2005-06 Australian cricket season
Encyclopedia
The 2005–06 Australian cricket season took place from October 2005 to March 2006.
final concluded. The national team are, however, playing away matches until 2006-04-28. Australia
played six home Tests during this season – three against West Indies and three against South Africa
– and also hosted the three-team VB Series
, between Australia, South Africa and Sri Lanka
. The team also toured New Zealand
for One Day Internationals in December, played five ODIs and three Tests in South Africa in February and March, and visited Bangladesh for the first time in April. Also, the season included a new domestic competition, for the first time in 36 seasons – a Twenty20
tournament called the Twenty20 Big Bash was held in January 2006, with two groups of three teams and the group winners proceeding to the final.
Australia won both their home Test series in November and December, winning the Frank Worrell Trophy
by virtue of a 3–0 whitewash of the West Indies before defeating South Africa 2–0. Meanwhile, in domestic cricket, New South Wales Blues
assumed the ascendancy in both competitions, followed by the Victorian Bushrangers
; at the beginning of the New Year, the Blues were four points ahead of the Bushrangers in the Pura Cup, and six points ahead in the ING Cup. The Blues beat the Bushrangers in a top-of-the-table battle in the ING Cup on 2 January, leaving the Bushrangers eleven points adrift in second place, but the Bushrangers came back later in the month with three unbeaten matches against the Blues in the space of a week; a win in the ING, was followed up with a draw with first-innings points in the Pura and finally a win in the Twenty20 Big Bash final.
The Blues only won two matches from then on, falling all the way to last place in the Pura Cup, but one of the two ING Cup wins was a one-wicket win in the final against the Southern Redbacks
, which secured them one title for this season as well. Australia came from one match down in the three-match final of the VB Series to beat Sri Lanka 2–1, and shortly afterwards began their winter tour of South Africa. South Africa won the Twenty20 International and the first two One-day Internationals, but Australia came back to 2–2, before the fifth match where the record for highest team total was broken twice. South Africa won that, but were brought down in the Tests, where Australia won the first and declared
in the second.
The Pura Cup was rounded off in March; Queensland Bulls
qualified for their eighth successive final with a match to spare, while the Bushrangers and the Warriors fought for the last spot at the Junction Oval
. The Bushrangers successively chased 360 in that game to book their ticket for Brisbane
and the final, where they conceded 900 runs in the first innings to lose by an innings and 354 runs.
ODI series:
Twenty20 International:
Pura Cup:
ING Cup:
KFC Twenty20 Big Bash:
Women's Test:
Women's ODIs:
Women's National League:
between the ICC
World XI and Australia
, although there had been a one-day friendly match between the World XI and Victoria
which did not have List A status three days earlier, and the Cricket Australia Cup
begun on 26 September. The first ODI was won by Australia, who bowled the World XI out for 162 to win the first match by 93 runs, and on the second ground in the second ODI they batted to 328 for 4 on their way to a 55-run win and securing a series victory. The final, dead-rubber
match was also played at the Telstra Dome, and once again Australia batted first, making 293 for 5 before bowling the World XI out for 137.
. Australia took care of the Supertest as well - after making their way to 260 for 4 due to 111 from Matthew Hayden
, Adam Gilchrist
continued with 94 as Australia posted 345. The Aussies then dismissed six men in single figures, as the World XI were bowled out for 190 - Virender Sehwag
making 76, while spinners Shane Warne
and Stuart MacGill
shared seven wickets - but Hayden and Ricky Ponting
added 122 for the second wicket, and though Australia lost their last eight wickets for 47 runs, the World XI were set a target of 355 to win. Five World batsmen were then dismissed for ducks
, MacGill took five for 43, and Australia completed a whitewash of the World XI with their 210-run win.
began, with the Bulls taking on the Tasmanian Tigers
. Tasmania were effectively 17 for 7 in the second innings when rain intervened, ending the match in a draw. A day later, Victorian Bushrangers
completed a four-wicket victory at the WACA Ground
to go top of the Pura Cup table. The week-end from 22 to 23 October saw a full round of ING Cup games, the Blues beating the Southern Redbacks
to go top of the table, while the Bulls and the Western Warriors
also chased down targets to record wins.
, and New South Wales prevailed for their fourth win of the season. They declared
twice - in the first innings at 515 for 9, in the second at 187 for 2 - and took the 20 required wickets to win by 187 runs. The West Indies
also started their tour with a drawn first-class match against the Bulls, where Marlon Samuels
hit a career-best 257 before taking five for 87 in the second innings. Queensland led by 89 with one wicket in hand when the match ended.
The final matches of October saw the Bushrangers face the Warriors for the third time of the month, this time for an ING Cup clash at the Junction Oval
in Melbourne
, and the Bushrangers took advantage of home soil to win by eight wickets to go second in the table behind the Blues, whose one-day match with the Tigers was rained off.
between Australia and the West Indies at the Brisbane Cricket Ground
, which began on 3 November, and after a hundred in each innings from Australian captain Ricky Ponting
, and five-wicket-hauls from Shane Warne
(first innings) and Brett Lee
(second innings), Australia hauled home a 379-run win. While the Test was on, the Redbacks recorded their first win of the season, beating the Bulls in the ING Cup after an unbeaten 109 from Mark Cosgrove
, while the Blues' total of 309 for 8 was enough to beat the Warriors and widen the top-of-the-table in the other match on 4 November. The women's National Cricket League
began the following day, with Southern Scorpions overcoming Queensland Fire
, though the Scorpions' captain and number three batter, Karen Rolton
, was dismissed for a golden duck
. The following day, Rolton made 151 off 144 balls in chase of 254 in 50 overs, but the Scorpions still finished on 247 for 8 after Kirsten Pike
took three wickets for the Fire.
