1) PAKISTAN TEAM
Pakistan’s first Test match was played in Delhi in October 1952 as part of a five Test series which India won 2–1. Pakistan made their first tour of England in 1954 and drew the series 1–1 after a memorable victory at The Oval in which fast bowler Fazal Mahmood took 12 wickets. Pakistan’s first home Test match was in Dacca in January 1955 against India, after which four more Test matches were played in Bahawalpur, Lahore, Peshawar and Karachi (all five matches in the series were drawn, the first such occurrence in test history[6]).
The team is considered a strong but unpredictable team. Traditionally Pakistani cricket has been filled with players of great talent but limited discipline, making them a team which could play inspirational cricket one day and then perform less than ordinarily another day. Over the years, competitions between India and Pakistan have always been emotionally charged and provide for intriguing contests, as talented teams and players from both sides of the border elevate their game to new levels to produce high-quality cricket. Pakistani contest with India in the Cricket World Cup have seen packed stadiums and elevated atmospheres no matter where the World Cup has been held.
The 1992 Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand marked Pakistan's first World Cup victory. It is remembered for the comeback Pakistan made after losing key players such as Waqar Younis and Saeed Anwar and being led by an injured captain in Imran Khan. Pakistan lost 4 of their first 5 matches and were nearly eliminated in the first round of the tournament after being bowled out for 74 runs against England, until the match was declared as a "no result" due to rain. Imran Khan famously told the team to play as "cornered tigers", after which Pakistan won five successive matches, including, most famously, the semi-final against hosts New Zealand and the final against England.[12]
On 23 March 2007, Pakistan players and officials were questioned by Jamaican police and submitted DNA samples along with fingerprints, as part of the routine enquiries in the investigation into Woolmer's murder.[21] Three days after leaving the West Indies for Pakistan, via London, the Pakistan team were ruled out as suspects. The deputy commissioner of Jamaican police. Mark Shields, the detective in charge of the investigation, announced, "It's fair to say they are now being treated as witnesses." "I have got no evidence to suggest it was anybody in the squad."[22] A memorial service was held in Sacred Heart Church, Lahore, for Bob Woolmer on 1 April 2007. Among the attendees were Pakistan players and dignitaries, including Inzamam-ul-Haq, who was quoted as saying, "After Woolmer's family, the Pakistan team was the most aggrieved by his death."[23] After the World Cup ended, serious doubts were raised about the investigation, with increasing speculation that Woolmer died of natural causes. This has now been accepted as fact, and the case has been closed.[24] Pakistan Qualified for Final Of T20 2009 beating SouthAfrica by 7 runs in 1st semifinal.
On 20 April 2007, a PCB official announced that former Test cricketer Talat Ali would act as interim coach, in addition to his role as team manager, until a new coach had been appointed.[25] On 16 July 2007, Geoff Lawson,
previously head coach of New South Wales, was appointed coach of the
Pakistan for two years, becoming the third foreigner to take on the
role.[26] In the 2007 ICC World Twenty20,
Pakistan exceeded expectations to reach the final but ended as
runners-up, after losing the final to India in a nail-biting finish. On
25 October 2008, Intikhab Alam was named as a national coach of the team by the PCB.
. The PCB's experiment with the Twenty20 cricket model has also proven popular and hopes to similarly revive popular interest in domestic games,which it did. The PCB also set up major domestic competitions such as the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and the ANZ Trophy.[28]
2) AUSTRALIA TEAM
The first centralised authority for the administration of cricket in Australia was established in 1892 when representatives from the state associations of New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria came together to establish the Australasian Cricket Council, with the Sheffield Shield also established in that year. However the Australasian Cricket Council was disbanded in 1898.
What is now known as Cricket Australia was established in 1905 as the Australian Board of Control for International Cricket.[2] Before its establishment, tours by Australian teams to England were organised and funded by private groups or by the players themselves. Similarly invitations to English teams were made by private promoters or by individual clubs, such as the Melbourne Cricket Club.[citation needed] The predecessor organisation, the Australasian Cricket Council which had existed from 1892 to 1898 but was ineffective due to a lack of funding. Its one lasting action was to establish the Sheffield Shield, the major cricket competition between the Australian colonies.[3]
These early tours were lucrative for the players and promoters and cricket administrators looked to find ways to channel some of this money to the destitute clubs, through the State Associations. Formal discussions began in January 1905 in Sydney for the formation of a body to take control of tours from the players. A draft constitution was discussed by members of the New South Wales, Victoria, South Australian and Queensland associations.[4] The first meeting of the new board was held at Wesley College in Melbourne on 6 May 1905.
The foundation members were the New South Wales Cricket Association and the Victorian Cricket Association. South Australia's delegates refused to join the Board because the Board structure denied the players any representation. The Queensland Cricket Association was represented as an observer only.[2]
Queensland did decide to formally join the association with one delegate member the following year, and the constitution was amended in 1906, so that New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria would each have three permanent representatives, and Queensland one representative. In 1907 Tasmania was also permitted to send a single representative, and Western Australia did likewise in 1913. Changes to this structure were made in 1914 and 1974 respectively, when Queensland and Western Australia formally added to their representation to two each.
Cricket Australia's competitions:
3) ZIMBABWE TEAM
In common with all the other full members of the I.C.C., Zimbabwe had a cricket team before it achieved Test status.
A brief summary of key moments:
Zimbabwe's early Test performances were consistently weak, leading to suggestions that they had been granted Test status prematurely. In the one-day arena, however, the team soon became competitive, if not particularly strong. In particular, world respect was gained for their fielding ability. After a series of poor Test performances following the resignation of several senior players, the Zimbabwean team was voluntarily suspended from Test cricket in late 2005 by its cricket board, with ICC encouragement.[4]
In August 2011, Zimbabwe beat Bangladesh by 130 runs almost six years after the suspension to regain its status as a Test Nation.[5]
With the appearance of some quality players, a breakthrough was achieved in levels of performance in the late 1990s where the Zimbabwean team began winning Tests against other nations, which included a series win against Pakistan. Unfortunately, the political situation in Zimbabwe declined at around the same time, which had a detrimental effect on the national team's performances.
Zimbabwe excelled at the 1999 ICC Cricket World Cup coming in fifth place in the Super Sixes, only missing out on a semi-final place due to having an inferior net run-rate than New Zealand.
England forfeited a match scheduled to be played in Zimbabwe, risking their own progress through the competition, citing "security concerns" as their reason.
Zimbabwean players Andy Flower and fast bowler Henry Olonga wore black armbands, for "mourning the death of democracy" in Zimbabwe. Both were immediately dismissed from the team and applied for political asylum overseas. This public political protest caused considerable embarrassment to the co-hosts and disrupted team harmony.[6] [7]
Since the 2003 World Cup, with a succession of Zimbabwe's best players ending their international careers early, a new side began to develop, featuring the likes of Travis Friend, Andy Blignaut, Hamilton Masakadza, Douglas Hondo, Craig Wishart, Ray Price, Sean Ervine, Mark Vermeulen, Tatenda Taibu, Elton Chigumbura, Prosper Utseya, Douglas Marillier, and Barney Rogers. Whilst not of the same calibre of Streak, Goodwin, and the Flower brothers, this new breed of predominantly multi-disciplined players formed a solid backbone to a competitive, if usually unsuccessful, side.
In late 2003, Zimbabwe toured Australia in a two-match series. The series was more memorable for Australian opener Matthew Hayden's innings in the first Test – in which he overcame a back strain to score a then record 380 runs – than for the Zimbabwean performance.[8]
Because of this, the ZCU accepted that Zimbabwe were to play no further Test cricket in 2004, though its status as a Test nation was unaffected.[11]
In early 2005, Heath Streak was reinstated into the national side, but the political situation in Zimbabwe involving Operation Murambatsvina disrupted the Zimbabwean team. During overseas tours, the players were often said to be buying necessities which were unavailable – or prohibitively expensive – at home, as opposed to the souvenirs which other touring teams would purchase.
In 2005 an agreement was signed which led to the return of many of the rebels to the Zimbabwe side.[12] However, results failed to improve as in March Zimbabwe lost both their Tests on tour against South Africa by an innings. Worse was to follow in August, when they were crushed on home soil by New Zealand, in a match that was completed in just two days, instead of the usual five. In the process, Zimbabwe were humiliated; they became only the second side in Test history (after India in 1952) to be bowled out twice in the space of one day. Then they lost both their tests to India at home later in September. After the series against India, Streak announced his retirement from international cricket, dealing yet another blow to the beleaguered team.
By November 2005, the players were once again in dispute with Zimbabwe Cricket over political interference in the management of the game as well as contract negotiations, and the new captain, Tatenda Taibu, resigned from international cricket.
By January 2006, 37 Zimbabwean cricketers had failed to receive any offer of renegotiation talks from Zimbabwe Cricket after their contracts with the board had expired. This body of players demanded that the chairman and managing director of Zimbabwe cricket, Peter Chingoka and Ozias Bvute, be removed from office for there to be any hope for the players to return to the international stage.
On 6 January 2006, the Sports and Recreation Commission, a division of the Zimbabwean government, took over the offices of Zimbabwe Cricket. The apparent takeover has resulted in the firing of all whites and Asians among the board directors, because of "their racial connotations and saving their own agendas and not government policy" according to Gibson Mashingaidze, an army brigadier and chairman of the government's Sports and Recreation Commission.
An interim board was appointed as the new leading party of cricket in Zimbabwe, with Peter Chingoka appointed as the committee's head. Given Chingoka's close ties to Bvute, it is likely that the latter will continue in his post as well.
Domestically, the Logan Cup – Zimbabwe's first class competition played amongst the provinces – was cancelled in 2006 for the first time since its inception over a century ago (though the Cup was not played during some of the years of the World Wars). This was widely seen as due to concern by ZC that the standard of play would be so poor as to be both not worthwhile and potentially harmful to the external image of cricket in Zimbabwe. The one-day trophy, the Faithwear Cup, was contested, and drew complaints from observers that the quality was less than club level. As well as player exodus, the main reason for this catastrophic fall in standards was put down to wrangling within Zimbabwe Cricket, where internal politics motivated the removal of the historic provinces and their replacement with revamped, newly-designated provincial teams.
In a further harmful incident, ex-player Mark Vermeulen was arrested after attempting to burn down ZC's offices, and successfully destroying the Zimbabwe Cricket Academy's premises. In a nation in increasing social and economic turmoil, such facilities are hard to replace, and their loss has proven difficult to manage for a cricket administration already short of top quality facilities.
The ICC has not supported Zimbabwe's return to full Test status until the national team can perform consistently at that level and compete competitively against other test sides.
One player told his team-mates that there were certain things contained in the contracts that needed clarification. He was summoned back into Bvute's office and warned that it was a take-it-or-leave-it offer: this player was later revealed to be Anthony Ireland.[15] Another said that when he told Bvute he wanted to consult with friends, Bvute picked up the phone and called Kenyon Ziehl, the head of selection, and told him he wanted the player replaced in the squad. Unsurprisingly, the player backed down and signed.
In light of the poor state of Zimbabwe's finances, and that Zimbabwe Cricket had to borrow around US$1 million in early 2007 pending receipt of monies from the World Cup to help them over an ongoing cash crisis, the board agreed to pay match fees in US dollars. The players are being paid US$2000 per appearance and a series of US$500 bonuses based on wickets taken and fifties scored. The maximum payment was believed to be capped at around US$8000. However, fees will not be paid until June 2007 to stop the exodus and help cash flow.[16]
The spectre of continued problems with the ZC board has influenced some players to cut their losses and seek to finish their careers abroad: Ireland accepted a contract to play for Gloucestershire during 2007, while opener Vusi Sibanda also left. More are thought to be considering following suit.
In between those games, they played a five match One Day International series against the West Indies, scoring an upset win in the opening match[20] before losing the series 3–1. The final match was abandoned due to rain.[21]
Zimbabwe returned to test match cricket on 4 August 2011, after a six year exile. They hosted Bangladesh in a one-off test match at Harare. The national team's re-introduction to Test cricket was successful, as they beat Bangladesh by 130 runs.[22]
Zimbabwean players take the drinks break in their ODI match against Bangladesh at Sher-e-Bangla Cricket Stadium, Dhaka on 23 January 2009.
4) BANGLADESH TEAM
n 1977, Bangladesh became an Associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC).[4] Bangladesh was one of fifteen teams to take part in the inaugural ICC Trophy. Held in 1979, it gave non-Test playing countries the opportunity to qualify for that year's World Cup. Bangladesh, under the captaincy of Raqibul Hasan, Bangladesh won two matches and lost two, but failed to progress beyond the first round.[5][6] Victory in the South-East Asian Cricket Conference Tournament in February 1984 ensured Bangladesh qualified for the 1986 Asia Cup.[7] On 31 March 1986, Bangladesh played their first One Day International against a full member of the ICC;[8] Captained by Gazi Ashraf, Bangladesh were dismissed for 94 and Pakistan reached their target for victory with seven wickets in hand.[9] They lost their second ODI which was against Sri Lanka, finishing last in the three-team tournament.[10] Bangladesh qualified for the 1988 Asia Cup, this time hosting the tournament; it was the first time ODIs had been staged in the country. Although they lost all their matches, Bangladesh's fixtures were retrospectively awarded ODI. Floods in the preceding months meant the tournament was in doubt, however it went ahead as planned. A charity match raised $70,000 for the flood victims.[11] Bangladesh took part in the 1990 Austral-Asia Cup,[12] the Asia Cup in 1990–91, 1995,[13] and 1997,[14] but it was not until 1998 that they won their first ODI. Their 22-match losing streak since their first ODI was at the time a record.[15] Bangladesh posted its first ODI win against Kenya in India thanks largely to Mohammad Rafique, who contributed a fiery 77 runs and took 3 wickets. In October 1998, Bangladesh hosted (but did not participate in) the first ever ICC KnockOut Trophy (which later became the ICC Champions Trophy), a knock-out ODI tournament featuring all the Test playing nations.
