The History of the Australian cricket team began when eleven cricketers from the colonies of New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria formed an eleven to play a touring team of professional English cricketers at Melbourne in March 1877. Billed as the "Grand Combination match", the game is now known as the first Test match. Encouraged by a 45-run victory, the colonists believed that they had enough cricketing talent to take on the English on their own soil. A team organised and managed by John Conway, a former Victorian player, toured England during the 1878 season. After a discouraging loss to Nottinghamshire in the opening match of the tour, the Australians met a Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) team at Lord's on 26 May 1878. Australia's upset win by nine wickets was "the commencement of the modern era of cricket", according to Lord Hawke.
The 1860s In 1865, a match was arranged between a team of Aboriginal cricketers and European settlers from various pastoral stations; the indigenous team won. The playing of cricket by indigenous people of the Western District reflected their changing circumstances. At this time there were no formal associations.
The 1870s
Season Opponent Venue Played Won Lost Drawn 1876–77 England Australia 2 1 1 0 1878–79 England Australia 1 1 0 0Totals 3 2 1 0 The 1870s saw the first official matches between English and Australian teams. Due to the amount of time that it took teams to travel from England to Australia (and vice versa), these teams were generally not a true representation of the best players for each country. At the time, there was no significance placed on these matches – statisticians later called them "test matches" between England and Australia.
James Lillywhite's English side toured Australia in between January and April 1877 and played the first two test matches after a drawn match against a New South Wales side.
England in Australia 1876/77. Match length: Timeless. Balls per over: 4. Series result: Drawn 1–1. No. Date Home captain Away captain Venue Result 1 15,16,17,19 Mar 1877 Dave Gregory (AUS) James Lillywhite (ENG) Melbourne Cricket Ground (AUS) AUS by 45 runs 2 31 Mar,2,3,4 Apr 1877 Dave Gregory (AUS) James Lillywhite (ENG) Melbourne Cricket Ground (AUS) ENG by 4 wkts
Just over a year later, an Australian side visited England and played a match against the MCC. In what turned out to be a match that was completed in one day, only 105 runs were scored with the Australian side emerging the victors by nine wickets. This match however was not granted test status.
In 1879, Lord Harris led an English side down under between January and March. This tour schedule involved a single test match followed by two series of two matches against Victorian and New South Wales sides.
England in Australia 1878/79. Match length: Timeless. Balls per over: 4. Series result: Australia, 1–0. No. Date Home captain Away captain Venue Result 3 2,3,4 Jan 1879 Dave Gregory (AUS) Lord Harris (ENG) Melbourne Cricket Ground (AUS) AUS by 10 wkts
The 1880s
Season Opponent Venue Played Won Lost Drawn 1880 England England 1 0 1 0 1881–82 England Australia 4 2 0 2 1882 England England 1 1 0 0 1882–83 England Australia 4 2 2 0 1884 England England 3 0 1 2 1884-5 England Australia 5 2 3 0 1886 England England 3 0 3 0 1886–87 England Australia 2 0 2 0 1887–88 England Australia 1 0 1 0 1888 England England 3 1 2 0Totals 27 8 15 4 Australia toured England 5 times during the 1880s and played 27 Test matches. One of these matches was played in 1880, 1 in 1882 and 3 in 1884, 1886 and 1888 respectively. Losing a total of 15 matches. Note: Balls per over: 4. 16 of them were timeless matches while 11 were 3-day Test matches. During this time Percy McDonnell led the Australian scoring with 950 runs. Closely followed by Billy Murdoch on 860 and Alec Bannerman on 745. during this time Spofforth was the most prolific wicket taker with 94 wickets at an average of 18.41 runs per wicket. Palmer closely followed with 78 wickets at an average of 21.51 per wicket.