. On the same day, the Bulls completed their second draw of the season against the Redbacks, in a match where nearly two days' play were lost to rain. Two days later, on 11 November, Victorian Bushrangers
began a three-day tour match with the West Indies - it was drawn, as each team only completed one of two innings, with Victoria making 571 in their 122.4 overs. The West Indies were bowled out for 302 in the reply. The teams agreed to play a Twenty20
match at the end of the match, which Victoria won in the last over, despite six sixes and a 40-ball 81 from West Indian batsman Dwayne Smith
.
In the ING Cup, the Warriors recorded a win to go second in the table, while the Bulls followed in third after they became the first team to beat the Blues in the season - despite 152 not out
from Blues' opener Phil Jaques
, the Bulls had Clinton Perren
and Matthew Hayden
respond with a 113-run second wicket stand on their way to a three-wicket win. The Warriors went straight from ING Cup success to Pura Cup disappointment - their third loss in a row in that competition came at the Redbacks, who won by 129 runs after Darren Lehmann
hit a career-best 301 not out
to send the Redbacks to a first-innings total of 552 for 7 declared. The Redbacks did not enforce the follow on after bowling them out 271 behind, but after setting a target of 411 in three and a half sessions, Dan Cullen
took five for 92 to help bowl out the Warriors for a total of 271. Warriors wicket-keeper
Ryan Campbell
hit 186 runs in two innings in the match.
and Mike Hussey put on 231 for the first wicket, as Australia made 406, and the West Indies were 140 for 6 midway through the morning session on day four. Then Dwayne Bravo
hit his highest Test score thus far with 113, and with the help of wicket-keeper Denesh Ramdin
who made a career-best 71 and shared a 182-run stand with Bravo, he helped the West Indies to set a target of 78. Australia lost one wicket in the chase, that of Hayden, who was caught for 46 in the over before Hussey ended the match.
took six wickets as Tasmania were bowled out for 294 and 138 in an innings-and-90-run defeat. Queensland also got their first win of the season, rain staying away from the 'Gabba
as Queensland recovered from a 28-run first-innings deficit against the Bushrangers to make 405 in the second innings, before Michael Kasprowicz
got the best first-class bowling figures in Australia all season with eight for 44. Victoria were bowled out for 155, despite number three Lloyd Mash
making 83 in his second first-class match. The weekend also saw four matches in the women's National League, the Southern Scorpions and the Victoria Spirit winning one match each, while the NSW Breakers
started the season unbeaten with two wins over Western Fury
.
, a match that was decided on the last ball - the Warriors batted to 262 for 7 after 72 from Chris Rogers
and 66 from Shaun Marsh
, but Michael di Venuto
hit a hundred for the Tigers, before three wickets fell for 21 to leave the Tigers at 255 for 7 with an over to spare. After two runs came off the first four deliveries, Scott Kremerskothen
hit Steve Magoffin
for four off the penultimate ball before taking two off the last to win the game. On the same day, West Indies batsman Brian Lara
hit 202 unbeaten runs in the third and final Test to become the second batsman to pass 11,000 Test runs, and he broke Allan Border
's Test record of most runs on the following day, making 226 out of the West Indies total of 405. However, Australia replied with 428 after Hussey hit another century, and despite the efforts of Bravo (six for 84 in the first innings, 64 with the bat in the second), West Indies lost by seven wickets after Warne took six wickets in the West Indies' second innings and Hayden hit an unbeaten 87 to take Australia to the target and the whitewash.
had been dropped from the Australian team, but responded to the selectors with 201 not out
for the NSW Blues in a rain-hit game with the Bulls at the SCG
, which ended in a draw, the Bulls' third of the season. The Redbacks also had the help of a dropped Test player as they climbed to third place - Jason Gillespie
took seven wickets in the first innings, and nine for 125 in total, before half-centuries from Matthew Elliott and Callum Ferguson
gave the Redbacks a win in the final session. The last match of the month was in the Pura Cup, where the Warriors batted first against the Tigers and took a 171-run first-innings lead to take their first points of the season, before being bundled out for 176 in the second innings and losing by two wickets after George Bailey
made a century and the Tigers made it to eight for 348 - their highest total thus far in the season.
, Australia made eight for 252 after Ricky Ponting
and Simon Katich
hit half-centuries, and though the opposing captain Daniel Vettori
took two wickets and let away 29 runs in ten overs (the third-most economical bowler in the match), it was Australian bowler Brett Lee
who became Man of the Match due to his bowling. He bowled four maidens with the new ball, taking three wickets for five runs including both the Marshall twins, Hamish
and James
, and ended with the bowling analysis
of 6–4–5–3. Stuart Clark
, playing in his second One-day International, got three for 19, and New Zealand were bowled out for 105 in a 147-run loss.
The first match of December was an ING Cup match between the Redbacks and the Bushrangers. The Bushrangers could go second in the table with a win, but after rain delayed the start for 90 minutes and shortened both teams' innings to 41 overs, spinners Dan Cullen
and Darren Lehmann
shared seven wickets and limited the Bushrangers to a total of eight for 204 in their rain-shortened innings. Michael Klinger
notched up 103, the Bushrangers' first one-day century of the season, but Greg Blewett
and Mark Cosgrove
shared an unbeaten 143-run partnership for the third wicket to guide the Redbacks home after two wickets from Peter Siddle
had seen the Redbacks to two for 62. In the women's league, the Breakers extended their run of victories to four, while one bonus point and a win in the first match against Western Fury was enough to see Victoria Spirit into the second place, despite losing the second match.
