The South African players and media were buoyant ahead the tour, citing their telling Test form and Australia's coincident decline. Proteas captain Graeme Smith saw it as his team's best chance to win a Test rubber Down Under: the bowling attack was globally vaunted, the fielding polished and the batsmen enjoying a particularly fecund run, Neil McKenzie, Hashim Amla and Smith himself all having passed 1,000 Test runs for the year, while Ashwell Prince and AB de Villiers hovered around the 900 mark.
Australia, on the other hand, was still reeling from its two-nil Test defeat in India, although a clinical display against the touring New Zealanders assuaged some of their apprehensions: most notably, wicketkeeper Brad Haddin's sizeable hundred against New Zealand for once made seamless the void left by Adam Gilchrist's retirement.
The press duly built the series up as a must-see, but the players were far more reticent than they had been during the adjacent encounter three years before. Early in December, however, Australian captain Ricky Ponting drew considerable criticism for his comments about the ICC's wines and spirits. "It has taken us a long time and a lot of great wins in different conditions around the world to get us to that number-one spot", Ponting declared, speaking to the Associated Press. "If South Africa beat us three-nil I don't know if that gives them enough points to get over us. But if they won the series one-nil or two-one, I don't think that would mean that they deserve to take over that mantle. It's a bit the same with India last series. Just because they beat us, the number-one team, doesn't necessarily mean they go from the number four or number five in the world to number one in the world, because it's something that's accrued over a long period of time." The remark was seen as fatalist and trivialising, suggesting that the rubber hardly mattered and, in the eyes of many, that Ponting's hopes of securing a series victory were low.
South African allround kingpin Jacques Kallis arrived in Australia on the back of one of the worst batting troughs of his career. A little over a week before the First Test, journalist Robert Houwing observed that many of his countrymen had "been ripping the proverbial fox to shreds: almost surreally, Kallis is the hound labouring at the rear of the pack. He shows just 519 runs from 13 Tests and 20 innings this year, at 28.83."[2]
South Africa won by 6 wickets WACA, Perth, Australia Att: Day 1 - 13,679. Day 2 - 10,515. Day 3 - 15,268. Day 4 - 10,550. Day 5 - 5301. Total - 55,313. Umpires: Aleem Dar and Asoka de Silva Player of the match: AB de Villiers
Team selections: Shane Watson was named 12th man for Australia. South Africa's Ashwell Prince withdrew from the First Test team after suffering a broken thumb while batting in the nets. JP Duminy was chosen to replace Prince to make his Test debut.[5]
Day 1: Australia won the toss and elected to bat. After a brief flurry of boundaries from Matthew Hayden, South Africa took three quick wickets - Hayden (12), Ponting (0, first ball) and Hussey (0) - to have Australia 3/15. Simon Katich (83) and Michael Clarke (62) then combined for a 4th-wicket partnership of 149 before both batsmen were out in the two overs before tea, leaving the home side at 5/166. After tea Andrew Symonds and Brad Haddin pushed the run rate up towards 5 per over before Symonds was dismissed for 57, off 68 balls. Haddin (46) and Brett Lee (29) scored at a steady rate, and the day ended with Mitchell Johnson being out off the last ball of the day for 18. Jason Krejza remained 19 not out and Australia finished the day at 9/341. South Africa took a while to get used to the pitch before Makhaya Ntini took two wickets and Dale Steyn one within five overs in the morning session. The pitch settled down after lunch and only persistent bowling and poor shot selection produced the bulk of the wickets. Ntini finished with 3-66, Steyn 2-72, Morné Morkel 1-62, and Paul Harris 2-70.
Reports considered that honours were relatively even at the end of day one.[6][7]
Day 2: Australia's tenth wicket partnership put on 34 runs, and the team ended on 375. Morkel took the last wicket to finish with figures of 2-80. South Africa lost McKenzie for 2, but then consolidated until Amla (47) and Smith (48) fell close together and the score was 3/110. Kallis (63) and de Villiers (63) seemed to be in total control, and took the score to 234 without further loss. Mitchell Johnson then took 5 wickets for 2 runs in 21 deliveries with the old ball to have South Africa 8/243 at stumps. Johnson finished the day with 7-42.[8][9] Krejza was the only other wicket-taker with figures of 1–102.
Day 3: South Africa's last two wickets put on 38 runs to end at 281, with Johnson and Siddle taking one each. Johnson finished the innings with 8-61, the 8th best bowling figures in Australian Test cricket history. He might have taken nine, and the best figures ever, except that a skied top edge from Boucher (26) fell between Haddin and Lee in a mix-up between the fielders. Other wicket-takers: Siddle 1–44, and Krejza 1–102. Australia had a lead of 94 runs on the first innings.