The 1890s Season Opponent Venue Played Won Lost Drawn Result 1890 England England 3 0 3 0 Lost 1891–92 England Australia 3 2 1 0 Won 1893 England England 3 0 1 2 Lost 1894–95 England Australia 5 2 3 0 Lost 1896 England England 3 1 2 0 Lost 1897–98 England Australia 5 4 1 0 Won 1899 England England 5 1 0 4 WonTotals 27 10 11 6
Australia toured England 4 times during the 1890s and played 26 Test matches against them. (won 10, lost 10)
Note: Half the Tests had 5 balls per over and half had 6 balls per over. Half of them were 3-day Test matches and half were timeless Test matches. 1890: 2 Tests 1893: 3 Tests 1896: 3 Tests 1899: First 5 Test tour
List of Australian Test captains in the 1890s The Australian Test captains in the 1890s were Murdoch (2 Tests), Blackham (7), Giffen (4), Trott (8) and Darling (5).
List of top Australian Test run scorers in the 1890s Darling 1139
List of top Australian Test wicket takers in the 1890s Giffen 74 Trumble 63 Jones 56 Turner 51
1900s Season Opponent Venue Played Won Lost Drawn Result 1901–02 England Australia 5 4 1 0 Won 1902 England England 5 2 1 2 Won 1902–03 South Africa South Africa 3 2 0 1 Won 1903–04 England Australia 5 2 3 0 Lost 1905 England England 5 0 2 3 Lost 1907–08 England Australia 5 4 1 0 Won 1909 England England 5 2 1 2 WonTotals 33 16 9 8
Australian team started touring other countries such as South Africa which had Test status (first tour in 1903) and New Zealand for the first time in 1905.
Test tours Australia toured England 3 times between 1900–1909 and toured South Africa for the first time in 1903. Australia played 33 Test matches in this decade winning 16 of them and losing 9. Most of them were against England and only 3 of them were against South Africa. Test cricket had for the first time gone to Africa. All the Test matches had 6 balls per over. Most of them were 3-day Test matches while 15 of them were timeless Test matches. 1902: 5 Tests in England 1903: First tour of South Africa, 3 Tests 1905: 5 Tests in England 1909: 5 Tests in England
Australian Test captains The two main Australian Test team captains during this period were Darling and Noble.
List of top Australian wicket takers of the period Noble 89 Saunders 79 Trumble 78
The 1910s Season Opponent Venue Played Won Lost Drawn Result 1910–11 South Africa Australia 5 4 1 0 Won 1911–12 England Australia 5 1 4 0 Lost 1912 South Africa England 3 2 0 1 Won 1912 England England 3 0 1 2 LostTotals 16 7 6 3
Australia were visited in the first two summers of this decade by South Africa and England respectively. In 1912 the Australian team toured England and played in the 1912 Triangular Tournament with their hosts and South Africa.
Australia toured USA and Canada in June to August 1913, playing five matches, four in Philadelphia and one in Toronto.
Needless to say, this was the decade of World War I. After the last match of the Triangular series in August 1912, Australia did not play another Test match until December 1920 when England, as the Marylebone Cricket Club toured Australia in a five Test series.
The 1920s Test tours Season Opponent Venue Played Won Lost Drawn Result 1920–21 England Australia 5 5 0 0 Won 1921 England England 5 3 0 2 Won 1921–22 South Africa South Africa 3 1 0 2 Won 1924–25 England Australia 5 4 1 0 Won 1926 England England 5 0 1 4 Lost 1928–29 England Australia 5 1 4 0 LostTotals 28 14 6 8
Australia toured England twice and South Africa once during this decade. Australia played 28 Test matches during this decade, winning 14 and losing 6. Most of them were against England and only 3 against South Africa. 5 of the Test matches had 8 ball overs. Most of the Test matches were timeless whereas there were 9 three-day Test matches and 3 four-day Test matches. 1921: 5 Tests in England, 3 Tests in South Africa in November 1926: 5 Tests in England
Australian Test captains The two main Australian Test captains during this decade were Armstrong and Collins. Both of them had a good record.