Bangladesh took part in each of the 1982, 1986, 1990, and 1994 editions of the ICC Trophy, and won the trophy in 1997, in the process qualifying for the 1999 World Cup. Bangladesh also became a regular ICC member with the right to play ODIs. Earlier, in February Dhaka hosted the third and final SAARC cricket tournament. Bangladesh played in its first World Cup in England. Bangladesh created an enormous upset by beating Pakistan by 62 runs in the group match at Northampton. Bangladesh made 9/223 from its full 50 overs, and in reply Pakistan could only manage 161 due to timely run-outs by wicketkeeper Khaled Mashud and some tight bowling by Khaled Mahmud, who took 3/31 from 10 overs. Mahmud was judged man of the match. Bangladesh did not qualify for the Super Six round due to defeats in three of its five matches. However, the win over Pakistan, who finished runners-up to Australia, helped Bangladesh to gain Test playing status the following year. The morning of the match, Bangladesh had sacked their coach Gordon Greenidge.[15]
Former South Africa Test cricketer Eddie Barlow became Bangladesh's coach in 1999.[16] In preparation for becoming a Test playing country, Bangladesh established its own first-class competition in 1999/2000, although the matches were not given first-class status until the 2000/01 season.[17] The lack of an established first-class structure in the country until shortly before Bangladesh played its debut Test has been cited as one of the reasons the side struggled to adapt to the longer format of the game.[18] The West Indies toured Bangladesh in October, winning both matches in the ODI series.[19] After suffering a stroke in April 2000, Barlow vacated the position of coach.[20] In May and June 2000, Bangladesh hosted the Asia Cup; Bangladesh lost all three of their matches and when playing Pakistan succumbed to what at the time was the heaviest defeat in ODIs, a margin of 233 runs.[21] Bangladesh participated in the 2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy in October; their only match ended in defeat to England.[20]
In January 2002 Bangladesh lost two Tests and three ODIs against Sri Lanka. At this point, they had lost ten of their first eleven Tests; only South Africa had struggled as much in their introduction to Test cricket, also losing ten of their first eleven matches. Chappell blamed Bangladesh's batsmen for the loss, saying "they commit the same mistakes again and again, and need to learn to apply themselves, to bat in sessions".[28] In April, former Pakistan Test cricketer Mohsin Kamal replaced Chappell as coach.[23] When Bangladesh toured Sri Lanka in July and August they were on the receiving end of Sri Lanka's largest margin of victory in Test cricket: an innings and 196 runs. Bangladesh lost both Tests and all three ODIs on the tour, recording their 50th defeat in 53 ODIs. Repeated poor performances prompted people to question whether Bangladesh had been granted Test status too soon.[29] Test and ODI whitewashes followed in South Africa in October. Wisden noted that "Time and again ... came the mantra that [Bangladesh] would learn from the experience, that they could only improve by playing against the best, that there was genuine talent in the squad. But it wore thin."[30] The final defeat set a record for most consecutive losses in ODIs (23), beating the previous record which was also held by Bangladesh.[31] When the West Indies toured in November and December, Bangladesh lost both Test and two out of the three ODIs, and one ended in no result.[32] South Africa hosted the 2003 World Cup in February and March. Bangladesh lost five of their six matches (one ended in no result),[33] including fixtures against Canada, who hadn't played international cricket since the 1979 World Cup,[34] and Kenya.
Bangladesh's next matches were against the West Indies
in May and June. Bangladesh lost the ODI series 3–0 and the Test series
1–0; by drawing the first match, Bangladesh managed to avoid defeat for
just the third time in 29 Tests.[46]
In December, Bangladesh defeated India in its hundredth ODI, this being
only the third time that it had won against a Test playing nation.
In January 2005, Zimbabwe toured Bangladesh for two Tests and five ODIs. The touring Zimbabwe side had suffered due to player disputes which in 2004 had led to the country's temporary suspension from Test cricket. Of Zimbabwe's 16-man squad, only their captain had played more than nine Tests; Bangladesh were the more experienced team. In the first match, Bangladesh secured their maiden victory in Test cricket.[47] Bangladesh's batsmen secured a draw in the second Test by batting out the final five session after coach Dav Whatmore had opined that "Zimbabwe will win, unless our batsmen do something special".[48] In the match – which helped secure a historic first series victory for Bangladesh – Enamul Haque Jr broke his own bowling record for best figures in an innings for Bangladesh by taking 7 wickets for 95 runs, and secured the best figures in a match for Bangladesh: 12 wickets for 200 runs.[48] In the ODI series that followed, Zimbabwe won the opening two contests, and Bangladesh won the final three to take the series.[47]
After their maiden Test victory, Bangladesh embarked on its first tour of England in May and June 2005. The team faced unfamiliar conditions and the batsmen struggled against seam bowling. Bangladesh lost both matches in the Test series by an innings; the second Test was the 22nd time it had happened in 38 Tests.[49] Pundits Mike Atherton and Richie Benaud criticised the team's performances and suggested Bangladesh was not yet suited to Test cricket.[50] A triangular series with England and Australia followed. Bangladesh won just one match out of six, but their solitary victory was against an Australian side that at the time were world champions in what Wisden described as "the biggest upset in one-day international history".[51] Bangladesh's next fixture was in Sri Lanka in September for two Tests and three ODIs. After the one-off victory against Australia in England, Bangladesh were a more confident team however Sri Lanka won all five matches by large margins. Captain Habibul Bashar lamented his side's defeat, describing it as "the worst tour since I took over the captaincy".[52]
The first home One-Day International series of 2006 began with some optimism for Bangladesh, which registered its first-ever win against Sri Lanka in the second ODI of the series. At the end of March, Bangladesh played four ODIs against Kenya, winning all four. Then in April, Bangladesh came very close to beating Australia in a Test match, taking a first-innings lead of 158, and eventually losing by only three wickets.[53] At the end of July, Bangladesh toured Zimbabwe as the ODI series favourites but lost 3–2. In August, the team defeated Kenya in all three matches of a series and subsequently went on to whitewash Zimbabwe in an ODI series staged in Bangladesh. That year, Shahriar Nafees became the first Bangladeshi to score over a thousand runs (which included three centuries) in a calendar year[54] while Mashrafe Mortaza became the leading wicket-taker in the world in ODIs staged in 2006 with 49 wickets.[55]
India hosted the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy in October and November. Bangladesh failed to progress beyond the group stages, losing two of their three matches. Their only victory came against Zimbabwe.[56] Ahead of the World Cup Bangladesh faced Zimbabwe in nine ODIs, Scotland in two, and Bermuda and Canada one each; of those matches, Bangladesh lost a single ODI to Zimbabwe.[2] On 17 March, in their first match of the 2007 World Cup, hosted by the West Indies, Bangladesh secured a five-wicket win over India; the surprise result triggered late night partying in Bangladesh despite government bans on public gatherings.[57] In their remaining group matches Bangladesh lost to Sri Lanka and defeated Bermuda which was enough to secure qualification for the second round while India were knocked out. Bangladesh's only victory in the Super Eights was against South Africa, losing to everyone else including Ireland,[58] a team mostly made up of amateur cricketers.[59]
Banglaesh's next fixture after the World Cup was a home series against India
in May, with two Tests and three ODIs. After Bangladesh had helped
knock India out of the tournament, the series was seen as an opportunity
for India to exact revenge. Bangladesh had not played Test cricket
since April 2006. The first Test was shortened due to rain and drawn,
but India won the second by their largest ever margin. India won the ODI
series 3–0.[60]
In the aftermath Habibul Bashar, who had previously resigned as ODI
captain, was replaced as captain by 22-year-old Mohammad Ashraful in all
forms of the game. Mashrafe Mortaza was appointed vice-captain.[61]
After four years as coach Whatmore chose not to extend his contract,
and Shaun Williams temporarily filled the position. Ashraful's first
series in charge was a tour of Sri Lanka
in June and July. Bangladesh suffered defeat in each of the three
Tests, losing by an innings on every occasion, and three ODIs. In the
second Test, Bangladesh were bundled out for their lowest total (62).[62]
Bangladesh started the year with a tour of New Zealand. The Test matches were one sided, with Bangladesh losing 2–0. South Africa toured Bangladesh and won all matches, including both Tests and all three ODIs. Bangladesh then beat non-Test-playing Ireland 3–0 in an ODI series.
In October, New Zealand toured Bangladesh for three ODIs and two Tests. Shortly before the tour, fourteen Bangladesh players left to play in the Indian Cricket League and were subsequently banned for ten years. Six of the players were centrally contracted, including former captain Habibul Bashar. With a less experienced team than usual and a poor record against New Zealand, Bangladesh were expected to lose heavily. After wining the opening ODI, Bangladesh went on to lose series 2–1.[65] New Zealand won the first Test by three wickets in what their coach, John Bracewell, described as "one of the great character wins".[66] New Zealand also won the second Test, taking the series 2–0, but in the process Shakib Al Hasan emerged as an all-rounder. Having previously been selected primarily as a batsmen, he went on to take the best bowling figures in an innings for a Bangladesh player, 7 wickets for 36 runs,[65] beating the record set by Enamul Haque Jr three years earlier.
In November, Bangladesh toured South Africa. They lost all their matches to South Africa, including the only T20I match, two of the three ODIs (the third being washed out due to rain) and both Tests. In December, however, Bangladesh bounced back from the previous lacklustre performances by threatening to win the first Test match against Sri Lanka by chasing down the highest fourth innings of total of 513. Though they fell 107 runs short, their performances were praised but in the second match of the home series in January, Bangladesh fell to an innings defeat.
The year started with the innings defeat in the 2nd Test match against Sri Lanka. Then Zimbabwe joined the hosts and the Lankan team for a tri-series tournament, which proved to be more evenly matched than was expected. In the first match, Zimbabwe defeated Bangladesh by an excellent performance but then fell to defeat by a huge margin by Sri Lanka leaving Bangladesh needing to win against the Lankans in the last match in order to go through to the finals to join the Lankans, and that also with a bonus point.
Shakib Al Hasan captained Bangladesh during their historic Test series win against West Indies in 2009.
After the World T20 championships in England, the selectors appointed Mashrafe Mortaza as the new captain of the team for the tour to the West Indies so that Ashraful could focus on his batting.[67]
The two Test series was played amidst controversy when a pay dispute
between the West Indian players and the West Indies Cricket Board led a
number of West Indian players boycotting the series, which forced the
West Indies to select a number of inexperienced players as replacements.[68] Bangladesh went on to win both of the Tests, wining the first Test by 95 runs[69] and the second by four wickets.[70] In the process they achieved their first ever overseas Test series victory.[71] In the ODI series which followed Bangladesh secured their first ever ODI win against the West Indies at the 14th attempt.[72] Bangladesh won the series 3–0,[73] but lost the only Twenty20 match.[74] In November, Shakib was named The Wisden Cricketer's "Test Player of the Year".[75]
In January, Bangladesh hosted a tri-series ODI tournament with India and Sri Lanka. They failed to win a match and went out of the tournament. They lost the two match Test series against India by 2–0. In March 2010, England visited Bangladesh to play three ODIs and two Test matches. Bangladesh lost all their ODIs and Tests in the series. In April, Bangladesh took part in the 2010 World Twenty20. They lost all their matches and failed to progress to the Super Eights stage. In May and June, Bangladesh played two Test matches against England away, losing both, although Tamim Iqbal scored two centuries in the series. Between the Tests and ODIs against England, Bangladesh took part in the 2010 Asia Cup during June, but lost all their matches. In the ODI series, England comfortably won the first match. However, in the second match at Bristol, Bangladesh beat England for the first time in international cricket (England were the only Test playing nation yet to be beaten by Bangladesh), bowling England out in the final over to win by five runs.[76]
In October New Zealand went to Bangladesh for five ODIs. Mortaza suffered an injury in the first match and Shakib took over as captain. Under his leadership Bangladesh won the series 4–0, securing their first series victory against a full strength ICC Full Member nation.[77][78][79] Although unable to play against New Zealand due to injury, while the series was in progress Tamim Iqbal was named The Wisden Cricketer's "Test Player of the Year".[80] In December Bangladesh hosted Zimbabwe for five ODIs. After losing the opening match,[81] Bangladesh went on to win the next three complete matches, with one called off due to rain, to beat Zimbabwe 3–1.[82]
In February and March 2011, Bangladesh co-hosted the World Cup with India and Sri Lanka. West Indies dismissed Bangladesh for 58 runs, the team's lowest score in ODIs and a record low for a Full Member at the World Cup.[83] The West Indies and Bangladesh team buses were stoned as they left the ground,[84] and so was Shakib's house.[85] Bangladesh beat England, Ireland, and the Netherlands, making their final match of the first round a must-win contest. Against South Africa, Bangladesh succumbed to a their second-largest defeat in ODIs and became the first Full Member team to be bowled out for under 100 twice in World Cups, thereby failing to progress to the second stage of the tournament.[86] After the World Cup, Siddons' contract was allowed to lapse.[87] During his three-and-a-half year tenure as coach Siddons introduced a full coaching staff for the first time, including coaches for bowling, strength and conditioning, and fielding. Under Siddons Bangladesh's reliance on spin bowlers continued, partly because pitches in the country encourage spin bowlers, and frequently only two seam bowlers were used in a match. Siddons was credited with helping the team improve mentally.[88]
5) SRILANKA TEAM
In 2004, Sri Lankan cricket team whitewashed South Africa 5–0 in an ODI series in Sri Lanka, which is the heaviest defeat of a South African cricket team in a bilateral One Day International series.[4] Sri Lanka whitewashed England 5–0 in the NatWest Series in 2006, which is England's heaviest home defeat in a bilateral ODI Series.[5] Sanath Jayasuriya was the Man of the Series. Sri Lanka also whitewashed Zimbabwe 5–0 in two ODI series, which took place in Zimbabwe in 2004 and 2008.
SOUTH AFRICA TEAM
The South African cricket team toured England in 1947. At Nottingham, Captain Alan Melville and vice-captain, Dave 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.[7]
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. South Africa's first test match after re-admission was against the West Indies in April 1992. The match was played in Bridgetown, Barbados and South Africa lost by 52 runs.
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, when Herschelle Gibbs dropped 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.[8]
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.[9]
6) ENGLAND TEAM
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".[3] 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.
EARLY TOUR
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.[4] 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, the match was promoted as James Lillywhite's XI v Combined Victoria and New South Wales.[4] The teams played a return match on the same ground at Easter, 1877, when Lillywhite's team avenged their loss with a victory by four wickets. The first Test match on English soil occurred in 1880 with England victorious; this was the first time England fielded a fully representative side with W.G. Grace included in the team.[5]
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.[7] 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.[7][8] England would dominate many of these early contests with England winning the Ashes series 10 times between 1884–98.[9] During this period England also played their first Test match against South Africa in 1889 at Port Elizabeth.[10]
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.[11] During this period England would lose their first series against South Africa in the 1905/06 season 4–1 as their batting faltered.[12] 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:[13]
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.[14] England would go on one more tour against South Africa before the outbreak of World War I.
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:
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.
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 Ashes from Australia in 1970–71.
1971 to 2000 The 1970s, for the England team, can be largely split into three parts. The early 70s saw Ray Illingworth's side dominate world cricket winning the Ashes away in 1971 and then retaining them at home in 1972. The same side beat Pakistan at home in 1971 and played by far the better cricket against India that season. However, England were largely helped by the rain to sneak the Pakistan series 1–0 but the same rain saved India twice and one England collapse saw them lose to India. This was, however, one of (if not the) strongest England team ever with Boycott, Edrich, D'Oliveira, Amiss, Illingworth, Knott, Snow, Underwood amongst its core.
The mid 1970s were more turbulent. Illingworth and several others had refused to tour India in 1972–73 which led to a clammer for Illingworth's job by the end of that summer – England had just been thrashed 2–0 by a flamboyant West Indies side – with several England players well over 35. Mike Denness was the surprising choice but only lasted 18 months; his results against poor opposition were good but England were badly exposed as aging and lacking in good fast bowling against the 1974–75 Australians, losing that series 4–1 to lose the Ashes.
Denness was replaced in 1975 by Tony Greig. While he managed to avoid losing to Australia, his side were largely thrashed the following year by the young and very much upcoming West Indies for whom Greig's infamous "grovel" remark acted as motivation. Greig's finest hour was probably the 1976–77 win over India in India. When Greig was discovered as being instrumental in World Series Cricket, he was sacked, and replaced by Mike Brearley.
Brearley's side showed again the hyperbole that is often spoken when one side dominates in cricket. While his side of 1977–80 contained some young players who went on to become England greats, most notably Botham, Gower and Gooch, their opponents were often very much weakened by the absence of their World Series players, especially in 1978, when England beat New Zealand 3–0 and Pakistan 2–0 before thrashing what was probably Australia's 3rd XI 5–1 in 1978–79.
The England team, with Brearley's exit in 1980, was never truly settled throughout the 1980s, which will probably be remembered as a low point for the team. While some of the great players like Botham, Gooch and Gower had fine careers, the team seldom succeeded in beating good opposition throughout the decade and did not score a home test victory (except against minnows Sri Lanka) between September 1985 and July 1990. In this time, undoubted highlights were the Ashes victories of 1981 "Botham's Ashes", 1985 and 1986–87. The 1985 and 1986–87 victories, while sweet for the team, exposed more Australia's weakness than England's strength.