began their tour of Australia on 5 December, 11 days before the first Test match, with a three-day tour match against Western Australia. After a century from Adam Voges
, the Warriors declared on eight for 391, before bowling out South Africa from 179 and 164 in their two innings to take the win by an innings and 48 runs. Meanwhile, the Blues travelled to Victoria and the Bushrangers for a Pura Cup match scheduled to start on 6 December, but heavy rain in Melbourne
saw the first day's play called off. After play started at 2pm on the second day, Phil Jaques
hit 124 not out as the Blues closed on two for 217, but after he was dismissed no Blues batsman made 25, and the Blues lost their last eight wickets for 80, Allen Wise taking a career-best six for 89 along the way. The Bushrangers then had four top-order batsmen hit half-centuries, and Test bowler MacGill bowled 22 wicketless overs as the Bushrangers racked up a first-innings lead, making 462. Six batsmen were then dismissed for sub-15 scores, with Shane Harwood
notching up four scalps and Wise two, but Brad Haddin hung on to make 71 not out, and Matt Nicholson batted with him for 90 minutes for 9 to see the Blues close on seven for 139 and draw the game.
was run out, an Australian record partnership between Michael Clarke
and Andrew Symonds
followed. The pair who added 220 for the fifth wicket, Symonds hitting eight sixes and twelve fours on his way to a record score in ODIs between the two sides. His 156 was the third-highest by an Australian against any opponent, and the stand with Clarke paved the way for a total of 322 for 5. New Zealand needed 53 from the last 33 balls, and New Zealand still needed 24 off the final two overs. However, Brett Lee's penultimate over yielded 18 runs, as Brett Lee bowled a no-ball and a wide, and another ball was adjudged a no-ball as Australia had too few players inside the circle. Mick Lewis
was left to bowl the last over, and with six runs required the last two batsmen were run out, leaving New Zealand on 320 – two runs short of victory. Australia thus won the Chappell–Hadlee Trophy with a match to spare.
A warm-up match without List A status saw South Africa beat the Cricket Australia Chairman's XI at Lilac Hill
, with medium pacer Garnett Kruger
taking four wickets and Herschelle Gibbs
hitting an unbeaten 91 in the chase. A day later, in the last match of the Chappell–Hadlee Trophy, Mitchell Johnson
was given his debut as Super Sub
, coming in after Australia had batted to seven for 331 with four half-centuries. Johnson bowled nine overs for 64, without taking a wicket, and Scott Styris
hit a hundred as New Zealand chased down the target for the highest successful run chase in ODI cricket thus far. Meanwhile, in the ING Cup, the Redbacks went second after beating the Tigers, former Test bowler Jason Gillespie
making up for his wicketless match by taking part in an unbeaten eight-wicket stand of 34 to see the Redbacks to the target, and in the final match of the week the Bushrangers, including Shane Warne
, beat the Bulls after Grant Lindsay
had taken three wickets and the Bulls were bowled out for 185, Liam Buchanan
and David Hussey
hit half-centuries and the Bushrangers won by five wickets, taking a bonus point.
The third match of the South Africans' tour was also against Western Australia, but this time against a team containing only two of the players they had played the previous week, and none of the players that had players the Warriors' recent Pura Cup game. South Africa still failed to win, and conceded an eight-run first innings deficit in a drawn game. Meanwhile, in the Pura Cup, the Tigers batted to six for 311 on the first day against the Redbacks, with 292 of the runs coming in a fourth-wicket stand between Travis Birt
(who made 140) and George Bailey (155). Sean Clingeleffer
also made a half-century, as the Tigers declared on eight for 421, but the Redbacks batted to a total of 638 after five batsmen passed 50 and eight passed 30. The Tigers, however, batted to four for 291 and a draw, as opener David Dawson
batted for six and a half hours for 144 not out
, a career best score and his second century in 14 first-class games.
Australia went into the Test at the WACA Ground
as favourites, but still conceded a first innings lead, before Brad Hodge
scored a maiden Test century in the second innings. He went on to convert it to a double, ending with 203 not out
, and Australia declared on eight for 528. South Africa were left to chase 491 for the victory, or bat for four sessions for the draw; the latter was achieved and the teams would go into the Boxing Day Test with the series tied at 0–0. The Melbourne Herald Sun claimed that the Australian captain Ponting "was dealing with one of the biggest blunders of his career", after Australia failed to win the match.
With the Warriors out of their own stadium due to the Test match, they travelled east to Queensland and the Gabba
, where Brett Dorey
and Beau Casson
helped them restrict the Bulls while in the field. In the first innings, Dorey bowled the most of any Warriors bowler, and in his 31 overs he took a career-best seven for 87. The Bulls lost their last eight wickets for 116, but still posted 308 after a century from opener Lachlan Stevens
, his first ton in first-class cricket. Another seven-for came in the Warriors' innings, when the Bulls' Michael Kasprowicz
took seven for 103, as the Warriors lost their last eight wickets for 114, two less than Queensland. However, with three half-centuries from Clinton Heron, Marcus North
and Damien Martyn
having sent the Warriors to three for 217, they took a lead of 23. The Bulls were then bowled out for 242, spinner Casson taking five for 88 including two ducks, but with the seventh ball of the Warriors' innings they lost Chris Rogers
for three, and after Clint Heron
hit a half-century, seven balls from Andy Bichel yielded three wickets and sent the Warriors from 129 for 3 to 130 for 6. Bichel then held a catch at gully to dismiss Campbell, but with 47 required and three wickets in hand, Sean Marsh and Dorey combined to give the Warriors the winning runs.