Australia lost wickets regularly to reach 4/88. Katich (37) and Ponting (32) both got starts but were dismissed by determined bowling. A 60-run partnership between Clarke (25) and Symonds (37) was followed by three quick wickets. At 162–7 the match was evenly poised. Haddin (39*) and Krejza (28*) then added 66 runs to end the day with Australia at 7/228, and a lead of 322.
Day 4: Australia's tail wagged for the second time in the match (putting on 162 runs for the last 4 wickets). Haddin (94), Krejza (32) and Johnson (21) all contributing runs and Siddle being at the crease for 37 minutes for his 4*. Haddin was the last out attempting to hit a six to reach his century, but was stumped by Boucher off Harris. Australia's total of 319 gave it a lead of 413.
South Africa started its run-chase slowly with McKenzie taking 52 deliveries to make his 10. Amla's arrival changed all that and he and Smith put on 153 for the second wicket in good time before Smith was out for 108 - his first score above 50 against Australia. Amla (53) was out shortly thereafter and the score was 3/179. Kallis (33*) and de Villiers (11*) saw the visitors through to stumps at 3/227. Australian wicket-takers: Lee 1-40, Johnson 2-56.[12]
Day 5: Requiring 187 runs to win with a full day's play available, South Africa achieved the second highest successful run chase in Test cricket history, losing only the wicket of Kallis (57) on their way to 4/414. AB de Villiers (106*) and debutant JP Duminy (50*) put on 111 for the fifth wicket to take the visitors to victory.
Australia had a poor day in the field, taking only one wicket. Johnson 3-98 finished with 11 wickets for the match, while Lee was the only other wicket-taker with 1-73.[13][14]
Team selections: Despite an injured knee Andrew Symonds was preferred to Shane Watson, who again was named 12th man. Australia also replaced Jason Krejza with Nathan Hauritz. South Africa named an unchanged side, after Ashwell Prince failed a fitness test on his cracked left thumb.[15]
Day One: Australia won the toss and elected to bat. Hayden (8) fell early before Katich (54) and Ponting (101) put on a 107-run partnership for the second wicket. Hussey went for his second duck in three innings before Symonds (27) and Haddin (40) got starts but didn't go on with it. Australia ended the day on 280–6, with Clarke (36*) and Lee (0*) at the crease. The Australian highlight of the day was Ponting's 37th Test century in front of a crowd of 63,263. South African wicket-takers: Steyn 2-61, Ntini 2-71, Harris 1-33, and Morkel 1-67.[16]
Day Two: Michael Clarke (88*) and the tail added a further 114 runs and Australia ended its first innings on 394. South African wicket-takers: Steyn 5-87, Ntini 2–108, Harris 1-38, Kallis 1-55 and Morkel 1-89. South Africa stated slowly and reached 141-6 when Boucher was dismissed. Smith continued his run of form with 62. Duminy (34*) and Morkel (21) helped the score to 198–7 at the close. Australian wicket-takers: Siddle 3-24, Hauritz 2-49, and Johnson 2-53.[17]
Day Three: In a remarkable day's play South Africa reached 459 all out, after Duminy (166) and Steyn (76) put on 180 for the ninth wicket - the third highest all-time. Brett Lee didn't take the field all day due to a stress fracture in his foot, and Australia was left with three front-line bowlers and their part-timers. Australian wicket-takers: Siddle 4-81, Hauritz 3-98, Johnson 2–127, and Hussey 1-22. Australia faced only 3 overs at the end of the day and finished on 4–0.[18]
Day Four: Only captain Ricky Ponting (99) and bowler Mitchell Johnson (43*) withstood the South Africa bowling as Australia was dismissed for 247 in their second innings. Ponting just missed out on a second century for the match which would have made him the only player to have done so four times. Steyn took five wickets to finish with ten for the match. South African wicket-takers: Steyn 5-67, Morkel 2-46, Kallis 2-57, and Ntini 1-26. South Africa were set 183 to win the match. At the close of play South Africa were 30–0.[19]
Day Five: Losing only captain Graeme Smith for 75, South Africa reached their victory target in 48 overs. This gave them a 2–0 lead in the series and their first ever Test series win in Australia. Australian wicket-taker: Hauritz 1-41.[20]
The fallout was significant: while the hosts were almost universally roasted, their opponents were lauded to the skies. Talk predominated around the forging of a new world order. "This defeat doesn't mark the end of an era", claimed Gideon Haigh in his blog for The Guardian. "The era had already ended. And the 13-year green and golden age in international cricket has really been a sequence of overlapping phases, subtly different, distinguished by key retirements: Taylor and Healy in 1999; the Waughs in 2003; Warne and McGrath in 2007."[21] Calls for Shane Warne's return to Test cricket, omnipresent since his retirement in 2007, were now accompanied by calls for him to be given the captaincy in the impending Ashes as well.[21] This was also the first time since 1992-93 Australia had lost a test series at home.