If the 1980s were a low point for English test cricket then the 1990s were only a slight improvement. The arrival of Graham Gooch as captain in 1990 forced a move toward more professionalism and especially fitness, though it took some time for old habits to die. Even in 2011, one or two successful county players have been shown up as physically unfit for international cricket. Creditable performances against India and New Zealand in 1990 were followed by a hard fought draw against the 1991 West Indies but landmark losses against Australia in 1990–91 and especially Pakistan in 1992 showed England up badly in terms of bowling. So bad was England's bowling in 1993 that Rodney Marsh described England's pace attack at one point as "pie throwers". Having lost 3 of the 4 tests played in England in 1993 Graham Gooch resigned to be replaced by Michael Atherton.
More selectorial problems abounded during Atherton's reign as new chairman of selectors / coach Ray Illingworth (then into his 60s) assumed almost sole responsibility for the team off the field. The youth policy which had seen England emerge from the West Indies tour of 1993–94 with some credit (though losing to a seasoned WIndies team) was abandoned and players such as Gatting and Gooch were persisted with when well into their 30s and 40s. England duly continued to do well at home against weaker opponents such as India, New Zealand and a West Indies side beginning to fade but struggled badly against improving sides like Pakistan and South Africa. Atherton had offered his resignation after losing the 1997 Ashes series 3–2 having been 1–0 up after 2 matches – eventually to resign one series later in early 1998. England, looking for talent, went through a whole raft of new players during this period, such as Ronnie Irani, Adam Hollioake, Craig White, Graeme Hick, Mark Ramprakash. At this time, there were two main problems:
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. 1992 also saw Scotland sever ties with the England and Wales team, and begin to compete independently as the Scotland national cricket team.
By 1999, with coach David Lloyd resigning after the World Cup exit and new captain Nasser Hussain just appointed, England hit rock bottom (literally ranked as lowest rated test nation) after losing in shambolic fashion to New Zealand 2–1. Hussain was booed on the Oval balcony as the crowd geered "We've got the worst team in the world" to the tune of "whole world in our hands".
Since 2000 One year later, with central contracts now installed reducing players workloads and the arrival of shrewd Zimbabwean coach Duncan Fletcher, England had thrashed the fallen West Indies 3–1 and the Champagne flowed. Surprisingly, England's results in Asia improved markedly that winter with series wins against both Pakistan and Sri Lanka though one-day success still eluded them.
England's fortunes have improved since 2000 – not without the occasional "blip" particularly against Australia but home test wins have become commonplace. Hussain's side had a far harder edge to it, even managing to avoid the anticipated "Greenwash" in 2001 against the all-powerful Australian team. The nucleus of a side of fighters was slowly coming together as players such as Hussain himself, Thorpe, Gough and Giles began to be regularly selected. By 2003 though, having endured another Ashes drubbing, Hussain felt he could not continue and resigned after one test against South Africa.
Michael Vaughan took over and, while keeping the emphasis as Hussain on fitness and control, encouraged players to express themselves. This especially brought the best out of Andrew Flintoff who, in a career blighted by serious injury managed a real purple patch of 18 months from 2004 to 2005 in which England won home and away including the epic 2005 Ashes series.
In 2005, England under Michael Vaughan's captaincy defeated Australia 2–1 to regain the Ashes for the first time in 16 years having lost them in 1989. Following the 2005 Ashes win, the team suffered from a spate of serious injuries to key players such as Vaughan, Flintoff, Ashley Giles and Simon Jones. As a result, the team underwent an enforced period of transition during which Flintoff himself accepted the job.
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.
Afterwards, England's Test record was indifferent and the team 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 2007–08, 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 2008 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 under the captaincy of Andrew Strauss and, in a disappointing performance, lost the Test series 1–0. Almost immediately, they played West Indies in a home series which they won 2–0.
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 Lord's 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 – Australia having capitulated inexplicably in their first innings.
After a drawn Test series in South Africa, England won their first ever ICC tournament, the 2010 ICC World Twenty20. The following winter, they surprisingly thrashed a very weak Australia 3–1 to retain the Ashes; their first series win in Australia for 24 years, which included three innings victories. This victory left England in third place in the ICC rankings, whilst back-to-back Ashes defeats contributed to Australia falling from first to fifth.
England struggled to match their Test form in the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup. Despite beating South Africa and tying with eventual winners India, England suffered shock losses to Ireland and Bangladesh. They scrapped through to the quarter-finals before losing to Sri Lanka by 10 wickets.[15] However, the team's excellent form in the Test match arena continued, beating Sri Lanka 1–0 in a rain affected series, before comfortably whitewashing the Indians 4–0 to become the World No.1 side.
8) NEW ZEALAND TEAM
The first team to tour New Zealand was Parr's all England XI in 1863–64. Between 1864 and 1914, 22 foreign teams toured NZ. England sent 6 teams, Australia 15 and Fiji 1.
On 15–17 February 1894 the first team representing New Zealand played New South Wales at Lancaster Park in Christchurch. NSW won by 160 runs. New South Wales returned again in 1895–96 and NZ won the solitary game by 142 runs, its first victory. The New Zealand Cricket Council was formed towards the end of 1894.
New Zealand played its first two internationals (not Tests) in 1904–05 against a star-studded Australia team containing such players as Victor Trumper, Warwick Armstrong and Clem Hill. Rain saved NZ from a thrashing in the first match but not the second which NZ lost by an innings and 358 runs – currently the second largest defeat in NZ first-class cricket.
In 1927 NZ toured England. They played 26 first class matches, mostly against county sides. They managed to beat Worcestershire, Glamorgan, Somerset, and Derbyshire. On the strength of the performances on this tour NZ was granted Test status.
In 1929/30 the M.C.C toured NZ and played 4 Tests all of 3 days in duration. NZ lost its first Test match but drew the next 3. In the second Test Stewie Dempster and Jackie Mills put on 276 for the first wicket. This is still the highest partnership for New Zealand against England.
NZ first played South Africa in 1931–32 but were unable to secure Test matches against any teams other than England before World War II ended all Test cricket for 7 years. NZ's first Test after the war was against Australia in 1945/46. This game was not considered a "Test" at the time but it was granted Test status retrospectively by the International Cricket Council in March 1948. The NZ players who appeared in this match probably did not appreciate this move by the ICC as NZ were dismissed for 42 and 54. The New Zealand Cricket Council's unwillingness to pay Australian players a decent allowance to tour NZ ensured that this was the only Test Australia played against NZ between 1929 and 1972.
In 1949 NZ sent one of its best ever sides to England. It contained Bert Sutcliffe, Martin Donnelly, John R. Reid and Jack Cowie. However, 3-day Test matches ensured that all 4 Tests were drawn.
NZ played its first matches against the West Indies in 1951–52, and Pakistan and India in 1955/56.
In 1954/55 NZ recorded the lowest ever innings total, 26 against England. The following season NZ achieved its first Test victory. The first 3 Tests of a 4 Test series were won easily by the West Indies but NZ won the fourth to notch up its first Test victory. It had taken them 45 matches and 26 years. In the next 20 years NZ won only 7 more Tests. For most of this period NZ lacked a class bowler to lead their attack although they had 2 excellent batsmen in Glenn Turner and Bert Sutcliffe and a great all-rounder in John R. Reid.
In 1973 Richard Hadlee debuted and the rate at which NZ won Tests picked up dramatically. Hadlee was one of the best pace bowlers of his generation and played 86 Tests for NZ before he retired in 1990. Of the 86 Tests that Hadlee played in New Zealand won 22 and lost 28. In 1977/78 NZ won its first Test against England, at the 48th attempt. Hadlee took 10 wickets in the match.
During the 1980s NZ also had the services of one of its best ever batsman, Martin Crowe and a number of good players such as John Wright, Bruce Edgar, John F. Reid, Andrew Jones, Geoff Howarth, Jeremy Coney, Ian Smith, John Bracewell, Lance Cairns, Stephen Boock, and Ewen Chatfield, who were capable of playing the occasional match winning performance and consistently making a valuable contribution to a Test match.
The match that epitomized the phenomenon of NZ’s two star players (R. Hadlee and M. Crowe) putting in match winning performances and other players making good contributions was NZ v Australia, 1985 at Brisbane. In Australia's first innings Hadlee took 9-52. In NZ's only turn at bat, M Crowe scored 188 and John F. Reid 108. Edgar, Wright, Coney, Jeff Crowe, V. Brown, and Hadlee scored between 17 and 54*. In Australia’s second innings, Hadlee took 6-71 and Chatfield 3-75. NZ won by an innings and 41 runs.
One-day cricket also gave NZ a chance to compete more regularly than Test cricket with the better sides in world cricket. In one-day cricket a batsman doesn’t need to score centuries to win games for his side and bowlers don’t need to bowl the opposition out. One-day games can be won by one batsman getting a 50, a few others getting 30s, bowlers bowling economically and everyone fielding well. These were requirements New Zealand players could consistently meet and thus developed a good one-day record against all sides.
Perhaps New Zealand's most famous one-day match was the infamous "Under arm" match against Australia at the MCG in 1981. Requiring six runs to tie the match off the final ball, Australian captain Greg Chappell instructed his brother Trevor to "bowl" the ball underarm along the wicket to prevent the New Zealand batsman from hitting a six. The Australian umpires ruled the move as legal even though to this day many believe it was one of the most unsporting decisions made in cricket.
When New Zealand next played in the tri-series in Australia in 1983, Lance Cairns became a cult hero for his one-day batting. In one match against Australia, he hit six sixes at the MCG, one of the world's largest grounds. Few fans remember that NZ lost this game by 149 runs. However, Lance's greatest contribution to NZ cricket was his son Chris Cairns.
The Black Caps logo.
Chris Cairns made his debut one year before Hadlee retired in 1990.
Cairns, one of New Zealand’s best allrounders, led the 1990s bowling
attack with Danny Morrison. Stephen Fleming, NZ’s most prolific scorer, led the batting and the team into the 21st century. Nathan Astle and Craig McMillan also scored plenty of runs for New Zealand, but both retired earlier than expected.
Daniel Vettori made his debut as an 18-year-old in 1997, and when he took over from Fleming as captain in 2007 he was regarded as the best spinning allrounder in world cricket. On 26 August 2009, Daniel Vettori became the eighth player and second left-arm bowler (after Chaminda Vaas) in history to take 300 wickets and score 3000 test runs, joining the illustrious club. Vettori decided to take an indefinite break from international short form cricket in 2011 but will continue to represent New Zealand in Test cricket.
Shane Bond played 17 Tests for NZ between 2001 and 2007 but missed far more through injury. When fit, he added a dimension to the NZ bowling attack that had been missing since Hadlee retired.
The New Zealand team celebrating a dismissal in 2009
The rise of the financial power of the BCCI had an immense effect on
NZ cricket and its players. The BCCI managed to convince other boards
not to pick players who had joined the rival Twenty-20 Indian Cricket League. NZ Cricket lost the services of Shane Bond, Lou Vincent, Andre Adams, Hamish Marshall and Daryl Tuffey. The money to be made from Twenty-20 cricket in India may have also induced players, such as Craig McMillan and Scott Styris
(from Test cricket) to retire earlier than they would have otherwise.
After the demise of the Indian Cricket League Bond and Tuffey again
played for NZ.
9) WEST INDIES TEAM
The history of the West Indies cricket team began in the 1890s, when the first representative sides were selected to play visiting English sides. The WICB joined the sport's international ruling body, the Imperial Cricket Conference, in 1926,[4] and played their first official international match, granted Test status, in 1928[5] thus becoming the fourth Test nation.
Although blessed with some great players in their early days as a Test nation, and beating England for the first time at Lord's on 29 June 1950, their successes remained sporadic until the 1960s when the side changed from a white-dominated to a black-dominated side. By the 1970s, the West Indies had a side recognised as unofficial world champions, a reputation they retained throughout the 1980s.[6] During these glory years, the Windies were noted for their four-man fast bowling attack, backed up by some of the best batsmen in the world.
The 1980s saw them set a then-record streak of 11 consecutive Test victories in 1984 and inflict two 5–0 "blackwashes" against the old enemy of England. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, however, West Indian cricket declined, largely due to the failure of the West Indian Cricket Board to move the game from an amateur pastime to a professional sport coupled with the general economic decline in West Indian countries, and the team today is struggling to regain its past glory. The West Indies are currently ranked 8th out of the 10 Test playing nations, and 9th in the One Day International rankings, which likewise only cover the 10 Test playing nations.[7]
In their early days in the 1930s, the side represented the British colonies that would later form the West Indies Federation plus British Guiana. The current side represents:
Independent nations
Other overseas dependencies
National teams also exist for the various islands, which, as they are all separate countries, very much keep their local identities and support their local favourites. These national teams take part in the West Indian first-class competition, the Carib Beer Cup (earlier known as the Busta Cup, Shell Shield and various other names).[9] It is also common for other international teams to play the island teams for warm-up games before they take on the combined West Indies team.
10) INDIAN TEAM
See also: History of cricket in India to 1918, History of cricket in India from 1918–19 to 1945, History of cricket in India from 1945–46 to 1960, History of cricket in India from 1960–61 to 1970, History of cricket in India from 1970–71 to 1985, History of cricket in India from 1985–86 to 2000 and History of cricket in India from 2000–01
The British brought cricket to India in the early 1700s, with the first cricket match played in 1721.[9] In 1848, the Parsi community in Bombay
formed the Oriental Cricket Club, the first cricket club to be
established by Indians. After slow beginnings, the Europeans eventually
invited the Parsis to play a match in 1877.[10] By 1912, the Parsis,Sikhs, Hindus, and Muslims of Bombay played a quadrangular tournament with the Europeans every year.[10] In the early 1900s, some Indians went on to play for the English cricket team. Some of these, such as Ranjitsinhji and KS Duleepsinhji were greatly appreciated by the British and their names went on to be used for the Ranji Trophy and Duleep Trophy-
two major first class tournaments in India. In 1911, an Indian team
went on their first official tour of England, but only played English
county teams and not the English cricket team.[11] India was invited into The Imperial Cricket Council in 1926 and made its debut as a Test-cricket-playing-nation in 1932 led by CK Nayudu.[12]
The match was given Test status despite being only 3 days in length.
The team was not strong in its batting at this point and went on to lose
by 158 runs.[13]
The Indian team continued to improve throughout the 1930s and '40s but
did not achieve an international victory during this period. The team's
first series as an independent country was in 1948 against Sir Donald Bradman's Invincibles (a name given to the Australian cricket team of that time). Australia won the five-match series, 4–0.[14]
India recorded their first Test victory against England at Madras (now Chennai) in 1952.[15] Later in the same year, they won their first Test series, which was against Pakistan.[16] They continued their improvement throughout the early 1950s with a series win against New Zealand in 1956. However, they did not win again in the remainder of the decade and lost badly to strong Australian and English sides. The next decade saw India's reputation develop as a team with a strong record at home. They won their first Test series against England at home in 1961–62, and also won a home series against New Zealand. They also managed to draw home series against Pakistan and Australia, and another series against England. In this same period, India also won its first series outside the subcontinent, against New Zealand in 1967–68.