There were four matches in the Women's National League this weekend; New South Wales and South Australia won one each of the two matches played at Newcastle
, with Karen Rolton
hitting an unbeaten 141 in the second match for the Southern Scorpions, while Queensland Fire won both matches against Western Fury. Two ING Cup matches were also played out on 18 December; the Bushrangers chased down a target of 247 set by the Tigers after David Hussey
and Cameron White
shared a fourth-wicket stand of 162, while Phil Jaques
hit an unbeaten 158, a career-best in List A cricket, to give the Blues a total of 282 for 4 before Stuart Clark
(7.3–0–36–4) and Michael Clarke
(8–0–27–3) helped to bowl out the Redbacks for 209, which gave the Blues a 73-run win and five points in this top-of-the-table battle. The Blues now had a seven-point lead over the second-placed Bushrangers. Four days later, the round of games was completed, with the Warriors posting 226 against the Bulls after Damien Martyn
, Marcus North
and Dave Bandy hit half-centuries. Pete Worthington then claimed the first five wickets, as the Bulls were five for 113, and they eventually needed ten off the last over. However, Chris Hartley
hit a six off the first ball, and with two needed to win off three balls he hit another six to secure the victory.
on 26 December, Boxing Day
, with Australia batting to two for 154 before Shaun Pollock
and Andre Nel
started taking wickets; Nel finished with bowling figures on the day of four for 58 as Australia lost seven wickets for 96 and were nine for 248. However, 107 runs were added between Mike Hussey and Glenn McGrath for the tenth wicket, a record in Australia–South Africa Testshttp://usa.cricinfo.com/db/STATS/BY_OPPONENT/AUS-RSA/AUS-RSA_AUS_HIGHEST_PARTNERSHIPS.html, and Australia took a lead of 44 on first innings. A century from Matthew Hayden and 72 off 54 balls from Andrew Symonds
gave Australia a total of seven for 321 before they declared, and South Africa were bowled out for 181, with Shane Warne
taking four second-innings wickets.
. Jacques Kallis
and Ashwell Prince
broke an 80-year-old record for the highest fourth-wicket partnership for South Africa against Australia. Ricky Ponting
then scored a century to bring Australia within 97 runs of South Africa, and rain cut 70 overs off the fourth day before South Africa declared 286 runs ahead midway through the morning session on the fifth. Ponting then hit another century, becoming the first batsman to hit centuries in both innings of his 100th Test, and guided Australia to an eight-wicket win.
Meanwhile, in the ING Cup, the Blues defended a total of 259 to beat the Bushrangers in the top of the table clash despite an unbeaten 123 from Michael Klinger
, as spinner and former Test player Michael Clarke
took three for 20, while the Bulls failed to take the opportunity to go into second place as they were limited to nine for 186 by the Tigers, who proceeded to chase down the target in the very last over after a sixth-wicket stand worth 100 between Michael Bevan
and 21-year-old wicket-keeper
Tim Paine
.
in the first group, losing their first four wickets inside five overs with Ben Hilfenhaus
taking two, but a 79-run partnership between Jimmy Maher
and Steve Paulsen took the Bulls past the 15-over mark. Hilfenhaus got another wicket, ending with three for 17, and Paulsen was caught off the very last ball to end with 45 of the Bulls' total of seven for 136. In the fourth over of the Tigers' innings, heavy rain stopped play with the score on one for 15, and play was not restarted. In Group A, the Bushrangers batted to nine for 163 in 20 overs, though the Warriors' Ben Edmondson
conceded only 16 in his four overs, taking three wickets. Cameron White
and Liam Buchanan
then put on 69 for the fourth wicket, and the last 43 balls yielded 74 runs for the Bushrangers. Adam Voges
made a half-century, but after three run out
s the Warriors needed eight off the last five balls. They got five, thus losing by two runs.
Between the first and second round of Twenty20 matches, there were two women's games between Victoria Spirit and New South Wales Breakers in Melbourne
. New South Wales won them both to end with seven wins, while Victoria fell down to fourth place in the table after the two defeats.
The Bushrangers made it two from two and qualified for the final two days later, after bowling the Redbacks out for 113 with Shane Harwood
getting the best figures with three for 13. 14 extras and an unbeaten 41 from Jonathan Moss
took the Bushrangers past the target in 12.1 of the allotted 20 overs. In the other group, the Bulls hit at a rate of 9.5 runs an over against the Blues, but were bowled out 15 balls before the end to end with a total of 167. Ian Moran took three for 21 for the Blues, getting numbers 6, 7 and 8 out, and also hit 12 not out in the chase. David Thornely shared a 59-run sixth-wicket stand with Moran to see the Blues to the target with two overs and five wickets to spare.
On 10 January, the Warriors and the Redbacks played out a match which had little significance, as the Bushrangers had already qualified from the group, yet 15,000 people came to the WACA Ground
. They saw the home side bat to six for 174 after opener Ryan Campbell
made a half-century, before the Redbacks lost their first five wickets for 33. Ken Skewes and Shane Deitz
added 38 for the sixth wicket, before Dave Bandy and Campbell shared four of the last five wickets to bowl the Redbacks out for 120. In the other match, a virtual semi-final, Phil Jaques
hit 61 off 30 balls for the Blues, the highest contribution to the Blues' total of six for 188. Adam Polkinghorne
took three for 31 for the Tigers, but made 13 runs in the reply, as six Blues' bowlers got a wicket and helped bowl out the Tigers for 119 to send the Blues to the final meeting with the Bushrangers.
The South Africans
scored almost twice as much as the Bulls in their warm-up match, as Boeta Dippenaar
and Jacques Rudolph
outscored Queensland's first eight partnerships. The two added 88 for the fourth wicket, helping to total 205, and Garnett Kruger
and Shaun Pollock
then shared six wickets with the first 61 balls of the match. Eventually, Queensland were bowled out for 111. The following day, the Bushrangers bowled out Sri Lanka for 120, with Allan Wise
taking five for 25, before Michael Klinger
hit a half-century and Victoria won with seven wickets and 15.4 overs to spare, and in a final warm-up the South Africans beat the Queensland Academy by 46 runs after 80 from Jacques Kallis
.