Team selections: South Africa picked the same team for the third Test in a row. Brett Lee, Andrew Symonds and Shane Watson were all omitted from the Australian team due to injury. Doug Bollinger and Andrew McDonald were included in the starting eleven, with Ben Hilfenhaus again being left out.[22]
Day One: Australia won the toss for the third time in the series and elected to bat. After Katich (47) started strongly, Ponting was dismissed first ball for the second time in the series and Australia was 63–2. Hayden (31) and Hussey (30) both struggled, before Clarke (73*) and Haddin (38) came together at 162–5. Australia finished the day on 267–6, from 88 overs. South Africa seemed flat in the field, with Clarke being dropped twice, but continued to take wickets at regular intervals. South African wicket-takers: Steyn 2-71, Kallis 1-43, Harris 1-44, Morkel 1-49, and Ntini 1-53.[23]
Day Two: Clarke (138) and Johnson (64) batted through the first session without loss - the first time Australia had done so for the series. Late hitting from Hauritz (41) and Siddle (23) lifted the total to 445 all out from 136.2 overs. South African wicket-takers: Harris 3-84, Steyn 3-95, Duminy 1–14, Kallis 1-54, Morkel 1-89, and Ntini 1–102. In reply, South Africa lost Smith retired hurt for 30 - with a broken left hand courtesy of a lifter from Johnson. McKenzie (23) and Amla (30*) were patient before Kallis (36*) lifted the scoring rate late in the day. South Africa finished on 125–1. Australian wicket-taker: Siddle 1-21.[24]
Day Three: Johnson (2 wickets and a run-out) and McDonald (1 wicket) reduced South Africa to 193-5 (with Smith absent injured) before Boucher (89) and Morkel (40) put on 115 for the 6th wicket. Siddle then took 4–7 in 22 deliveries to have South Africa all out for 327. This gave Australia a lead of 118 on the first innings. Australian wicket-takers: Siddle 5-59 (his first 5 wicket haul in Test cricket), Johnson 2-69, and McDonald 1-41. In reply, Australia were 33 without loss from 6 overs.[25]
Day Four: Australia aimed to set South Africa a victory target on the fifth day with Ponting (53) and Katich (61) getting starts. Hussey (45*) anchored the innings while Clarke (41) attempted to score quickly. The declaration at 257-4 set South Africa 376 to win. South African wicket-takers: Morkel 2-38, Steyn 1-60, and Harris 1-63. With Smith absent injured Morkel (0) opened the batting with McKenzie. His demise gave Bollinger his first Test wicket. South Africa were 62–1 at the close. The pitch was cracked and showing uneven bounce. South Africa required a further 312 to win from 90 overs on the last day of the Test series for a 3-0 clean sweep. Australian wicket-taker: Bollinger 1–11.[26]
Day Five: On a deteriorating pitch South Africa lost 3 wickets in each session to be all out for 272. Australia achieved victory with only 11 deliveries left in the match when Graeme Smith, batting for 17 deliveries and 26 minutes with a broken hand and injured elbow, was bowled by Mitchell Johnson. Besides the heroics of Smith, Ntini faced 75 deliveries, Steyn 65 and Harris 43 to get South Africa within sight of a draw. Australian wicket-takers: Siddle 3-54, McDonald 2-32, Johnson 2-49, Bollinger 2-53, and Hauritz 1-47.[27]
Australia won the toss and elected to bat. Midway through the game, someone threw an inflatable ball onto the pitch. It rolled to Brad Haddin, who kicked it toward the officials, who popped it.
The Second One Day International of the 2008-09 South African tour of Australia was played at Bellerive Oval in Hobart on 18 January 2009. Australia won the match by five runs to level the series 1–1.
Australian captain Ricky Ponting won the toss and elected to bat. Australia got off to a poor start losing opening batman David Warner for 5. Local Tasmanian, Ricky Ponting, who was aided by dropped catches from Neil McKenzie when on 10 and Ntini on 50, scored 64 from 72 deliveries. Opening batsman, Shaun Marsh ably supported Ponting with a composed 73 from 103 balls.
South Africa won by 3 wickets (with 27 balls remaining) Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, Australia Umpires: Ian Gould & Rod Tucker Player of the match: Albie Morkel
South Africa won by 8 wickets (with 71 balls remaining) Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, Australia Att: 25,419 Umpires: Ian Gould & Daryl Harper Player of the match: AB de Villiers
Jacques Henry Kallis is a South African cricket coach and former cricketer. Widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketers of all time and as greatest all-rounder ever to play the game, he is a right-handed batsman and right-arm fast-medium swing bowler. As of 2022, Kallis is the only cricketer in the history of the game to score more than 10,000 runs and take over 250 wickets in both ODI and Test match cricket. He also took 131 ODI catches. He scored 13,289 runs in his Test match career, took 292 wickets, and 200 catches. Kallis won 23 Man-of-the-Match awards, the most by any player in Test history.