The key to India's bowling in the 1970s were the Indian spin quartet – Bishen Bedi, E.A.S. Prasanna, BS Chandrasekhar and Srinivas Venkataraghavan. This period also saw the emergence of two of India's best ever batsmen, Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Viswanath. Indian pitches have had tendency to support spin and the spin quartet exploited this to create collapses in opposing batting line-ups. These players were responsible for the back-to-back series wins in 1971 in the West Indies and in England, under the captaincy of Ajit Wadekar. Gavaskar scored 774 runs in the West Indian series while Dilip Sardesai's 112 played a big part in their one Test win.
A graph showing India's Test match results against all Test match teams from 1932 to September 2006
The advent of One-Day International cricket in 1971 created a new
dimension in the cricket world. However, India was not considerably
strong in ODIs
at this point and batsmen such as the captain Gavaskar were known for
their defence-based approaches to batting. India began as a weak team in
ODIs and did not manage to qualify for the second round in the first
two editions of the Cricket World Cup.
Gavaskar infamously blocked his way to 36 not out off 174 balls against
England in the first World Cup in 1975, India scored just 132 for 3 and
lost by 202 runs.
In contrast, India fielded a strong team in Test matches and were particularly strong at home where their combination of stylish batsman and beguiling spinners were seen at their best. India set a then test record in the third Test against the West Indies at Port-of-Spain in 1976 when they chased 403 to win thanks to 112 from Vishwanath. This West Indian defeat is considered to be a watershed in the history of their cricket because it led to captain Clive Lloyd dispensing with spin altogether and relying entirely on a four man pace attack. In November 1976 the team established another record by scoring 524 for 9 declared against New Zealand at Kanpur without an individual scoring a century. There were six fifties, the highest being 70 by Mohinder Amarnath. The innings was the eighth instance in Test cricket where all eleven batsmen reached double figures.
During the 1980s, India developed a more attack minded batting line-up with stroke makers such as the wristy Mohammed Azharuddin, Dilip Vengsarkar and all-rounder Ravi Shastri prominent during this time. India won the Cricket World Cup in 1983, defeating the then favourites West Indies in the final, owing to a strong bowling performance. In spite of this the team performed poorly in the Test arena, including 28 consecutive Test matches without a victory. In 1984, India won the Asia Cup and in 1985, won the World Championship of Cricket in Australia. Apart from this, India remained a very weak team outside the Indian subcontinent. India's Test series victory in 1986 against England remained the last Test series win by India outside the subcontinent for the next 19 years. The 1987 Cricket World Cup was held in India. The 1980s saw Gavaskar and Kapil Dev (India's best all rounder to this date) at the pinnacle of their careers. Gavaskar made a Test record 34 centuries as he became the first man to reach the 10,000 run mark. Kapil Dev later became the highest wicket taker in Test cricket with 434 wickets. The period was also marked by an unstable leadership, with Gavaskar and Kapil exchanging the captaincy several times.
With 619 wickets, Anil Kumble is the world's third highest wicket taker in Tests and India's highest Test and ODI wicket taker .[17]
The addition of Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Kumble to the national side in 1989 and 1990 further improved the team. The following year, Javagal Srinath, India's fastest bowler since Amar Singh made his debut. Despite this, during the 1990s, India did not win any of its 33 Tests outside the subcontinent while it won 17 out of its 30 Tests at home. After being eliminated by neighbours Sri Lanka on home soil at the 1996 Cricket World Cup, the team underwent a year of change as Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, later to become captains of the team, made their debut in the same Test at Lord's.
Tendulkar replaced Azharuddin as captain in late 1996, but after a
personal and team form slump, Tendulkar relinquished the captaincy and
Azharuddin was reinstalled at the beginning of 1998. With the captaincy
burden removed, Tendulkar was the world's leading run-scorer in both
Tests and ODIs, as India enjoyed a home Test series win over Australia,
the best ranked team in the world. After failing to reach the semifinals
at the 1999 Cricket World Cup,
Tendulkar was again made captain, and had another poor run, losing 3–0
on a tour of Australia and then 2–0 at home to South Africa. Tendulkar
resigned, vowing never to captain the team again, with Sourav Ganguly appointed the new captain. The team was further damaged in 2000 when former captain Azharuddin and fellow batsman Ajay Jadeja were implicated in a match-fixing scandal and given life bans.
Since 2000, the Indian team underwent major improvements with the appointment of John Wright as India's first ever foreign coach. India maintained their unbeaten home record against Australia in Test series after defeating them in 2001. The series was famous for the Kolkata Test match, in which India became only the third team in the history of Test cricket to win a Test match after following on. Australian captain Steve Waugh labelled India as the "Final Frontier" as a result of his side's inability to win a Test series in India.[18] Victory in 2001 against the Australians marked the beginning of a dream run for India under their captain Sourav Ganguly, winning Test matches in Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, West Indies and England. The England series is also known for India's highest ODI run-chase of 325 runs at Lord's which came in the Natwest ODI Series final against England. In the same year, India were joint winners of the ICC Champions Trophy with Sri Lanka, and then went to the 2003 Cricket World Cup in South Africa where they reached the final only to be beaten by Australia. The 2003–2004 season also saw India play out a Test series in Australia where they drew 1–1 with world champions, and then win a Test and ODI series in Pakistan.
The Indian cricket team in action in the Wankhede Stadium
At the end of the 2004 season, India suffered from lack of form and
fitness from its older players. A defeat in a following home Test series
against Australia was followed by an ODI home series defeat against
Pakistan followed by a Test series levelled 1–1. Greg Chappell
took over from John Wright as the new coach of the Indian cricket team
following the series, and his methods proved to be controversial during
the beginning of his tenure. The tension resulted in a fallout between
Chappell and Ganguly, resulting in Rahul Dravid being made captain. This triggered a revival in the team's fortunes, following the emergence of players like Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Suresh Raina, and the coming of age of players like Irfan Pathan and Yuvraj Singh.
A thumping home series victory over Sri Lanka in 2005 and a drawn
series with South Africa put India at 2nd place in the ICC ODI rankings.
This was followed by a convincing ODI series win in Pakistan in early
2006 following a loss in the Test series, which gave India the world
record of 17 successive ODI victories while batting second.[19]
Towards the middle of 2006 however, a 4–1 series loss in the West
Indies gave rise to a slump in India's ODI form, while they achieved a
1–0 victory in the Test series that followed, giving them their first
Test series victory in the Caribbean since 1971. India's ODI form,
however, slumped further with a disappointing performance in the 2006
Champions Trophy and a drubbing in the ODI series in South Africa. This
was followed yet again by an initial good performance in the Tests,
giving India its first Test match win in South Africa, although they
went on to lose the series 2–1. This Test series was marked by Ganguly's
comeback to the Indian team.[20]
The beginning of 2007 had seen a revival in the Indian team's ODI fortunes before the 2007 Cricket World Cup. Series victories against the West Indies and Sri Lanka, marked by the comeback of Ganguly, and strong form by Tendulkar, and the emergence of young attacking players like Robin Uthappa saw many pundits to tip India as a real chance to do well at the 2007 Cricket World Cup. However, defeats to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka saw India fail to reach the final eight. India's traditional strengths have always been its line-up of spin bowlers and batsmen.[21] Recently, it has a very strong batting line-up with Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag all being selected to play for the ICC World XI in the 2005 "SuperTest" against Australia. In previous times, India was unique in that it was the only country to regularly field three spinners in one team, whereas one is the norm, and of the fifteen players to have taken more than 100 wickets, only four were pace bowlers from the last 20 years.[22] However in recent years, Indian pace bowling has improved, with the emerging talents of Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan, Rudra Pratap Singh, Munaf Patel and Ishant Sharma many more playing in the national team.
In December 2006, it played and won its first ever Twenty20 international in South Africa, becoming the most recent Test team to play Twenty20 cricket. After winning the Test series against England in August 2007, Rahul Dravid stepped down as the captain of the team following which Mahendra Singh Dhoni was made the captain of the Twenty20 and ODI team. In September 2007, it won the first ever Twenty20 World Cup held in South Africa, beating Pakistan by 5 runs in the final. Then they toured Australia with a controversial series that they lost 2–1 in test but come back for a whitewash final against them.[23]
After beating Sri Lanka 2–0 in December 2009, India become the No. 1 team in the world. then retained by drawing a series to South Africa and Sri Lanka confirmed their rankings. In October 2010 India won the test series 2–0 against Australia giving them back to back series win vs them. Then they got the first drawn series in South Africa.[24] When India slipped to a 4–0 defeat to England in August 2011, England replaced India as the No. 1 Test team.[25]
On April 2, 2011, India won the 2011 Cricket World Cup, defeating Sri Lanka in the final, thus becoming the second team after West Indies and Australia to win it twice, the previous win being in 1983. Gautam Gambhir and the skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni led the way with classy innings of 97 and 91*, respectively. As Sri Lanka's stalwart batsman Mahela Jayawardene scored a brilliant 88-ball 103-run century and yet ended up on the losing side, he also became the first player in World Cup final history to end up on the losing side despite scoring a century.[26]
The International Cricket Council determines India's upcoming matches through its future tours program. However, the BCCI, with its influential financial position in the cricketing world, has often challenged the ICC's program and called for more tours between India, Australia, Pakistan and England which are more likely to earn more revenue as opposed to tours with Bangladesh or Zimbabwe.[28] In the past, the BCCI has also come into conflict with the ICC regarding sponsorships[29] and the legitimacy of the ICC Champions Trophy.
The current chairman of Selection Committee is Krishnamachari Srikkanth. Yashpal Sharma, Narendra Hirwani, Surendra Bhave and Raja Venkat are the other members of the selection committee[31] whose terms started in September 2008 with BCCI holding the rights for a one-year extension.
See also: Cricket in Pakistan, History of cricket in Pakistan from 1947 to 1970, History of cricket in Pakistan from 1971 to 1985, History of cricket in Pakistan from 1986 to 2000, and History of cricket in Pakistan from 2001
Following the Partition of India
in 1947 and the establishment of the separate province of Pakistan,
cricket in the country developed steadily and Pakistan was given Test match status at a meeting of the Imperial Cricket Conference at Lord's Cricket Ground in England on 28 July 1952 following recommendation by India,[5] which, being the successor state of the British Raj, did not have to go through such a process. The first captain of the Pakistan national cricket team was Abdul Kardar.Pakistan’s first Test match was played in Delhi in October 1952 as part of a five Test series which India won 2–1. Pakistan made their first tour of England in 1954 and drew the series 1–1 after a memorable victory at The Oval in which fast bowler Fazal Mahmood took 12 wickets. Pakistan’s first home Test match was in Dacca in January 1955 against India, after which four more Test matches were played in Bahawalpur, Lahore, Peshawar and Karachi (all five matches in the series were drawn, the first such occurrence in test history[6]).
The team is considered a strong but unpredictable team. Traditionally Pakistani cricket has been filled with players of great talent but limited discipline, making them a team which could play inspirational cricket one day and then perform less than ordinarily another day. Over the years, competitions between India and Pakistan have always been emotionally charged and provide for intriguing contests, as talented teams and players from both sides of the border elevate their game to new levels to produce high-quality cricket. Pakistani contest with India in the Cricket World Cup have seen packed stadiums and elevated atmospheres no matter where the World Cup has been held.
1986 Australasia Cup
Main article: Australasia Cup
The 1986 Australasia Cup, played in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, is remembered as a famous last-ball victory for Pakistan against arch-rivals India, with Javed Miandad emerging as a national hero.[7] India batted first and set a target of 245 runs, leaving Pakistan with a required run rate of 4.92 runs per over. Javed Miandad
came in to bat at number 3 and Pakistan lost wickets at regular
intervals. Later recalling the match, Miandad stated that his main focus
was to lose with dignity. With 31 runs needed in the last three overs,
Miandad hit a string of boundaries while batting with his team's lower
order, until four runs were required from the last delivery of the
match. Miandad received a leg side full toss from Chetan Sharma, which he hit for six over the midwicket boundary.[7][8]1992 Cricket World Cup
Main article: 1992 Cricket World Cup
At the 1992 World Cup Semi Final,
having won the toss, New Zealand chose to bat first and ended with a
total of 262 runs. Pakistan batted conservatively yet lost wickets at
regular intervals. With the departure of Imran Khan and Saleem Malik shortly thereafter, Pakistan still required 115 runs at a rate of 7.67 runs per over with veteran Javed Miandad being the only known batsman remaining at the crease. A young Inzamam-ul-Haq,
who had just turned 22 and was not a well-known player at the time,
burst onto the international stage with a match-winning 60 off 37 balls.
Once Inzamam got out, Pakistan required 36 runs from 30 balls, which
wicketkeeper Moin Khan
ended with a towering six over long off, followed by the winning
boundary to midwicket. The match is seen as the emergence of Inzamam
onto the international stage.[9][10][11]The 1992 Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand marked Pakistan's first World Cup victory. It is remembered for the comeback Pakistan made after losing key players such as Waqar Younis and Saeed Anwar and being led by an injured captain in Imran Khan. Pakistan lost 4 of their first 5 matches and were nearly eliminated in the first round of the tournament after being bowled out for 74 runs against England, until the match was declared as a "no result" due to rain. Imran Khan famously told the team to play as "cornered tigers", after which Pakistan won five successive matches, including, most famously, the semi-final against hosts New Zealand and the final against England.[12]
2007 Cricket World Cup
The 2007 Cricket World Cup was one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history when Pakistan was knocked out of the competition in a shock defeat to Ireland, who were playing in their first competition. Pakistan, needing to win to qualify for the next stage after losing to the West Indies in their opening match, were put into bat by Ireland. They lost wickets regularly and only 4 batsmen scored double figures. In the end they were bowled out by the Irish for 132 runs. The Irish went on to win the match, after Niall O'Brien scored 72 runs. This meant that Pakistan had been knocked out during the first round for the second consecutive World Cup.[13][14][15] Tragedy struck the team when coach Bob Woolmer died one day later on 18 March 2007 in a hospital in Kingston, Jamaica. Jamaican police spokesman, Karl Angell, reported on 23 March 2007 that, "Mr Woolmer's death was due to asphyxiation as a result of manual strangulation" and that, "Mr Woolmer's death is now being treated by the Jamaica police as a case of murder."[16] Assistant coach Mushtaq Ahmed acted as temporary coach for the team's final group game of the tournament.[17] Subsequent to his team's defeat and the death of Woolmer, Inzamam-ul-Haq announced his resignation as captain of the team and his retirement from one-day cricket, stating that he would continue to take part in Test cricket but not as captain.[18] Shoaib Malik was announced as his successor.[19] Following his return to the squad, Salman Butt was appointed as vice-captain until December 2007.[20]On 23 March 2007, Pakistan players and officials were questioned by Jamaican police and submitted DNA samples along with fingerprints, as part of the routine enquiries in the investigation into Woolmer's murder.[21] Three days after leaving the West Indies for Pakistan, via London, the Pakistan team were ruled out as suspects. The deputy commissioner of Jamaican police. Mark Shields, the detective in charge of the investigation, announced, "It's fair to say they are now being treated as witnesses." "I have got no evidence to suggest it was anybody in the squad."[22] A memorial service was held in Sacred Heart Church, Lahore, for Bob Woolmer on 1 April 2007. Among the attendees were Pakistan players and dignitaries, including Inzamam-ul-Haq, who was quoted as saying, "After Woolmer's family, the Pakistan team was the most aggrieved by his death."[23] After the World Cup ended, serious doubts were raised about the investigation, with increasing speculation that Woolmer died of natural causes. This has now been accepted as fact, and the case has been closed.[24] Pakistan Qualified for Final Of T20 2009 beating SouthAfrica by 7 runs in 1st semifinal.