Five matches were played from Friday to Sunday; the VB Series began with two matches, while a full round of ING Cup matches was played on the Saturday. On Friday the 13th, Australia beat Sri Lanka by 116 runs in the tri-series opener, with Sri Lanka's two most experienced bowlers, Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan, yielding combined bowling figures of 20–1–140–0, while in the ING Cup, the Warriors won and earned a bonus point at home after chasing down 198 to win in the fortieth over, with Justin Langer
getting a half-century. The following day, the Bushrangers beat the Blues to cut the deficit at the top of the table to six points, with Gerard Denton
and Cameron White
sharing six wickets between them. Chasing 188 to win, the Bushrangers were three for 160, but lost four wickets in 23 balls before Andrew McDonald
's 14 not out
took them across the line. In the final match, the Tigers and the Redbacks tied in a match that was cut from 50 to 35 overs a side following rain. Michael Bevan
made 54 for the Tigers, who chased a revised target of 172 to win, and when Bevan was dismissed the Tigers required 13 off 14 balls. Three more wickets fell, Shaun Tait
taking two in an over, and both teams had to be content with the tie. Finally, South Africa beat Australia by five wickets on a Sunday game in Brisbane, with Brett Lee conceding 17 off his final over after South Africa had needed 47 off 30 balls.
and WA
-born Brendan Nash
gave the Bulls a lead. Wicket-keeper Hartley also hit 73 for the Bulls, who took a 280-run lead on first innings, and though the Warriors replied with 407 after Adam Voges
' 178, they were bowled out shortly before tea on day four to set Queensland 128 in 40 overs. After half-centuries from Jimmy Maher
and Love, they broke that target with nine wickets to spare.
In the VB Series match at Brisbane, South Africa were sent back to earth by Sri Lanka, so that all teams had one win after the first round of matches. Jehan Mubarak
and Kumar Sangakkara
shared a 112-run stand for the second wicket on the way to a total of eight for 282, and though Jacques Rudolph
and Mark Boucher
hit half-centuries South Africa were bowled out for 188 in the chase.
The Blues and the Bushrangers had started a day later in their game at Lismore
, and at the close of the third day's play the Bushrangers were in their second innings, leading by 92 with ten wickets in hand. Opener Jason Arnberger
had batted for nine hours to secure a double century, ending on 235 not out
before the Bushrangers declared, but despite a first innings total of 519 their eventual lead was 82 runs on first innings. With the last day rained off, the match ended in a draw.
Further south, the Redbacks and the Tigers avoided that fate, as the Redbacks rode on a 369-run first innings lead to win by 194 runs, bowling the Tigers out six overs after tea. Two people named Bailey took centre stage in the final innings - chasing 563 to win, Tasmania's George Bailey hit 130, but Redbacks' spinner Cullen took five for 146 as the Tigers were bowled out for 368. The Redbacks' win sent them second in the table, but four teams were within four points at this point.
made 94, the highest score by an Australian on ODI debut http://uk.cricinfo.com/ci/content/unknown/233754.html, and Brett Lee
took career-best figures of five for 22 http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/5/5951/o_Bowling_by_Season.html to help bowl South Africa out for 186, two less than in Brisbane three days earlier.
The Bushrangers and the Blues, the two teams that had topped the ING and Pura tables at New Year, also faced off in the Twenty20 final at the North Sydney Oval
. Despite the match being played in front of a home crowd, the Bushrangers accumulated the highest total in Australian Twenty20 cricket thus far, ending with seven for 233 after Brad Hodge
made 106 in 54 balls and Cameron White
hit six sixes to end with 46 not out
. White also took three for eight with the ball, as the Blues were at nought for 64 but then lost all their wickets for 76 runs to hand the title to the Victorians.
The last four matches in the regular season stage of the women's National League were also completed; Queensland hosted Victoria for two games, and qualified for the final after a 42-run win in the first match (where they restricted Victoria to 109 for 9 in 32 overs chasing 152 to win), and a century from 21-year-old Kasee Marxsen helped them set a target of 97 to win against the Bushrangers. The Scorpions travelled to Perth, but despite winning both matches, they finished third in the overall standings, and did not qualify for the final series against the Breakers. Queensland Fire finished second in the regular season ladder, qualifying thanks to more bonus points.
In the VB Series, Sri Lanka batted first at the SCG
, and posted seven for 309 against an Australian team without Phil Jaques or Glenn McGrath
. The Sri Lankan team, meanwhile, included Sanath Jayasuriya
who returned from injury http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/australia/content/story/233964.html by hitting 114 off 96 balls to be named Man of the Match, as Australia were bowled out for 258. However, Sri Lanka failed to back up their winning run, as South African opener Boeta Dippenaar
hit 125 not out
against them two days later and helped set a target of 264. Sri Lanka were 224 for 4 in reply, but Mahela Jayawardene
was bowled
by Johannes van der Wath
, and Andrew Hall
then claimed two wickets in two balls and followed up with a maiden 50th over when Sri Lanka needed 11 to win.
added 205 with Cameron White
to set a new state record partnership for the fourth wicket http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/australia/content/story/234486.html. White backed up his 85 with four wickets for 23 as the Bulls were 13 runs short of victory at the 'Gabba. In Hobart, there were two centuries in the match between Tasmania and New South Wales; Phil Jaques, who had been left out by Australia three days earlier, hit 138 as New South Wales posted 311 for 7, but Tim Paine
responded with 111, sharing an opening stand of 179 with Travis Birt
. After the opening partnership, however, Tasmania ended on 299 for 9, with Stuart MacGill
and Aaron O'Brien
claiming three wickets each. Another century came at the WACA; Mark Cosgrove
hit 121 for the visiting Southern Redbacks, who set a target of 272 for the hosting Western Warriors to chase, but only Shaun Marsh
and Chris Rogers
passed 30 as the Warriors were bowled out for 163.