Nathan Michael Hauritz is a former Australian cricketer who has represented Australia in Tests, One-dayers and Twenty20 Internationals. He is mainly noted for his off spin bowling.
The ICC Super Series 2005 was a cricket series held in Australia during October 2005, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was played between Australia, the world's top-ranked side at the time, and a World XI team of players selected from other countries. The series consisted of three One Day Internationals and one Test match. Australia won all four matches.
The South African cricket team toured Australia for cricket matches during the 2005–06 season. South Africa had already played two One Day International series during this season, beating New Zealand 4–0 at home before travelling to India and drawing the series there 2–2. The team had been playing 14 successive ODIs before arriving in Australia, with their last Test match against West Indies in April and May 2005. South Africa played one first class warm-up match, one three-day warm-up match without first class status, and one one-day match before they embarked on the three-Test series, which began on 16 December and ended on 6 January. They also participated in the 2005–06 VB Series, a three-team one-day tournament, along with Australia and Sri Lanka, where they finished last.
The New Zealand cricket team toured South Africa for cricket matches in the 2005–06 season. Owing to South Africa's busy schedule, the tour was split into two legs, one to be played in October 2005 with the six limited overs matches, and the second leg to be played in April and May 2006, including three Test matches. Before the limited overs series began, New Zealand were ranked third on the ICC ODI Championship table, two places ahead of their hosts South Africa. However, New Zealand had never won an ODI series in South Africa before this tour, and they were not to do it this summer either. In fact, New Zealand did not win a single one of the five matches, and only the rain – which sent the fourth match into a no-result – prevented the Kiwis from going down 0–5. The test series was similarly disappointing for New Zealand, with South Africa claiming it 2-0. After two series losses to Australia it was a satisfying result for the South Africans.
The 2005–06 edition of the VB Series was a three-team One Day International men's cricket tournament held in Australia in January and February 2006, between the hosting nation's team, South Africa and Sri Lanka.. The teams played each other four with five points awarded for a win and a possible bonus point awarded either to the winners or losers depending on run rate. The top two teams on points went through to the best-of-three finals series. All matches were day-night matches except the final meeting between South Africa and Sri Lanka.
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The 2006–07 season of the Ford Ranger One Day Cup was the 38th season of the domestic one-day cricket competition played in Australia. It involved 30 group matches and a final match. The Queensland Bulls defeated the Victorian Bushrangers in the final, played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
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The 2009 Ashes series was that year's edition of the long-standing and storied cricket rivalry between England and Australia, and was part of the Australian cricket tour of England in 2009. Starting on 8 July 2009, England and Australia played five Tests, with England winning the series 2–1. England thus reclaimed The Ashes from Australia, who had won the previous series in 2006–07. Andrew Strauss became just the second England captain in 20 years, alongside Michael Vaughan in 2005, to win the Ashes.
This article contains information, results and statistics regarding the Australian national cricket team in the 2008 season. Statisticians class the 2008 season as matches played on tours that started between May 2008 and August 2008.
The New Zealand cricket team toured Australia between 13 November 2008 and 15 February 2009. The tour was divided into two legs; commencing with a tour match against New South Wales, the first leg contained two Test matches between New Zealand and Australia in which the sides competed for the Trans-Tasman Trophy.
The Australia cricket team toured South Africa from 20 February to 17 April 2009, playing three Test matches, two Twenty20 Internationals and five One Day Internationals against South Africa.
The 2010–11 Ashes series was the 66th series of Test cricket matches played to contest The Ashes. The series was played in Australia as part of the England cricket team's tour of the country during the 2010–11 season. Five Tests were played from 25 November 2010 to 7 January 2011. England won the series 3–1 and retained the Ashes, having won the previous series in 2009 by two Tests to one. It was the first time in 24 years that England had won the Ashes in Australia. As of 2021–22, it remains the most recent occasion that a visiting team has won an Ashes series, and as of 2022, the last time that England has won a Test match in Australia
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The 2010 ICC Awards were held on 6 October 2010 in Bangalore, India in association with the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA).
The Sri Lankan cricket team toured South Africa from 9 December 2011 to 22 January 2012. The tour included three Tests and five One Day Internationals (ODIs) between Sri Lanka and South Africa.
The South African cricket team toured Australia from 2 November to 3 December 2012. The tour consisted of three Test matches. The test series was preceded by one first class match between the South Africans and the Australian A squad. Michael Clarke became the first man to score four double-centuries in a calendar year, when he passed the 200-run mark in the first innings of the second Test in Adelaide. It was the last series played by former Australian captain Ricky Ponting, who retired after the third Test.
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