2009 ICC World T20
On 21 June 2009 Pakistan won the 2009 ICC World Twenty20, beating Sri Lanka in the final by eight wickets. Pakistan had begun the tournament slowly losing two of their first three matches but after dismissing New Zealand for 99 runs in the Super 8 stage they had a run of four consecutive wins including beating previously unbeaten South Africa, in the semi-final and Sri Lanka.2011 Cricket World Cup
Pakistan started well in the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup, which was held in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, after beating Kenya, Sri Lanka(one of the tournament favourites) and narrowly beating Canada. After a huge loss against New Zealand, Pakistan defeated Zimbabwe by 7 wickets.'. One of the highlights of the tournament for Pakistan was when they beat Australia, who were led by 3 brilliant pace bowlers, Brett Lee, Shaun Tait and Mitchell Johnson. However Pakistan defied the odds and defeated Australia, courtesy of a brilliant bowling display. In the Quarter-Finals they played West Indies. Pakistan were ruthless, as they emphatically beat the West Indies by 10 wickets,due to another brilliant bowling display. In the Semi-Finals on 30 March, Pakistan had a match with its fiercest rival, India. India, due to Tendulkar who was dropped several times, managed 260 after they batted first. Due to a slow chase, Pakistan were 29 runs short as India reached the final(India went on to win the final). Pakistan has never defeated India in an ODI World Cup match to date.Governing body
Main article: Pakistan Cricket Board
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is responsible for all first class
and Test cricket played in Pakistan and by the Pakistan cricket team. It
was admitted to the International Cricket Council
in July 1953. The corporation has been run by former cricketers,
professional administrators and trustees, who are often respected
businessmen. The Board governs a network of teams sponsored by
corporations and banks, city associations and clubs including
advertising, broadcasting rights and internet partners.[27]. The PCB's experiment with the Twenty20 cricket model has also proven popular and hopes to similarly revive popular interest in domestic games,which it did. The PCB also set up major domestic competitions such as the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and the ANZ Trophy.[28]
Tournament history
| World Cup | World Twenty20 | Champions Trophy | Asia Cup | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
List of International grounds
See also: List of cricket grounds in Pakistan
| Stadium | City | Test matches | ODI matches |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gaddafi Stadium | Lahore | 39 | 57 |
| National Cricket Stadium | Karachi | 41 | 46 |
| Iqbal Stadium | Faisalabad | 24 | 16 |
| Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium | Rawalpindi | 8 | 21 |
| Arbab Niaz Stadium | Peshawar | 6 | 15 |
| Multan Cricket Stadium | Multan | 5 | 7 |
| Niaz Stadium | Hyderabad | 5 | 7 |
| Jinnah Stadium (Sialkot) | Sialkot | 4 | 9 |
| Bagh-e-Jinnah (Lahore) | Lahore | 3 | 0 |
| Sheikhupura Stadium | Sheikhupura | 2 | 2 |
| Jinnah Stadium | Gujranwala | 1 | 11 |
| Ibn-e-Qasim Bagh Stadium | Multan | 1 | 6 |
| Pindi Club Ground | Rawalpindi | 1 | 2 |
| Defence Housing Authority Stadium | Karachi | 1 | 0 |
| Bahawal Stadium | Bahawalpur | 1 | 0 |
| Zafar Ali Stadium | Sahiwal | 0 | 2 |
| Ayub National Stadium | Quetta | 0 | 2 |
| Sargodha Stadium | Sargodha | 0 | 1 |
| Bugti Stadium | Quetta | 0 | 1 |
2) AUSTRALIA TEAM
The first centralised authority for the administration of cricket in Australia was established in 1892 when representatives from the state associations of New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria came together to establish the Australasian Cricket Council, with the Sheffield Shield also established in that year. However the Australasian Cricket Council was disbanded in 1898.
What is now known as Cricket Australia was established in 1905 as the Australian Board of Control for International Cricket.[2] Before its establishment, tours by Australian teams to England were organised and funded by private groups or by the players themselves. Similarly invitations to English teams were made by private promoters or by individual clubs, such as the Melbourne Cricket Club.[citation needed] The predecessor organisation, the Australasian Cricket Council which had existed from 1892 to 1898 but was ineffective due to a lack of funding. Its one lasting action was to establish the Sheffield Shield, the major cricket competition between the Australian colonies.[3]
These early tours were lucrative for the players and promoters and cricket administrators looked to find ways to channel some of this money to the destitute clubs, through the State Associations. Formal discussions began in January 1905 in Sydney for the formation of a body to take control of tours from the players. A draft constitution was discussed by members of the New South Wales, Victoria, South Australian and Queensland associations.[4] The first meeting of the new board was held at Wesley College in Melbourne on 6 May 1905.
The foundation members were the New South Wales Cricket Association and the Victorian Cricket Association. South Australia's delegates refused to join the Board because the Board structure denied the players any representation. The Queensland Cricket Association was represented as an observer only.[2]
Queensland did decide to formally join the association with one delegate member the following year, and the constitution was amended in 1906, so that New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria would each have three permanent representatives, and Queensland one representative. In 1907 Tasmania was also permitted to send a single representative, and Western Australia did likewise in 1913. Changes to this structure were made in 1914 and 1974 respectively, when Queensland and Western Australia formally added to their representation to two each.
Name changes
Cricket Australia has had three different names since its foundation. They are:- Australian Board of Control for International Cricket (1905–1973)
- Australian Cricket Board (1973–2003)
- Cricket Australia (2003 – present)
Finances
The organisation's revenue was A$146.4 million in the year ended 30 June 2008 ($120.6 million to 30 June 2007). In its Annual Report, Cricket Australia attributes this increase to additional revenue from media rights.[5]Competitions
As well as responsibility for Australian international sides, Cricket Australia organises domestic inter-state cricket in Australia, including the three premier competitions in each of the major forms of the game. These are the Sheffield Shield in first-class cricket, the Ryobi One Day Cup, which is the domestic one-day competition, and the KFC Twenty20 Big Bash, which is the domestic Twenty20 competition.Cricket Australia's competitions:
- Sheffield Shield
- Ryobi One Day Cup
- KFC Twenty20 Big Bash
- Big Bash League (Commencing 2011/2012 season)
- Futures League (Second XI)
- Women's National Cricket League
- CA Under-19 Cup
- CA Under-17 Cup
3) ZIMBABWE TEAM
In common with all the other full members of the I.C.C., Zimbabwe had a cricket team before it achieved Test status.
A brief summary of key moments:
- Rhodesia was represented in the South African tournament, the Currie Cup, between the wars, and then again from 1946.
- Following independence in 1980, the country began to play more international cricket.
- On July 21, 1981, Zimbabwe was elected an associate member of the ICC.
- Zimbabwe then participated in the 1983 cricket World Cup, as well as the 1987 and 1992 events.[2]
Test status
Zimbabwe played its first Test match in 1992 (against India at Harare resulting in a draw), becoming the ninth Test nation.[3]Zimbabwe's early Test performances were consistently weak, leading to suggestions that they had been granted Test status prematurely. In the one-day arena, however, the team soon became competitive, if not particularly strong. In particular, world respect was gained for their fielding ability. After a series of poor Test performances following the resignation of several senior players, the Zimbabwean team was voluntarily suspended from Test cricket in late 2005 by its cricket board, with ICC encouragement.[4]
In August 2011, Zimbabwe beat Bangladesh by 130 runs almost six years after the suspension to regain its status as a Test Nation.[5]
1990s
In spite of his team's difficulties, wicket-keeper/batsman Andy Flower was at one point rated the best batsman in world cricket. During this era, Zimbabwe also produced such cricketers as Flower's brother Grant, and allrounders Andy Blignaut & Heath Streak (who was later appointed national captain). Murray Goodwin was also a world-class batsman; following his retirement from international cricket, he has scored heavily for Sussex. Another world-class batsman was David Houghton, who holds the record for the highest individual test score for Zimbabwe of 266 against Sri Lanka in 1994/95. Sometime captain and middle order batsman Alistair Campbell, leg-spinning all rounder Paul Strang, Eddo Brandes, and pace bowler/opener Neil Johnson were other important contributors for Zimbabwe on the world stage at this time.With the appearance of some quality players, a breakthrough was achieved in levels of performance in the late 1990s where the Zimbabwean team began winning Tests against other nations, which included a series win against Pakistan. Unfortunately, the political situation in Zimbabwe declined at around the same time, which had a detrimental effect on the national team's performances.
Zimbabwe excelled at the 1999 ICC Cricket World Cup coming in fifth place in the Super Sixes, only missing out on a semi-final place due to having an inferior net run-rate than New Zealand.
The 2003 World Cup
Increasing politicization of cricket, including selectorial policy, along with the declining situation in Zimbabwe disrupted the 2003 Cricket World Cup, which was jointly hosted by Zimbabwe and South Africa.England forfeited a match scheduled to be played in Zimbabwe, risking their own progress through the competition, citing "security concerns" as their reason.
Zimbabwean players Andy Flower and fast bowler Henry Olonga wore black armbands, for "mourning the death of democracy" in Zimbabwe. Both were immediately dismissed from the team and applied for political asylum overseas. This public political protest caused considerable embarrassment to the co-hosts and disrupted team harmony.[6] [7]
Since the 2003 World Cup, with a succession of Zimbabwe's best players ending their international careers early, a new side began to develop, featuring the likes of Travis Friend, Andy Blignaut, Hamilton Masakadza, Douglas Hondo, Craig Wishart, Ray Price, Sean Ervine, Mark Vermeulen, Tatenda Taibu, Elton Chigumbura, Prosper Utseya, Douglas Marillier, and Barney Rogers. Whilst not of the same calibre of Streak, Goodwin, and the Flower brothers, this new breed of predominantly multi-disciplined players formed a solid backbone to a competitive, if usually unsuccessful, side.
In late 2003, Zimbabwe toured Australia in a two-match series. The series was more memorable for Australian opener Matthew Hayden's innings in the first Test – in which he overcame a back strain to score a then record 380 runs – than for the Zimbabwean performance.[8]
The Streak affair
In 2004, captain Heath Streak was sacked by the ZCU ( now Zimbabwe Cricket), prompting a walkout by 14 other players in protest against political influence in the team's management and selection policies. A scheduled tour by Sri Lanka went ahead, but this was a lopsided affair, with Zimbabwe represented by fringe players who were not of international standard.[9] [10]Because of this, the ZCU accepted that Zimbabwe were to play no further Test cricket in 2004, though its status as a Test nation was unaffected.[11]
In early 2005, Heath Streak was reinstated into the national side, but the political situation in Zimbabwe involving Operation Murambatsvina disrupted the Zimbabwean team. During overseas tours, the players were often said to be buying necessities which were unavailable – or prohibitively expensive – at home, as opposed to the souvenirs which other touring teams would purchase.
In 2005 an agreement was signed which led to the return of many of the rebels to the Zimbabwe side.[12] However, results failed to improve as in March Zimbabwe lost both their Tests on tour against South Africa by an innings. Worse was to follow in August, when they were crushed on home soil by New Zealand, in a match that was completed in just two days, instead of the usual five. In the process, Zimbabwe were humiliated; they became only the second side in Test history (after India in 1952) to be bowled out twice in the space of one day. Then they lost both their tests to India at home later in September. After the series against India, Streak announced his retirement from international cricket, dealing yet another blow to the beleaguered team.
By November 2005, the players were once again in dispute with Zimbabwe Cricket over political interference in the management of the game as well as contract negotiations, and the new captain, Tatenda Taibu, resigned from international cricket.
By January 2006, 37 Zimbabwean cricketers had failed to receive any offer of renegotiation talks from Zimbabwe Cricket after their contracts with the board had expired. This body of players demanded that the chairman and managing director of Zimbabwe cricket, Peter Chingoka and Ozias Bvute, be removed from office for there to be any hope for the players to return to the international stage.
On 6 January 2006, the Sports and Recreation Commission, a division of the Zimbabwean government, took over the offices of Zimbabwe Cricket. The apparent takeover has resulted in the firing of all whites and Asians among the board directors, because of "their racial connotations and saving their own agendas and not government policy" according to Gibson Mashingaidze, an army brigadier and chairman of the government's Sports and Recreation Commission.
An interim board was appointed as the new leading party of cricket in Zimbabwe, with Peter Chingoka appointed as the committee's head. Given Chingoka's close ties to Bvute, it is likely that the latter will continue in his post as well.
Self-imposed international suspension
On 18 January 2006, Zimbabwe Cricket announced that they were suspending the playing of Test cricket for the rest of the year.[13] Zimbabwe's coach Kevin Curran said that Zimbabwe were aiming to play their next Test against the West Indies in November 2007.[14] It is currently felt by observers[who?] that the Zimbabwean national team is not of sufficient Test standard, and that competing against Full Member sides would do little to improve standards, given the likely one-sided nature of the games. Bangladesh, for a long time seen as the 'whipping boys' of Test cricket, recorded their first win against Zimbabwe, and are now generally regarded as being of a superior standard. On 8th August 2011, Zimbabwe recorded a resounding victory in the one test match series over Bangladesh, played in Harare.Domestically, the Logan Cup – Zimbabwe's first class competition played amongst the provinces – was cancelled in 2006 for the first time since its inception over a century ago (though the Cup was not played during some of the years of the World Wars). This was widely seen as due to concern by ZC that the standard of play would be so poor as to be both not worthwhile and potentially harmful to the external image of cricket in Zimbabwe. The one-day trophy, the Faithwear Cup, was contested, and drew complaints from observers that the quality was less than club level. As well as player exodus, the main reason for this catastrophic fall in standards was put down to wrangling within Zimbabwe Cricket, where internal politics motivated the removal of the historic provinces and their replacement with revamped, newly-designated provincial teams.
In a further harmful incident, ex-player Mark Vermeulen was arrested after attempting to burn down ZC's offices, and successfully destroying the Zimbabwe Cricket Academy's premises. In a nation in increasing social and economic turmoil, such facilities are hard to replace, and their loss has proven difficult to manage for a cricket administration already short of top quality facilities.
The ICC has not supported Zimbabwe's return to full Test status until the national team can perform consistently at that level and compete competitively against other test sides.
2007 Cricket World Cup
In the period coming up to the 2007 Cricket World Cup in the West Indies, and to stop a similar exodus of players after the 2003 World Cup, the selected players were asked to sign a new contract. The players were summoned to meet Ozias Bvute, Zimbabwe Cricket's managing director, a week or so before they were due to set off and given an ultimatum – sign the contract on offer or be removed from the squad. It is understood that they were not allowed to take advice and were told they had to make the decision there and then.One player told his team-mates that there were certain things contained in the contracts that needed clarification. He was summoned back into Bvute's office and warned that it was a take-it-or-leave-it offer: this player was later revealed to be Anthony Ireland.[15] Another said that when he told Bvute he wanted to consult with friends, Bvute picked up the phone and called Kenyon Ziehl, the head of selection, and told him he wanted the player replaced in the squad. Unsurprisingly, the player backed down and signed.
In light of the poor state of Zimbabwe's finances, and that Zimbabwe Cricket had to borrow around US$1 million in early 2007 pending receipt of monies from the World Cup to help them over an ongoing cash crisis, the board agreed to pay match fees in US dollars. The players are being paid US$2000 per appearance and a series of US$500 bonuses based on wickets taken and fifties scored. The maximum payment was believed to be capped at around US$8000. However, fees will not be paid until June 2007 to stop the exodus and help cash flow.[16]
The spectre of continued problems with the ZC board has influenced some players to cut their losses and seek to finish their careers abroad: Ireland accepted a contract to play for Gloucestershire during 2007, while opener Vusi Sibanda also left. More are thought to be considering following suit.