notched up consecutive victories over Sri Lanka; on 26 January in Adelaide, they successfully chased down 219 to win by five wickets after a half-century from Simon Katich
, while makeshift captain Adam Gilchrist
shared an opening stand of 191 with Katich at Perth three days later, when Australia needed 234 to win. In the two ING matches on 29 January, the Redbacks went unbeaten for their third 50-over match in a row after chasing 223 successfully against the Bushrangers, while the Warriors defended 236 against the Tigers despite 105 from Tigers captain Michael di Venuto
. To round off the month, South Africa and Sri Lanka entertained the Perth crowd, and a spell of 10–3–17–2 from Shaun Pollock
limited Sri Lanka to 221. South Africa chased that down with five overs to spare and took another step towards the three-match final series. The win also meant Australia were assured of a place in the final. http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/vbseries/content/story/235116.html
took bowling figures
of 17–12–15–3. Chris Rogers
then outscored the Tigers by hitting 135 in the Warriors' total of 215, and though the Tigers posted 276 the second time around, the Warriors chased it down with seven wickets to spare after a partnership of 106 between Rogers and Shaun Marsh
. On 2 February, play began at the 'Gabba, where Queensland built a 287-run lead on first innings after 116 from Martin Love
and half-centuries from numbers eight and nine, Andy Bichel
and Daniel Doran
. The Blues responded with 378, but Love and Shane Watson
took Queensland past the target of 92 inside 17 overs after the first two wickets fell for 20. The Redbacks also surrendered a first-innings lead at Adelaide, though Victoria fell from one for 164 to 249 all out, and despite 68 off 64 balls from Shaun Tait
of the Redbacks, the Bushrangers chased down the target after a half-century from Jason Arnberger
.
In the VB Series, Australia played South Africa twice, winning both games after batting first; in the first game, they totalled seven for 281 after a 109-run sixth-wicket partnership between Mike Hussey and Andrew Symonds
, and Brett Lee
then took four wickets as South Africa were bowled out for 201. In the second, Australia batted to a total of six for 344, with Adam Gilchrist
, Ricky Ponting
and Damien Martyn
all making half-centuries at rates quicker than a run a ball. Despite 37 off 16 balls from Johannes van der Wath
South Africa made six for 287 in reply, losing again to make the 7 February match in Hobart a play-off match for the right to play Australia in the final.
The weekend between 3 February and 5 February also saw the final stages of the women's National League, with New South Wales Breakers playing Queensland Fire in three matches at the North Sydney Oval
. In the first match, the Breakers bowled out the Fire for 174, then chased down the target thanks to half-centuries from Leah Poulton and Alex Blackwell; the following day, it was the Breakers who batted first and made a sub-200 total. Chasing 155 to win, the Fire were six for 70, but wicket-keeper Jodie Purves made 61 and added 49 with Megan White for the eighth wicket to bring the series to a final decider. The Breakers batted first in that match, and made the lowest score of the series with 146 all out, as Jude Coleman took four for 28; and with another top-score from Purves, this time for 37, the Fire needed three with three wickets in hand. However, Charlotte Anneveld, who had taken her first wickets in National League cricket earlier on http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/45/45551/waus_Bowling_by_Season.html, took two wickets in the 47th over to complete a haul of four for 29, and Sarah Andrews broke the final partnership when she had White bowled
for 13, leaving New South Wales winners by two runs.
In the international matches, South Africa led by three points before the final group stage match, but still needed at least a tie or a no-result to qualify. Sri Lanka batted first, and made nine for 257 after a century partnership between Marvan Atapattu
and Sanath Jayasuriya
, and Sri Lankan seamer
Chaminda Vaas
then took two South African wickets in the seventh over. Graeme Smith
rebuilt with Mark Boucher
(partnership of 58) and Ashwell Prince
, but another double strike, this time from substitute
Malinga Bandara
set South Africa back to five for 114. Bandara took two more wickets, was named Man of the Match, and Cricinfo journalist Peter English described his performance as "stunning" http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/vbseries/content/story/235982.html. South Africa were eventually all out for 181, with Jayasuriya, Muttiah Muralitharan
and Tillakaratne Dilshan
chipping in with a wicket each, and Sri Lanka qualified for the three-match final series.
and Kumar Sangakkara
, Australia scored 51 without loss in the first ten overs, but a total of five run out
s and three for 40 from Muttiah Muralitharan
sent them all out for 252.
The second match saw Chaminda Vaas
take three wickets as Australia were three for 10, but Ricky Ponting
shared a 237-run stand with Andrew Symonds
, an Australian all-wicket record partnership http://www.smh.com.au/news/cricket/ponting-stands-and-delivers/2006/02/12/1139679478826.html. Michael Clarke
made his half-century in 27 balls, and Australia scored what was then their highest score in a limited-over international (five for 368). In reply, Nathan Bracken
took four for 30 off six overs, and though Russel Arnold
hit an unbeaten 64, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 201.
Having opted to bat in the third match, Sri Lanka set a target of 267 after half-centuries frm Sangakkara, Arnold and Mahela Jayawardene
, while Bracken got three for 44 for Australia. However, the target was no match for Adam Gilchrist
and Simon Katich
; the two shared an opening stand of 196 before Gilchrist was bowled
by Muralitharan for a 91-ball 122. Katich also reached his century, ending on 107 not out
, and with Ricky Ponting
he guided Australia past the target.
and Travis Birt
of the Tigers was worth 143, eight more than Victoria managed in their first innings, and though Cameron White
and Shane Warne
scored half-centuries for Victoria the second time around, they fell 121 short of their target of 409. In Sydney, the Warriors batted to nine for 508 thanks to centuries from Marcus North
(151 not out
) and Luke Ronchi
(100), and Steve Magoffin
and Brett Dorey
then took three wickets each as the Blues were bowled out for 117. The second time around, the Blues made 478, but despite three wickets from spinner Jason Krejza
the Warriors made it home with six wickets to spare.
