source:Cricinfo.com. Last Updated 7 January 2011 Source:Cricinfo.com. Last updated: 7 November 2010. Source:Cricinfo.com. Last updated: 31 October 2010. Source: Cricinfo.com. Last Updated 9 October 2010 Source:Cricinfo.com. Last updated: 24 October 2010. Source:Cricinfo.com. Last updated: 11 May 2010.
[edit] Upcoming fixtures

* Australia has hosted England between November 2010 and February 2011.
* Australia is currently in the Sub-Continent of India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to defend and aim for a fourth consecutive ICC Cricket World Cup and 5th Overall title in February 2011
* Australia will tour Bangladesh in 2011. This tour is yet to be confirmed
* Australia will tour Sri Lanka in August 2011.
* Australia will tour South Africa in September–November 2011.
* Australia will host New Zealand in November–December 2011
* Australia will host India in December 2011 and January 2012

[edit] Team colours

For Test matches, the team wears cricket whites, with an optional sweater or sweater-vest with a green and gold V-neck for use in cold weather. The sponsor's (currently Vodafone) logo is displayed on the right side of the chest while the Cricket Australia coat-of-arms is displayed on the left. If the sweater is being worn the coat-of-arms is displayed under the V-neck and the sponsor's logo is again displayed on the right side of the chest.[14] The baggy green, the Australian cricket cap, is considered an essential part of the cricketing uniform and as a symbol of the national team, with new players being presented with one upon their selection in the team. The helmet also prominently displays the Australian cricketing coat-of-arms. Adidas currently manufactures the whites, with the Adidas logo being displayed on the shirt and pants. Players may choose any manufacturer for their other gear (bat, pads, shoes, gloves, etc.).

In One Day International cricket and Twenty20 International cricket, the team wears uniforms usually coloured green and gold, Australia's national colours. There have been a variety of different styles and layouts used in both forms of the limited-overs game, with coloured clothing (sometimes known as "pyjamas") being introduced for World Series Cricket in the late 1970s. The sponsors' logos (the Commonwealth Bank for ODIs and KFC for Twenty20s) are prominently displayed on the shirts and other gears.
[edit] International grounds
Main article: List of cricket grounds in Australia

Eighteen different grounds in Australia have been used for international cricket (Tests, ODIs and Twenty20 Internationals). Five were only used once, during the 1992 World Cup, while three (all in Tasmania) only hosted games during 1980s World Series Cups. The main six used are:

* The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in Melbourne, Victoria (first used for Test cricket in 1877).
* The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) in Sydney, New South Wales (first used in 1882).
* Adelaide Oval in Adelaide, South Australia (first used in 1884).
* Brisbane Cricket Ground (commonly known as 'The Gabba') in Brisbane, Queensland (first used in 1931).
* The WACA Ground (commonly known as 'The WACA') in Perth, Western Australia (first used in 1970).
* Bellerive Oval in Hobart, Tasmania (first used in 1989).

Other grounds which have been used for Test cricket are:

* The Brisbane Exhibition Ground in Brisbane, Queensland (hosted two Tests between 1928 and 1930; no longer used for cricket).
* Marrara Oval in Darwin, the Northern Territory (hosted two Tests against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in 2003 and 2004).
* Cazaly's Stadium in Cairns, Queensland(hosted two Tests against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in 2003 and 2004).

Grounds which have been used for One Day Internationals only are:

* The TCA Ground in Hobart, Tasmania (used for one ODI in the 1985 World Series Cup).
* The NTCA Ground in Launceston, Tasmania (used for one ODI in the 1986 World Series Cup).
* Devonport Oval in Devonport, Tasmania (used for one ODI in the 1987 World Series Cup).
* Harrup Park in Mackay, Queensland (hosted one ODI during the 1992 World Cup that was abandoned after two balls[15]).
* Eastern Oval in Ballarat, Victoria (hosted one ODI during the 1992 World Cup).
* Manuka Oval in Canberra, ACT (hosted one ODI during the 1992 World Cup and another in the 2008 Commonwealth Bank Series).
* Berri Oval in Berri, South Australia (hosted one ODI during the 1992 World Cup).
* Lavington Sports Ground in Albury, New South Wales (hosted one ODI during the 1992 World Cup).
* Docklands Stadium in Melbourne, Victoria (hosted several ODIs, including all of Melbourne's games in 2006 when the MCG was unavailable due to the 2006 Commonwealth Games – the only indoor stadium used for cricket in Australia).