Twenty20 World Championship
Zimbabwe upset Australia in its opening match of the Twenty20 World Championship in Cape Town, defeating them by 5 wickets. Brendan Taylor led the way for Zimbabwe, with first class wicket keeping (a catch, stumping and run out) and a crucial unbeaten 60 from 45 deliveries. He was man of the match. They then lost to England by 50 runs, meaning they exited the tournament at the first stage due to their net run rate being inferior to both Australia and England after Australia beat England in the other group game.2007–2008 season
There was more encouraging news in October 2007, when it was announced that Zimbabwe would compete in all three domestic competitions in South Africa as part of Cricket South Africa's attempts to improve the standard of cricket in Zimbabwe. [2] However, their participation in the above competitions was thrown into doubt when the plans were postponed pending a Cricket South Africa board meeting.[17] A compromise was reached in late November, meaning Zimbabwe will take part in the MTN Domestic Championship and the Standard Bank Pro 20 Series, but not the SuperSport Series as originally planned.[18] Instead, they played three first-class four-day games against a South African Composite XI made up of franchise and provincial players. The three games, in Paarl, Potchefstroom, and Kimberley were all won by Zimbabwe.[19]In between those games, they played a five match One Day International series against the West Indies, scoring an upset win in the opening match[20] before losing the series 3–1. The final match was abandoned due to rain.[21]
ICC World Cup 2011 and return to test cricket
Zimbabwe started their World Cup campaign with a 91 run defeat by Australia at Ahmadabad on 21 February 2011. They then recorded a comfortable victory over Canada, before losing by 10 wickets over New Zealand on 4 March 2011. Further heavy defeats by Sri Lanka and Pakistan followed, before a consolation victory over Kenya was achieved in Zimbabwe's final game of the tournament. After these defeats, opening batsman Brendan Taylor was announced as captain of all formats on 24th June 2011, replacing Elton Chigumbura.Zimbabwe returned to test match cricket on 4 August 2011, after a six year exile. They hosted Bangladesh in a one-off test match at Harare. The national team's re-introduction to Test cricket was successful, as they beat Bangladesh by 130 runs.[22]
Return to Test Cricket
As part of the lead-up to their Test return, Zimbabwe Cricket announced major upgrades to the Harare Sports Club and Mutare Sports Club grounds.[23] Plans for a new Test ground at Victoria Falls were also revealed.[24] ZC also signed a three-year deal with Reebok worth $1mn. The deal will see Reebok sponsor the Domestic competitions and make the kits of the Zimbabwean national cricket team.[25]Zimbabwe vs Bangledesh
Zimbabwe played their first test match, after regaining their test status, against Bangladesh at the Harare Sports Club in Harare. The only test started on Thursday 4 August 2011. Bangladesh won the toss and elected to field first. Zimbabwe won the test on day five by 130 runs.4) BANGLADESH TEAM
n 1977, Bangladesh became an Associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC).[4] Bangladesh was one of fifteen teams to take part in the inaugural ICC Trophy. Held in 1979, it gave non-Test playing countries the opportunity to qualify for that year's World Cup. Bangladesh, under the captaincy of Raqibul Hasan, Bangladesh won two matches and lost two, but failed to progress beyond the first round.[5][6] Victory in the South-East Asian Cricket Conference Tournament in February 1984 ensured Bangladesh qualified for the 1986 Asia Cup.[7] On 31 March 1986, Bangladesh played their first One Day International against a full member of the ICC;[8] Captained by Gazi Ashraf, Bangladesh were dismissed for 94 and Pakistan reached their target for victory with seven wickets in hand.[9] They lost their second ODI which was against Sri Lanka, finishing last in the three-team tournament.[10] Bangladesh qualified for the 1988 Asia Cup, this time hosting the tournament; it was the first time ODIs had been staged in the country. Although they lost all their matches, Bangladesh's fixtures were retrospectively awarded ODI. Floods in the preceding months meant the tournament was in doubt, however it went ahead as planned. A charity match raised $70,000 for the flood victims.[11] Bangladesh took part in the 1990 Austral-Asia Cup,[12] the Asia Cup in 1990–91, 1995,[13] and 1997,[14] but it was not until 1998 that they won their first ODI. Their 22-match losing streak since their first ODI was at the time a record.[15] Bangladesh posted its first ODI win against Kenya in India thanks largely to Mohammad Rafique, who contributed a fiery 77 runs and took 3 wickets. In October 1998, Bangladesh hosted (but did not participate in) the first ever ICC KnockOut Trophy (which later became the ICC Champions Trophy), a knock-out ODI tournament featuring all the Test playing nations.
Bangladesh took part in each of the 1982, 1986, 1990, and 1994 editions of the ICC Trophy, and won the trophy in 1997, in the process qualifying for the 1999 World Cup. Bangladesh also became a regular ICC member with the right to play ODIs. Earlier, in February Dhaka hosted the third and final SAARC cricket tournament. Bangladesh played in its first World Cup in England. Bangladesh created an enormous upset by beating Pakistan by 62 runs in the group match at Northampton. Bangladesh made 9/223 from its full 50 overs, and in reply Pakistan could only manage 161 due to timely run-outs by wicketkeeper Khaled Mashud and some tight bowling by Khaled Mahmud, who took 3/31 from 10 overs. Mahmud was judged man of the match. Bangladesh did not qualify for the Super Six round due to defeats in three of its five matches. However, the win over Pakistan, who finished runners-up to Australia, helped Bangladesh to gain Test playing status the following year. The morning of the match, Bangladesh had sacked their coach Gordon Greenidge.[15]
Former South Africa Test cricketer Eddie Barlow became Bangladesh's coach in 1999.[16] In preparation for becoming a Test playing country, Bangladesh established its own first-class competition in 1999/2000, although the matches were not given first-class status until the 2000/01 season.[17] The lack of an established first-class structure in the country until shortly before Bangladesh played its debut Test has been cited as one of the reasons the side struggled to adapt to the longer format of the game.[18] The West Indies toured Bangladesh in October, winning both matches in the ODI series.[19] After suffering a stroke in April 2000, Barlow vacated the position of coach.[20] In May and June 2000, Bangladesh hosted the Asia Cup; Bangladesh lost all three of their matches and when playing Pakistan succumbed to what at the time was the heaviest defeat in ODIs, a margin of 233 runs.[21] Bangladesh participated in the 2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy in October; their only match ended in defeat to England.[20]
First years as a Test team (2000–2003)
On 13 November 2000, Bangladesh played their inaugural Test match, hosting India in Dhaka. Captained by Naimur Rahman, Bangladesh lost by nine wickets, although Wisden noted that they "surpassed all expectations by matching their neighbours, and at times even enjoying the upper hand".[22] Aminul Islam Bulbul scored 145 in the first innings, becoming the third person to have scored a century in their team's first Test; Rahman took six wickets for 132 runs, the second-best bowling figures in a country's maiden Test.[22] In March 2001, former Australian Test cricketer Trevor Chappell was appointed coach.[23] The following month Bangladesh embarked on a tour of Zimbabwe to play two Tests and three ODIs. Zimbabwe, who at the time were ranked ninth out of the ten Test teams, won all five matches.[24] Bangladesh took part in the 2001–02 Asian Test Championship, the second and final time the championship was held and the first the team had been eligible to play in. They lost both their matches by an innings. Mohammad Ashraful made his debut in the series and became the youngest player to score a Test century in his first match.[25] In November, Bangladesh hosted Zimbabwe for two Tests and three ODIs. The opening Test was curtailed by bad weather and ended in a draw; after losing their first five Tests, it was the first time Bangladesh had avoided defeat. Zimbabwe won all the remaining matches. After the Test series wicketkeeper Khaled Mashud replaced Rahman as captain.[26] The following month Bangladesh journeyed to New Zealand for two Test matches. Bangladesh's batsmen struggled in unfamiliar conditions and the team slumped to two innings defeats.[27]In January 2002 Bangladesh lost two Tests and three ODIs against Sri Lanka. At this point, they had lost ten of their first eleven Tests; only South Africa had struggled as much in their introduction to Test cricket, also losing ten of their first eleven matches. Chappell blamed Bangladesh's batsmen for the loss, saying "they commit the same mistakes again and again, and need to learn to apply themselves, to bat in sessions".[28] In April, former Pakistan Test cricketer Mohsin Kamal replaced Chappell as coach.[23] When Bangladesh toured Sri Lanka in July and August they were on the receiving end of Sri Lanka's largest margin of victory in Test cricket: an innings and 196 runs. Bangladesh lost both Tests and all three ODIs on the tour, recording their 50th defeat in 53 ODIs. Repeated poor performances prompted people to question whether Bangladesh had been granted Test status too soon.[29] Test and ODI whitewashes followed in South Africa in October. Wisden noted that "Time and again ... came the mantra that [Bangladesh] would learn from the experience, that they could only improve by playing against the best, that there was genuine talent in the squad. But it wore thin."[30] The final defeat set a record for most consecutive losses in ODIs (23), beating the previous record which was also held by Bangladesh.[31] When the West Indies toured in November and December, Bangladesh lost both Test and two out of the three ODIs, and one ended in no result.[32] South Africa hosted the 2003 World Cup in February and March. Bangladesh lost five of their six matches (one ended in no result),[33] including fixtures against Canada, who hadn't played international cricket since the 1979 World Cup,[34] and Kenya.
Under Dav Whatmore (2003–2007)
In the aftermath of Bangladesh's World Cup campaign, Khaled Mahmud replaced Khaled Mashud as captain,[35] and Kamal was sacked as coach with Dav Whatmore taking over the role.[36] Whatmore was not able to begin the job immediately, so Sarwar Imran acted as interim coach during Bangladesh's tour of South Africa in April and May.[37] In 2003 Bangladesh played nine Test and 21 ODIs, losing every match apart from an ODI against West Indies which ended in no result.[1][2] In September, Bangladesh came very close to its first Test victory, when it lost to Pakistan by only one wicket. It was just the tenth time in Test history that a team had lost by a single wicket.[38] In series against Pakistan, Alok Kapali became the first Bangladesh player to take a hat-trick in Test cricket, dismissing Shabbir Ahmed, Danish Kaneria, and Umar Gul.[39][40] When England toured Bangladesh October and November, Bangladesh's captain, Mahmud, was booed. Ahead of Bangladesh's tour of Zimbabwe in February and March the next year, he was dropped from the squad and batsman Habibul Bashar was granted the captaincy.[41] At the time, Zimbabwe were without many of their senior players. Bangladesh lost the Test series 1–0, and the ODI series 2–1.[42] The second Test was drawn[43] and brought to an end their run of 21 consecutive defeats dating back to November 2001, a world record in Test cricket.[44] The solitary ODI victory was Bangladesh's first international win since defeating Pakistan in the 1999 World Cup.[45]
In January 2005, Zimbabwe toured Bangladesh for two Tests and five ODIs. The touring Zimbabwe side had suffered due to player disputes which in 2004 had led to the country's temporary suspension from Test cricket. Of Zimbabwe's 16-man squad, only their captain had played more than nine Tests; Bangladesh were the more experienced team. In the first match, Bangladesh secured their maiden victory in Test cricket.[47] Bangladesh's batsmen secured a draw in the second Test by batting out the final five session after coach Dav Whatmore had opined that "Zimbabwe will win, unless our batsmen do something special".[48] In the match – which helped secure a historic first series victory for Bangladesh – Enamul Haque Jr broke his own bowling record for best figures in an innings for Bangladesh by taking 7 wickets for 95 runs, and secured the best figures in a match for Bangladesh: 12 wickets for 200 runs.[48] In the ODI series that followed, Zimbabwe won the opening two contests, and Bangladesh won the final three to take the series.[47]
After their maiden Test victory, Bangladesh embarked on its first tour of England in May and June 2005. The team faced unfamiliar conditions and the batsmen struggled against seam bowling. Bangladesh lost both matches in the Test series by an innings; the second Test was the 22nd time it had happened in 38 Tests.[49] Pundits Mike Atherton and Richie Benaud criticised the team's performances and suggested Bangladesh was not yet suited to Test cricket.[50] A triangular series with England and Australia followed. Bangladesh won just one match out of six, but their solitary victory was against an Australian side that at the time were world champions in what Wisden described as "the biggest upset in one-day international history".[51] Bangladesh's next fixture was in Sri Lanka in September for two Tests and three ODIs. After the one-off victory against Australia in England, Bangladesh were a more confident team however Sri Lanka won all five matches by large margins. Captain Habibul Bashar lamented his side's defeat, describing it as "the worst tour since I took over the captaincy".[52]
The first home One-Day International series of 2006 began with some optimism for Bangladesh, which registered its first-ever win against Sri Lanka in the second ODI of the series. At the end of March, Bangladesh played four ODIs against Kenya, winning all four. Then in April, Bangladesh came very close to beating Australia in a Test match, taking a first-innings lead of 158, and eventually losing by only three wickets.[53] At the end of July, Bangladesh toured Zimbabwe as the ODI series favourites but lost 3–2. In August, the team defeated Kenya in all three matches of a series and subsequently went on to whitewash Zimbabwe in an ODI series staged in Bangladesh. That year, Shahriar Nafees became the first Bangladeshi to score over a thousand runs (which included three centuries) in a calendar year[54] while Mashrafe Mortaza became the leading wicket-taker in the world in ODIs staged in 2006 with 49 wickets.[55]
India hosted the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy in October and November. Bangladesh failed to progress beyond the group stages, losing two of their three matches. Their only victory came against Zimbabwe.[56] Ahead of the World Cup Bangladesh faced Zimbabwe in nine ODIs, Scotland in two, and Bermuda and Canada one each; of those matches, Bangladesh lost a single ODI to Zimbabwe.[2] On 17 March, in their first match of the 2007 World Cup, hosted by the West Indies, Bangladesh secured a five-wicket win over India; the surprise result triggered late night partying in Bangladesh despite government bans on public gatherings.[57] In their remaining group matches Bangladesh lost to Sri Lanka and defeated Bermuda which was enough to secure qualification for the second round while India were knocked out. Bangladesh's only victory in the Super Eights was against South Africa, losing to everyone else including Ireland,[58] a team mostly made up of amateur cricketers.[59]
Under Jamie Siddons (2007–2011)
South Africa hosted the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 in September. In a match against Bangladesh, Australian fast bowler Brett Lee took the first ever Twenty20 International (T20I) hat-trick. Bangladesh defeated the West Indies to progress to the second stage of the tournament, however it was the only match they won in the tournament.[63] Jamie Siddons was appointed coach in October.[64] At the end of 2007 Bangladesh toured New Zealand. Bangladesh was soundly beaten 3–0 in the one dayers. The third match was the largest defeat in the history of ODI cricket for a side batting first.Bangladesh started the year with a tour of New Zealand. The Test matches were one sided, with Bangladesh losing 2–0. South Africa toured Bangladesh and won all matches, including both Tests and all three ODIs. Bangladesh then beat non-Test-playing Ireland 3–0 in an ODI series.
In October, New Zealand toured Bangladesh for three ODIs and two Tests. Shortly before the tour, fourteen Bangladesh players left to play in the Indian Cricket League and were subsequently banned for ten years. Six of the players were centrally contracted, including former captain Habibul Bashar. With a less experienced team than usual and a poor record against New Zealand, Bangladesh were expected to lose heavily. After wining the opening ODI, Bangladesh went on to lose series 2–1.[65] New Zealand won the first Test by three wickets in what their coach, John Bracewell, described as "one of the great character wins".[66] New Zealand also won the second Test, taking the series 2–0, but in the process Shakib Al Hasan emerged as an all-rounder. Having previously been selected primarily as a batsmen, he went on to take the best bowling figures in an innings for a Bangladesh player, 7 wickets for 36 runs,[65] beating the record set by Enamul Haque Jr three years earlier.