. Despite 12 wides from Redbacks fast bowler Shaun Tait
, the Bulls were bowled out for 245, and the Redbacks secured a bonus point and a six-point lead over the third-placed Bushrangers, who needed six points in their match the following day to draw level with the Redbacks. On the same day, Australia Under-19
played their final match in the U-19 World Cup
, losing their semi-final to Pakistan Under-19
by 163 runs to finish joint third with England Under-19.
Twice the run rate of the opposition was needed in order to obtain six points, and after Tasmania won the toss and batted to seven for 242, the Bushrangers needed 485 to be able to qualify for the final. Instead, they lost both wickets in the opening over to Adam Griffith
, who got career best ING figures of four for 36 http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/australia/content/story/237680.html as the Bushrangers were bowled out for 128. This meant that the Blues and the Redbacks had qualified for the final before the final match between the Blues and the Warriors, which the latter won by a margin of one run; the Blues had needed seven off Ben Edmondson
's last over, but two wickets fell on the first two balls, and Aaron Bird
and Stuart MacGill
could only add five from the last four.
In the only women's Test match of the season, the hosts won inside three of the scheduled four days; captain Karen Rolton
opted to bat first, and made 63, and a half-century from Lisa Sthalekar
took Australia
to 250. Fast bowler Cathryn Fitzpatrick
then got the best figures with three for 24 as India
were bowled out for 93 and made to follow on, and in the second innings, Sthalekar got five for 30 and India were bowled out for 153, four short of making Australia bat again.
The final match of the Pura Cup's eighth week was also concluded; the Bulls earned a 138-run lead on first innings, then added 365 in their second with Clinton Perren
making 168 not out
before they declared. Andy Bichel
and Michael Kasprowicz
then shared eight of ten Redback wickets as the visitors were bowled out for 209.
international at the Wanderers, where South Africa won by two runs after half-centuries from Graeme Smith
and Herschelle Gibbs
. Australia needed 19 off the final over, but could only get 10 off the first five balls, and despite Brett Lee
hitting the last ball for six over midwicket South Africa took the first spoils.
The women's team played a series of three One-day Internationals over four days in the last week of February; they began at St Peter's College, Adelaide
, where two of the three matches. Australia won the first after being bowled out for 173 in 49 overs, with Karen Rolton
taking four for 29 and helping to stop India for 161 despite 66 from Anjum Chopra
. The second match saw no such efforts from Chopra, as India were bowled out for 89 with Cathryn Fitzpatrick
taking five wickets, and Karen Rolton hit 47 as Australia won by four wickets.
On the same day as Australia's women secured the One-day Internationals, the men's tour of South Africa continued, this time with a One Day International win at Centurion
. Australia batted first, making eight for 229 after half-centuries from Michael Clarke
and Michael Hussey
, and the recalculated target under the Duckworth/Lewis method was 204 in 41 overs. Graeme Smith
hit 119 not out
to take South Africa home with six wickets to spare. Back in Australia, the Redbacks hosted the Blues for the ING Cup final, and aimed to take their first win in 19 years http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/australia/content/story/238681.html. However, despite a match top-score of 49 from Mark Cosgrove
and six wickets from Shaun Tait
, the Redbacks could not defend their total of 154. Stuart MacGill
secured the trophy with a leg glance off Darren Lehmann
, the second time he'd hit the winning runs for the Blues in as many seasons http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/australia/content/story/238743.html.
The final women's One-day International saw India bat out 50 overs, but their total of seven for 128 was not enough, as Alex Blackwell
and Rolton both hit half-centuries and took Australia to a nine-wicket win.
, after totalling 141 and 157 in their two innings. Tasmanian bowler Ben Hilfenhaus
took ten for 87 in the match, including seven in the second innings, while Travis Birt
top scored, hitting seven sixes and nineteen fours in a four-hour 160. Meanwhile, in South Africa, Australia suffered their second-highest loss by runs in One-day Internationals, Makhaya Ntini
taking six for 22 as Australia were all out for 93 to lose by 196 runs. The result meant Australia had to win their three last matches to take the series.
On 5 March, Queensland Bulls won the league stage and made sure the Pura Cup final would be held in Brisbane after beating Victoria by 106 runs http://smh.com.au/news/cricket/queensland-to-host-another-final/2006/03/05/1141493541419.html. Jimmy Maher
and Matthew Hayden
opened by adding 153 for the first wicket, and despite seven for 100 from Shane Warne
, Queensland totalled 408 after an unbeaten 76 from Andy Bichel
. The Bushrangers barely made half of that, ending on 212 with Jonathan Moss
top scoring with 60, and Queensland declared shortly before the close of play on day three on five for 189. All five Bulls' bowlers got at least one wicket on the final day, and though Nick Jewell
and Cameron White
put on 100 for the fifth wicket, a double strike from injured leg spinner Daniel Doran
after tea saw the Bushrangers to seven for 239. Michael Kasprowicz
and Andy Bichel
took the last three wickets to give Queensland their eighth successive Pura Cup final appearance. Australia also came back to 1–2 in the five-match ODI series in South Africa, successfully defending 255 to win despite half-centuries from Shaun Pollock
and AB de Villiers. Brett Lee
took four for 48 for Australia.
The Warriors could have gone second in the Pura Cup table if they had managed to force a win on the final day against the Redbacks, having earned a three-run first innings lead when Steve Magoffin
had Dan Cullen
caught behind for six midway through day three. Effectively 88 for three overnight, the Warriors lost nightwatchman Beau Casson
and Adam Voges
in the first session, but Marcus North
and Dave Bandy batted out four hours in a 211-run fifth-wicket partnership. The Warriors batted out the day to draw the game, and were thus third, with a chance to qualify with a win in the final round at the Bushrangers.
and Stuart Clark
added 23 for the ninth wicket and Clark and Mick Lewis
batted together to secure victory in the last over, which left the series tied at 2–2 with one to play. Australia won the toss, chose to bat first, and amassed runs off the South African bowlers. Their total of four for 434 was the highest team total thus far in ODI cricket, leaving South Africa to chase 435 to win – over 100 runs more than any team had chased before.