List of top Australian Test run scorers of the 1920s Ryder 1394 Collins 1352 Macartney 1252 Gregory 1146
List of top Australian wicket takers of the 1920s Mailey 99 Gregory 85
The 1930s Season Opponent Venue Played Won Lost Drawn Result 1930 England England 5 2 1 2 Won 1930–31 West Indies Australia 5 4 1 0 Won 1931–32 South Africa Australia 5 5 0 0 Won 1932–33 England Australia 5 1 4 0 Lost 1934 England England 5 2 1 2 Won 1935–36 South Africa South Africa 5 4 0 1 Won 1936–37 England Australia 5 3 2 0 Won 1938 England England 4 1 1 2 DrawnTotals 39 22 10 7
Australia toured England thrice and had the first 5 Test tour of South Africa. Australia played 39 Tests in this decade winning 22 and losing 10. Australia also toured India and Ceylon in 1935 but no official international match was played although India got Test status in 1932.
Test tours 1930: 5 Tests in England 1934: 5 Tests in England 1935–1936: First 5 Test tour of South Africa 1938: 4 Tests in England
Australian Test captains The leading Australian Test captain in this decade was Woodfull. Don Bradman led the Australian team in 9 Test matches in this decade.
Australian Test batsmen Don Bradman, regarded by most followers of the game as the greatest batsman to have played the game scored 4625 Test runs in this decade at an average of 102.77 runs per innings with 19 centuries.
Sir Donald eclipsed other performances which would have otherwise had been noticed such as Stan McCabe's 2748 runs at an average of 48.2 runs per innings.
List of top Australian wicket takers in the 1930s Grimmett 169 wickets at an average of 21.95 runs per wicket O'Reilly 136 wickets at an average of 23.68 runs per wicket
The 1940s Test tours Season Opponent Venue Played Won Lost Drawn Result 1945–46 New Zealand New Zealand 1 1 0 0 Won 1946–47 England Australia 5 3 0 2 Won 1947–48 India Australia 5 4 0 1 Won 1948 England England 5 4 0 1 Won 1949–50 South Africa South Africa 5 4 0 1 WonTotals 21 16 0 5
This decade was affected by World War II. Due to this Australia played only 17 Test matches. Their performance was impressive perhaps due to the Don Bradman factor as they won 13 of them and did not lose a single Test match. Most of the victories were against England. Australia were led by Sir Donald Bradman during this period. He scored 1903 runs at an average of 105.72 runs per innings. 1946 Australia's first Test tour of New Zealand (1 Test) 1948 5 Test tour of England (see: The Invincibles (cricket)) 1949–1950 5 Test tour of South Africa
Australian Test bowlers Ray Lindwall 70 wickets at an average of 19.17 runs per wicket. Johnston 54 wickets at an average of 18.51 runs per wicket.
The 1950s Season Opponent Venue Played Won Lost Drawn Result 1950–51 England Australia 5 4 1 0 Won 1951–52 West Indies Australia 5 4 1 0 Won 1952–53 South Africa Australia 5 2 2 1 Drawn 1953 England England 5 0 1 4 Lost 1954–55 England Australia 5 1 4 0 Lost 1954–55 West Indies West Indies 5 3 0 2 Won 1956 England England 5 1 2 2 Lost 1956–57 Pakistan Pakistan 1 0 1 0 Lost 1956–57 India India 3 2 0 1 Won 1957–58 South Africa South Africa 5 3 0 2 Won 1958–59 England Australia 5 4 1 0 Won 1959–60 Pakistan Pakistan 3 2 0 1 Won 1959–60 India India 5 2 1 2 WonTotals 57 28 14 15
England was no longer the prime opponent. Australia played 13 Test matches against South Africa and 10 against West Indies. Most of the Tests during this period were played with 8 ball overs and 5-day Test matches although Australia also played 22 six-day Test matches. Australian Test captains were Hassett, Johnson and the popular Richie Benaud who had an exceptional record during this period. Australia's leading runscorer in this decade was Harvey with 4573 runs at an average of 50.25 runs per innings while the leading wicket taker was Richie Benaud with 165 wickets at an average of 23.95.
Test tours 1953 5 Tests in England