In November, Bangladesh toured South Africa. They lost all their matches to South Africa, including the only T20I match, two of the three ODIs (the third being washed out due to rain) and both Tests. In December, however, Bangladesh bounced back from the previous lacklustre performances by threatening to win the first Test match against Sri Lanka by chasing down the highest fourth innings of total of 513. Though they fell 107 runs short, their performances were praised but in the second match of the home series in January, Bangladesh fell to an innings defeat.
The year started with the innings defeat in the 2nd Test match against Sri Lanka. Then Zimbabwe joined the hosts and the Lankan team for a tri-series tournament, which proved to be more evenly matched than was expected. In the first match, Zimbabwe defeated Bangladesh by an excellent performance but then fell to defeat by a huge margin by Sri Lanka leaving Bangladesh needing to win against the Lankans in the last match in order to go through to the finals to join the Lankans, and that also with a bonus point.
In January, Bangladesh hosted a tri-series ODI tournament with India and Sri Lanka. They failed to win a match and went out of the tournament. They lost the two match Test series against India by 2–0. In March 2010, England visited Bangladesh to play three ODIs and two Test matches. Bangladesh lost all their ODIs and Tests in the series. In April, Bangladesh took part in the 2010 World Twenty20. They lost all their matches and failed to progress to the Super Eights stage. In May and June, Bangladesh played two Test matches against England away, losing both, although Tamim Iqbal scored two centuries in the series. Between the Tests and ODIs against England, Bangladesh took part in the 2010 Asia Cup during June, but lost all their matches. In the ODI series, England comfortably won the first match. However, in the second match at Bristol, Bangladesh beat England for the first time in international cricket (England were the only Test playing nation yet to be beaten by Bangladesh), bowling England out in the final over to win by five runs.[76]
In October New Zealand went to Bangladesh for five ODIs. Mortaza suffered an injury in the first match and Shakib took over as captain. Under his leadership Bangladesh won the series 4–0, securing their first series victory against a full strength ICC Full Member nation.[77][78][79] Although unable to play against New Zealand due to injury, while the series was in progress Tamim Iqbal was named The Wisden Cricketer's "Test Player of the Year".[80] In December Bangladesh hosted Zimbabwe for five ODIs. After losing the opening match,[81] Bangladesh went on to win the next three complete matches, with one called off due to rain, to beat Zimbabwe 3–1.[82]
In February and March 2011, Bangladesh co-hosted the World Cup with India and Sri Lanka. West Indies dismissed Bangladesh for 58 runs, the team's lowest score in ODIs and a record low for a Full Member at the World Cup.[83] The West Indies and Bangladesh team buses were stoned as they left the ground,[84] and so was Shakib's house.[85] Bangladesh beat England, Ireland, and the Netherlands, making their final match of the first round a must-win contest. Against South Africa, Bangladesh succumbed to a their second-largest defeat in ODIs and became the first Full Member team to be bowled out for under 100 twice in World Cups, thereby failing to progress to the second stage of the tournament.[86] After the World Cup, Siddons' contract was allowed to lapse.[87] During his three-and-a-half year tenure as coach Siddons introduced a full coaching staff for the first time, including coaches for bowling, strength and conditioning, and fielding. Under Siddons Bangladesh's reliance on spin bowlers continued, partly because pitches in the country encourage spin bowlers, and frequently only two seam bowlers were used in a match. Siddons was credited with helping the team improve mentally.[88]
5) SRILANKA TEAM
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.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
- Runners up of the 2011 Cricket World Cup hosted by India, Sri Lanka & Bangladesh
- Champions of the Asia Cup in 1986, 1997, 2004 and 2008
In 2004, Sri Lankan cricket team whitewashed South Africa 5–0 in an ODI series in Sri Lanka, which is the heaviest defeat of a South African cricket team in a bilateral One Day International series.[4] Sri Lanka whitewashed England 5–0 in the NatWest Series in 2006, which is England's heaviest home defeat in a bilateral ODI Series.[5] Sanath Jayasuriya was the Man of the Series. Sri Lanka also whitewashed Zimbabwe 5–0 in two ODI series, which took place in Zimbabwe in 2004 and 2008.
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 fourth nation to reach two consecutive World Cup Finals (2007 and 2011), after West Indies (1975, 1979 and 1983), Australia (1996, 1999, 2003 and 2007) and England (1987 and 1992).
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.[6] 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.[7]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.SOUTH AFRICA TEAM
The South African cricket team toured England in 1947. At Nottingham, Captain Alan Melville and vice-captain, Dave 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.[7]
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. South Africa's first test match after re-admission was against the West Indies in April 1992. The match was played in Bridgetown, Barbados and South Africa lost by 52 runs.
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, when Herschelle Gibbs dropped 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.[8]
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.[9]
6) ENGLAND TEAM
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".[3] 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.
EARLY TOUR
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.[4] 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, the match was promoted as James Lillywhite's XI v Combined Victoria and New South Wales.[4] The teams played a return match on the same ground at Easter, 1877, when Lillywhite's team avenged their loss with a victory by four wickets. The first Test match on English soil occurred in 1880 with England victorious; this was the first time England fielded a fully representative side with W.G. Grace included in the team.[5]
The Ashes
England would lose their first home series 1–0 in 1882 with The Sporting Times 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.[6] | ” |
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.[7] 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.[7][8] England would dominate many of these early contests with England winning the Ashes series 10 times between 1884–98.[9] During this period England also played their first Test match against South Africa in 1889 at Port Elizabeth.[10]
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.[11] During this period England would lose their first series against South Africa in the 1905/06 season 4–1 as their batting faltered.[12] 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:[13]
| “ | 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.[14] England would go on one more tour against South Africa before the outbreak of World War I.
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.
| “ | 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.
Post-war period
After World War II, England fell under difficult times suffering a heavy defeat 3–0 to Australia. This was 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 Ashes from Australia in 1970–71.
1971 to 2000 The 1970s, for the England team, can be largely split into three parts. The early 70s saw Ray Illingworth's side dominate world cricket winning the Ashes away in 1971 and then retaining them at home in 1972. The same side beat Pakistan at home in 1971 and played by far the better cricket against India that season. However, England were largely helped by the rain to sneak the Pakistan series 1–0 but the same rain saved India twice and one England collapse saw them lose to India. This was, however, one of (if not the) strongest England team ever with Boycott, Edrich, D'Oliveira, Amiss, Illingworth, Knott, Snow, Underwood amongst its core.
The mid 1970s were more turbulent. Illingworth and several others had refused to tour India in 1972–73 which led to a clammer for Illingworth's job by the end of that summer – England had just been thrashed 2–0 by a flamboyant West Indies side – with several England players well over 35. Mike Denness was the surprising choice but only lasted 18 months; his results against poor opposition were good but England were badly exposed as aging and lacking in good fast bowling against the 1974–75 Australians, losing that series 4–1 to lose the Ashes.
Denness was replaced in 1975 by Tony Greig. While he managed to avoid losing to Australia, his side were largely thrashed the following year by the young and very much upcoming West Indies for whom Greig's infamous "grovel" remark acted as motivation. Greig's finest hour was probably the 1976–77 win over India in India. When Greig was discovered as being instrumental in World Series Cricket, he was sacked, and replaced by Mike Brearley.
Brearley's side showed again the hyperbole that is often spoken when one side dominates in cricket. While his side of 1977–80 contained some young players who went on to become England greats, most notably Botham, Gower and Gooch, their opponents were often very much weakened by the absence of their World Series players, especially in 1978, when England beat New Zealand 3–0 and Pakistan 2–0 before thrashing what was probably Australia's 3rd XI 5–1 in 1978–79.
The England team, with Brearley's exit in 1980, was never truly settled throughout the 1980s, which will probably be remembered as a low point for the team. While some of the great players like Botham, Gooch and Gower had fine careers, the team seldom succeeded in beating good opposition throughout the decade and did not score a home test victory (except against minnows Sri Lanka) between September 1985 and July 1990. In this time, undoubted highlights were the Ashes victories of 1981 "Botham's Ashes", 1985 and 1986–87. The 1985 and 1986–87 victories, while sweet for the team, exposed more Australia's weakness than England's strength.
If the 1980s were a low point for English test cricket then the 1990s were only a slight improvement. The arrival of Graham Gooch as captain in 1990 forced a move toward more professionalism and especially fitness, though it took some time for old habits to die. Even in 2011, one or two successful county players have been shown up as physically unfit for international cricket. Creditable performances against India and New Zealand in 1990 were followed by a hard fought draw against the 1991 West Indies but landmark losses against Australia in 1990–91 and especially Pakistan in 1992 showed England up badly in terms of bowling. So bad was England's bowling in 1993 that Rodney Marsh described England's pace attack at one point as "pie throwers". Having lost 3 of the 4 tests played in England in 1993 Graham Gooch resigned to be replaced by Michael Atherton.
More selectorial problems abounded during Atherton's reign as new chairman of selectors / coach Ray Illingworth (then into his 60s) assumed almost sole responsibility for the team off the field. The youth policy which had seen England emerge from the West Indies tour of 1993–94 with some credit (though losing to a seasoned WIndies team) was abandoned and players such as Gatting and Gooch were persisted with when well into their 30s and 40s. England duly continued to do well at home against weaker opponents such as India, New Zealand and a West Indies side beginning to fade but struggled badly against improving sides like Pakistan and South Africa. Atherton had offered his resignation after losing the 1997 Ashes series 3–2 having been 1–0 up after 2 matches – eventually to resign one series later in early 1998. England, looking for talent, went through a whole raft of new players during this period, such as Ronnie Irani, Adam Hollioake, Craig White, Graeme Hick, Mark Ramprakash. At this time, there were two main problems:
- The lack of a genuine all-rounder to bat at 6, Ian Botham having left a huge gap in the batting order when he had retired from tests in 1992.
- Alec Stewart, a sound wicket keeper and an excellent player of quick bowling, could not open and keep wicket, hence his batting down the order, where he was often exposed to spin which he didn't play as well.
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. 1992 also saw Scotland sever ties with the England and Wales team, and begin to compete independently as the Scotland national cricket team.
By 1999, with coach David Lloyd resigning after the World Cup exit and new captain Nasser Hussain just appointed, England hit rock bottom (literally ranked as lowest rated test nation) after losing in shambolic fashion to New Zealand 2–1. Hussain was booed on the Oval balcony as the crowd geered "We've got the worst team in the world" to the tune of "whole world in our hands".
Since 2000 One year later, with central contracts now installed reducing players workloads and the arrival of shrewd Zimbabwean coach Duncan Fletcher, England had thrashed the fallen West Indies 3–1 and the Champagne flowed. Surprisingly, England's results in Asia improved markedly that winter with series wins against both Pakistan and Sri Lanka though one-day success still eluded them.
England's fortunes have improved since 2000 – not without the occasional "blip" particularly against Australia but home test wins have become commonplace. Hussain's side had a far harder edge to it, even managing to avoid the anticipated "Greenwash" in 2001 against the all-powerful Australian team. The nucleus of a side of fighters was slowly coming together as players such as Hussain himself, Thorpe, Gough and Giles began to be regularly selected. By 2003 though, having endured another Ashes drubbing, Hussain felt he could not continue and resigned after one test against South Africa.
Michael Vaughan took over and, while keeping the emphasis as Hussain on fitness and control, encouraged players to express themselves. This especially brought the best out of Andrew Flintoff who, in a career blighted by serious injury managed a real purple patch of 18 months from 2004 to 2005 in which England won home and away including the epic 2005 Ashes series.
In 2005, England under Michael Vaughan's captaincy defeated Australia 2–1 to regain the Ashes for the first time in 16 years having lost them in 1989. Following the 2005 Ashes win, the team suffered from a spate of serious injuries to key players such as Vaughan, Flintoff, Ashley Giles and Simon Jones. As a result, the team underwent an enforced period of transition during which Flintoff himself accepted the job.
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.
Afterwards, England's Test record was indifferent and the team 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 2007–08, 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 2008 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 under the captaincy of Andrew Strauss and, in a disappointing performance, lost the Test series 1–0. Almost immediately, they played West Indies in a home series which they won 2–0.
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 Lord's 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 – Australia having capitulated inexplicably in their first innings.
After a drawn Test series in South Africa, England won their first ever ICC tournament, the 2010 ICC World Twenty20. The following winter, they surprisingly thrashed a very weak Australia 3–1 to retain the Ashes; their first series win in Australia for 24 years, which included three innings victories. This victory left England in third place in the ICC rankings, whilst back-to-back Ashes defeats contributed to Australia falling from first to fifth.
England struggled to match their Test form in the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup. Despite beating South Africa and tying with eventual winners India, England suffered shock losses to Ireland and Bangladesh. They scrapped through to the quarter-finals before losing to Sri Lanka by 10 wickets.[15] However, the team's excellent form in the Test match arena continued, beating Sri Lanka 1–0 in a rain affected series, before comfortably whitewashing the Indians 4–0 to become the World No.1 side.
8) NEW ZEALAND TEAM
See also: History of cricket in New Zealand to 1890, History of cricket in New Zealand from 1890-91 to 1918, History of cricket in New Zealand from 1918-19 to 1945, History of cricket in New Zealand from 1945-46 to 1970, History of cricket in New Zealand from 1970-71 to 2000, and History of cricket in New Zealand from 2000-01
The reverend Henry Williams
provided history with the first report of a game of cricket in New
Zealand when he wrote in his diary in December 1832 about boys in and
around Paihia on Horotutu Beach playing cricket. In 1835, Charles Darwin and the HMS Beagle called in to the Bay of Islands
on its epic circumnavigation of the Earth and Darwin witnessed a game
of cricket played by freed Maori slaves and the son of a missionary at
Waimate North. Darwin in The Voyage of the Beagle wrote:[4]several young men redeemed by the missionaires from slavery were employed on the farm. In the evening I saw a party of them at cricket.The first recorded game of cricket in New Zealand took place in Wellington in December 1842. The Wellington Spectator reports a game on 28 December 1842 played by a “Red” team and a “Blue” team from the Wellington Club. The first fully recorded match was reported by the Examiner in Nelson between the Surveyors and Nelson in March 1844.
The first team to tour New Zealand was Parr's all England XI in 1863–64. Between 1864 and 1914, 22 foreign teams toured NZ. England sent 6 teams, Australia 15 and Fiji 1.
On 15–17 February 1894 the first team representing New Zealand played New South Wales at Lancaster Park in Christchurch. NSW won by 160 runs. New South Wales returned again in 1895–96 and NZ won the solitary game by 142 runs, its first victory. The New Zealand Cricket Council was formed towards the end of 1894.
New Zealand played its first two internationals (not Tests) in 1904–05 against a star-studded Australia team containing such players as Victor Trumper, Warwick Armstrong and Clem Hill. Rain saved NZ from a thrashing in the first match but not the second which NZ lost by an innings and 358 runs – currently the second largest defeat in NZ first-class cricket.
In 1927 NZ toured England. They played 26 first class matches, mostly against county sides. They managed to beat Worcestershire, Glamorgan, Somerset, and Derbyshire. On the strength of the performances on this tour NZ was granted Test status.
In 1929/30 the M.C.C toured NZ and played 4 Tests all of 3 days in duration. NZ lost its first Test match but drew the next 3. In the second Test Stewie Dempster and Jackie Mills put on 276 for the first wicket. This is still the highest partnership for New Zealand against England.
NZ first played South Africa in 1931–32 but were unable to secure Test matches against any teams other than England before World War II ended all Test cricket for 7 years. NZ's first Test after the war was against Australia in 1945/46. This game was not considered a "Test" at the time but it was granted Test status retrospectively by the International Cricket Council in March 1948. The NZ players who appeared in this match probably did not appreciate this move by the ICC as NZ were dismissed for 42 and 54. The New Zealand Cricket Council's unwillingness to pay Australian players a decent allowance to tour NZ ensured that this was the only Test Australia played against NZ between 1929 and 1972.
In 1949 NZ sent one of its best ever sides to England. It contained Bert Sutcliffe, Martin Donnelly, John R. Reid and Jack Cowie. However, 3-day Test matches ensured that all 4 Tests were drawn.
NZ played its first matches against the West Indies in 1951–52, and Pakistan and India in 1955/56.
In 1954/55 NZ recorded the lowest ever innings total, 26 against England. The following season NZ achieved its first Test victory. The first 3 Tests of a 4 Test series were won easily by the West Indies but NZ won the fourth to notch up its first Test victory. It had taken them 45 matches and 26 years. In the next 20 years NZ won only 7 more Tests. For most of this period NZ lacked a class bowler to lead their attack although they had 2 excellent batsmen in Glenn Turner and Bert Sutcliffe and a great all-rounder in John R. Reid.
In 1973 Richard Hadlee debuted and the rate at which NZ won Tests picked up dramatically. Hadlee was one of the best pace bowlers of his generation and played 86 Tests for NZ before he retired in 1990. Of the 86 Tests that Hadlee played in New Zealand won 22 and lost 28. In 1977/78 NZ won its first Test against England, at the 48th attempt. Hadlee took 10 wickets in the match.
During the 1980s NZ also had the services of one of its best ever batsman, Martin Crowe and a number of good players such as John Wright, Bruce Edgar, John F. Reid, Andrew Jones, Geoff Howarth, Jeremy Coney, Ian Smith, John Bracewell, Lance Cairns, Stephen Boock, and Ewen Chatfield, who were capable of playing the occasional match winning performance and consistently making a valuable contribution to a Test match.
The match that epitomized the phenomenon of NZ’s two star players (R. Hadlee and M. Crowe) putting in match winning performances and other players making good contributions was NZ v Australia, 1985 at Brisbane. In Australia's first innings Hadlee took 9-52. In NZ's only turn at bat, M Crowe scored 188 and John F. Reid 108. Edgar, Wright, Coney, Jeff Crowe, V. Brown, and Hadlee scored between 17 and 54*. In Australia’s second innings, Hadlee took 6-71 and Chatfield 3-75. NZ won by an innings and 41 runs.
One-day cricket also gave NZ a chance to compete more regularly than Test cricket with the better sides in world cricket. In one-day cricket a batsman doesn’t need to score centuries to win games for his side and bowlers don’t need to bowl the opposition out. One-day games can be won by one batsman getting a 50, a few others getting 30s, bowlers bowling economically and everyone fielding well. These were requirements New Zealand players could consistently meet and thus developed a good one-day record against all sides.
Perhaps New Zealand's most famous one-day match was the infamous "Under arm" match against Australia at the MCG in 1981. Requiring six runs to tie the match off the final ball, Australian captain Greg Chappell instructed his brother Trevor to "bowl" the ball underarm along the wicket to prevent the New Zealand batsman from hitting a six. The Australian umpires ruled the move as legal even though to this day many believe it was one of the most unsporting decisions made in cricket.
When New Zealand next played in the tri-series in Australia in 1983, Lance Cairns became a cult hero for his one-day batting. In one match against Australia, he hit six sixes at the MCG, one of the world's largest grounds. Few fans remember that NZ lost this game by 149 runs. However, Lance's greatest contribution to NZ cricket was his son Chris Cairns.
Daniel Vettori made his debut as an 18-year-old in 1997, and when he took over from Fleming as captain in 2007 he was regarded as the best spinning allrounder in world cricket. On 26 August 2009, Daniel Vettori became the eighth player and second left-arm bowler (after Chaminda Vaas) in history to take 300 wickets and score 3000 test runs, joining the illustrious club. Vettori decided to take an indefinite break from international short form cricket in 2011 but will continue to represent New Zealand in Test cricket.
Shane Bond played 17 Tests for NZ between 2001 and 2007 but missed far more through injury. When fit, he added a dimension to the NZ bowling attack that had been missing since Hadlee retired.
9) WEST INDIES TEAM
The history of the West Indies cricket team began in the 1890s, when the first representative sides were selected to play visiting English sides. The WICB joined the sport's international ruling body, the Imperial Cricket Conference, in 1926,[4] and played their first official international match, granted Test status, in 1928[5] thus becoming the fourth Test nation.
Although blessed with some great players in their early days as a Test nation, and beating England for the first time at Lord's on 29 June 1950, their successes remained sporadic until the 1960s when the side changed from a white-dominated to a black-dominated side. By the 1970s, the West Indies had a side recognised as unofficial world champions, a reputation they retained throughout the 1980s.[6] During these glory years, the Windies were noted for their four-man fast bowling attack, backed up by some of the best batsmen in the world.
The 1980s saw them set a then-record streak of 11 consecutive Test victories in 1984 and inflict two 5–0 "blackwashes" against the old enemy of England. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, however, West Indian cricket declined, largely due to the failure of the West Indian Cricket Board to move the game from an amateur pastime to a professional sport coupled with the general economic decline in West Indian countries, and the team today is struggling to regain its past glory. The West Indies are currently ranked 8th out of the 10 Test playing nations, and 9th in the One Day International rankings, which likewise only cover the 10 Test playing nations.[7]
In their early days in the 1930s, the side represented the British colonies that would later form the West Indies Federation plus British Guiana. The current side represents:
Independent nations
Antigua and Barbuda
Barbados
Dominica
Grenada
Guyana
Jamaica
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Trinidad and Tobago
Other overseas dependencies
National teams also exist for the various islands, which, as they are all separate countries, very much keep their local identities and support their local favourites. These national teams take part in the West Indian first-class competition, the Carib Beer Cup (earlier known as the Busta Cup, Shell Shield and various other names).[9] It is also common for other international teams to play the island teams for warm-up games before they take on the combined West Indies team.
10) INDIAN TEAM
See also: History of cricket in India to 1918, History of cricket in India from 1918–19 to 1945, History of cricket in India from 1945–46 to 1960, History of cricket in India from 1960–61 to 1970, History of cricket in India from 1970–71 to 1985, History of cricket in India from 1985–86 to 2000 and History of cricket in India from 2000–01
India recorded their first Test victory against England at Madras (now Chennai) in 1952.[15] Later in the same year, they won their first Test series, which was against Pakistan.[16] They continued their improvement throughout the early 1950s with a series win against New Zealand in 1956. However, they did not win again in the remainder of the decade and lost badly to strong Australian and English sides. The next decade saw India's reputation develop as a team with a strong record at home. They won their first Test series against England at home in 1961–62, and also won a home series against New Zealand. They also managed to draw home series against Pakistan and Australia, and another series against England. In this same period, India also won its first series outside the subcontinent, against New Zealand in 1967–68.
The key to India's bowling in the 1970s were the Indian spin quartet – Bishen Bedi, E.A.S. Prasanna, BS Chandrasekhar and Srinivas Venkataraghavan. This period also saw the emergence of two of India's best ever batsmen, Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Viswanath. Indian pitches have had tendency to support spin and the spin quartet exploited this to create collapses in opposing batting line-ups. These players were responsible for the back-to-back series wins in 1971 in the West Indies and in England, under the captaincy of Ajit Wadekar. Gavaskar scored 774 runs in the West Indian series while Dilip Sardesai's 112 played a big part in their one Test win.
In contrast, India fielded a strong team in Test matches and were particularly strong at home where their combination of stylish batsman and beguiling spinners were seen at their best. India set a then test record in the third Test against the West Indies at Port-of-Spain in 1976 when they chased 403 to win thanks to 112 from Vishwanath. This West Indian defeat is considered to be a watershed in the history of their cricket because it led to captain Clive Lloyd dispensing with spin altogether and relying entirely on a four man pace attack. In November 1976 the team established another record by scoring 524 for 9 declared against New Zealand at Kanpur without an individual scoring a century. There were six fifties, the highest being 70 by Mohinder Amarnath. The innings was the eighth instance in Test cricket where all eleven batsmen reached double figures.
During the 1980s, India developed a more attack minded batting line-up with stroke makers such as the wristy Mohammed Azharuddin, Dilip Vengsarkar and all-rounder Ravi Shastri prominent during this time. India won the Cricket World Cup in 1983, defeating the then favourites West Indies in the final, owing to a strong bowling performance. In spite of this the team performed poorly in the Test arena, including 28 consecutive Test matches without a victory. In 1984, India won the Asia Cup and in 1985, won the World Championship of Cricket in Australia. Apart from this, India remained a very weak team outside the Indian subcontinent. India's Test series victory in 1986 against England remained the last Test series win by India outside the subcontinent for the next 19 years. The 1987 Cricket World Cup was held in India. The 1980s saw Gavaskar and Kapil Dev (India's best all rounder to this date) at the pinnacle of their careers. Gavaskar made a Test record 34 centuries as he became the first man to reach the 10,000 run mark. Kapil Dev later became the highest wicket taker in Test cricket with 434 wickets. The period was also marked by an unstable leadership, with Gavaskar and Kapil exchanging the captaincy several times.
Since 2000, the Indian team underwent major improvements with the appointment of John Wright as India's first ever foreign coach. India maintained their unbeaten home record against Australia in Test series after defeating them in 2001. The series was famous for the Kolkata Test match, in which India became only the third team in the history of Test cricket to win a Test match after following on. Australian captain Steve Waugh labelled India as the "Final Frontier" as a result of his side's inability to win a Test series in India.[18] Victory in 2001 against the Australians marked the beginning of a dream run for India under their captain Sourav Ganguly, winning Test matches in Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, West Indies and England. The England series is also known for India's highest ODI run-chase of 325 runs at Lord's which came in the Natwest ODI Series final against England. In the same year, India were joint winners of the ICC Champions Trophy with Sri Lanka, and then went to the 2003 Cricket World Cup in South Africa where they reached the final only to be beaten by Australia. The 2003–2004 season also saw India play out a Test series in Australia where they drew 1–1 with world champions, and then win a Test and ODI series in Pakistan.
The beginning of 2007 had seen a revival in the Indian team's ODI fortunes before the 2007 Cricket World Cup. Series victories against the West Indies and Sri Lanka, marked by the comeback of Ganguly, and strong form by Tendulkar, and the emergence of young attacking players like Robin Uthappa saw many pundits to tip India as a real chance to do well at the 2007 Cricket World Cup. However, defeats to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka saw India fail to reach the final eight. India's traditional strengths have always been its line-up of spin bowlers and batsmen.[21] Recently, it has a very strong batting line-up with Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag all being selected to play for the ICC World XI in the 2005 "SuperTest" against Australia. In previous times, India was unique in that it was the only country to regularly field three spinners in one team, whereas one is the norm, and of the fifteen players to have taken more than 100 wickets, only four were pace bowlers from the last 20 years.[22] However in recent years, Indian pace bowling has improved, with the emerging talents of Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan, Rudra Pratap Singh, Munaf Patel and Ishant Sharma many more playing in the national team.
In December 2006, it played and won its first ever Twenty20 international in South Africa, becoming the most recent Test team to play Twenty20 cricket. After winning the Test series against England in August 2007, Rahul Dravid stepped down as the captain of the team following which Mahendra Singh Dhoni was made the captain of the Twenty20 and ODI team. In September 2007, it won the first ever Twenty20 World Cup held in South Africa, beating Pakistan by 5 runs in the final. Then they toured Australia with a controversial series that they lost 2–1 in test but come back for a whitewash final against them.[23]
After beating Sri Lanka 2–0 in December 2009, India become the No. 1 team in the world. then retained by drawing a series to South Africa and Sri Lanka confirmed their rankings. In October 2010 India won the test series 2–0 against Australia giving them back to back series win vs them. Then they got the first drawn series in South Africa.[24] When India slipped to a 4–0 defeat to England in August 2011, England replaced India as the No. 1 Test team.[25]
On April 2, 2011, India won the 2011 Cricket World Cup, defeating Sri Lanka in the final, thus becoming the second team after West Indies and Australia to win it twice, the previous win being in 1983. Gautam Gambhir and the skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni led the way with classy innings of 97 and 91*, respectively. As Sri Lanka's stalwart batsman Mahela Jayawardene scored a brilliant 88-ball 103-run century and yet ended up on the losing side, he also became the first player in World Cup final history to end up on the losing side despite scoring a century.[26]
See also: India at the Cricket World Cup, List of Indian Test cricketers, and List of Indian ODI cricketers
Governing body
Main article: Board of Control for Cricket in India
The Board of Control for Cricket in India
(BCCI) is the governing body for the Indian cricket team and first
class cricket in India. The Board has been operating since 1929 and
represents India at the International Cricket Council.
It is amongst the richest sporting organisations in the world, and it
sold media rights for India's matches from 2006–2010 for US$
612,000,000.[27] It manages the Indian team's sponsorships, its future tours and team selection.The International Cricket Council determines India's upcoming matches through its future tours program. However, the BCCI, with its influential financial position in the cricketing world, has often challenged the ICC's program and called for more tours between India, Australia, Pakistan and England which are more likely to earn more revenue as opposed to tours with Bangladesh or Zimbabwe.[28] In the past, the BCCI has also come into conflict with the ICC regarding sponsorships[29] and the legitimacy of the ICC Champions Trophy.
Selection Committee
Main article: Indian national cricket selectors
Selection for the Indian cricket team occurs through the BCCI's zonal
selection policy, where each of the five zones is represented with one
selector and one of the members nominated by BCCI as the Chairman of the
Selection Committee. This has sometimes led to controversy as to
whether these selectors are biased towards their zones.[30]The current chairman of Selection Committee is Krishnamachari Srikkanth. Yashpal Sharma, Narendra Hirwani, Surendra Bhave and Raja Venkat are the other members of the selection committee[31] whose terms started in September 2008 with BCCI holding the rights for a one-year extension.
Tournament history
| World Cup record | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | GP | W | L | T | NR | |
 1975 |
Round 1 | 6/8 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1979 |
Round 1 | 7/8 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1983 |
Champions | 1/8 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
  1987 |
Third Place | 3/8 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
  1992 |
Round 1 | 7/9 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | |
 1996 |
Third Place | 3/12 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1999 |
R2 (Super 6s) | 6/12 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
 2003 |
Runners-Up | 2/14 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
 2007 |
Round 1 | 10/16 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
 2011 |
Champions | 1/14 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2015 |
- | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| 2019 |
- | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Total | 12/12 | 2 titles | 67 | 39 | 26 | 1 | 1 | |
| World Twenty20 record | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | GP | W | L | T | NR | |
| 2007 |
Champions | 1/12 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 2009 |
Super 8s | 7/12 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2010 |
Super 8s | 8/12 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2012 |
- | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2014 |
- | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Total | 5/5 | 1 title | 17 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 1 | |
| Other Major Tournaments | |
|---|---|
| ICC Champions Trophy | Asia Cup |
| Defunct Tournaments | ||
|---|---|---|
| Commonwealth Games† | Asian Test Championship | Australasia Cup |
|
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