Yet, they did it. Herschelle Gibbs
and Graeme Smith
added 187 in 20.5 overs for the second wicket, and though Nathan Bracken
took five wickets and South Africa were down to the last man, Mark Boucher
won them the game by hitting a four off the fifth ball of the final over. Gibbs and Ricky Ponting
(164) were jointly awarded the Man of the Match award, but Ponting declined http://edition.cnn.com/2006/SPORT/03/12/cricket.records.reut/.
in Melbourne
would join the Bulls in the final, while a draw would see it come down to quotient with other sides. The Tigers finished first, winning their third match in succession after bowling the Bulls out for 176 and 140, while Michael Bevan
scored a century and captain Daniel Marsh
made 96 not out
. The Redbacks and the Blues played out a match with three declared innings at Adelaide
; South Australia batted first, making seven for 541 after centuries from Shane Deitz
, Cameron Borgas
and Mark Cosgrove
, and the Blues responded with six for 314 before declaring, knowing that their only chance of qualifying for the final would be a win in this game. The Redbacks batted for 27 overs, making three for 115 before setting the Blues 343 in a minimum of 100 overs. The Blues were five for 233 after 80 overs, when the Redbacks took the new ball
http://sportal.com.au/cricket.asp?i=news&id=79235, but Paul Rofe
took three wickets in thirteen balls. In the last hour, the Redbacks needed two wickets, and claimed the last when Aaron O'Brien
was bowled
for 48 by former Australian Test bowler Jason Gillespie
with seven balls remaining.
However, the result from Melbourne meant that the Redbacks' total of 26 points was not enough. The Warriors had earned a 19-run lead on first innings, though the Bushrangers' last three wickets had added more than their first seven (7–92 to 206 all out), and eight double-digit figures with a high of 66 from Chris Rogers
gave the Warriors a lead of 360 with 15 overs left on the third day. Before this match, the highest fourth innings total to win at the Junction Oval
was six for 209 by Western Australia in 1956–57. The final day was delayed by rain http://www.sportal.com.au/cricket.asp?i=news&id=79231, but after four half-centuries and 46 not out
from captain Cameron White
, the Bushrangers totalled five for 361 to win the match by five wickets and qualify for the final. Warriors pacer Brett Dorey
, leading wicket-taker for the season in the Warriors http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Events/AUS/Pura_Cup_2005-06/Bowling_by_Wickets.html, ended with nought for 102 off 25 overs.
, was over inside three days after Stuart Clark
claimed nine for 89 on Test debut to be named Man of the Match in Australia's seven-wicket win. South Africa batted first, making 205 with Nicky Boje
's 31 from number nine the highest score, and Matthew Hayden
and Ricky Ponting
then brought Australia within 30 of that before Ponting was caught off the bowling of Jacques Kallis
. Another half-century, from Andrew Symonds
, took Australia to a lead of 103, and Clark was leading wicket-taker in the second innings to bowl South Africa out for 197, and despite three wickets from Makhaya Ntini
, Australia made it to the target and won their third successive Test against South Africa.
In the second Test, Ricky Ponting
scored centuries in both the first and second innings to pass Don Bradman's mark of 29 Test hundreds http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/rsavaus/content/story/242211.html, while a five-wicket-haul from Brett Lee
helped Australia take a lead of 108 on first innings despite 114 from Jacques Kallis
. Half an hour before tea on day four, Ponting declared with a lead of 409, but weather conditions stopped play after tea and meant Australia had one day to bowl out South Africa and take the Test series win http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/rsavaus/content/story/242211.html. AB de Villiers added 91 with Graeme Smith
for the first wicket, but Shane Warne
accounted for them both and four more to take his first five-wicket-haul of the series and end with six for 86. South Africa were seven for 181 at one point, but Mark Boucher
put on 72 with Nicky Boje
for the eighth wicket and 39 with Andre Nel
for the ninth to give South Africa a chance of the draw; however, with six overs remaining, Makhaya Ntini
was given lbw
to Warne and Australia could cheer.
The final match of the domestic season was played at the 'Gabba
, and after the Bushrangers had made 344 in the first innings (with three batsmen, Brad Hodge
, Nick Jewell
and David Hussey
, making over three quarters of the score), it was the hosts' turn to bat. They overtook the Victorian score with just one wicket lost, that of Lachlan Stevens
for 66, and continued to bat well past it. In fact, they batted past the previous state record of 687 from 1930–31, with Jimmy Maher
(223), Shane Watson
(201, retired hurt
), Clinton Perren
(173) and Martin Love
(169) all passing 150 for Queensland. They lost three wickets in four overs to Dirk Nannes
after passing 850, but eventually declared on six for 900, the eleventh highest first class score of all time http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/242208.html?CMP=OTC-RSS. Mitchell Johnson
then took two wickets before stumps on the third day, and four on the fourth, to help bowl the Bushrangers out for 202 and secure the Pura Cup for Queensland. Daniel Doran
also took three wickets in the second innings.
Honours
- Championship – QueenslandQueensland BullsThe Queensland cricket team, nicknamed the Bulls, are the Brisbane-based Queensland representative cricket team in Australia's domestic cricket tournaments:*Sheffield Shield, 4-day matches with first-class status, since the 1926/27 season...
- Limited Overs KO Cup – New South WalesNew South Wales BluesThe New South Wales cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team based in Sydney, New South Wales...
Events
The 2005–06 Australian cricket season began on 2005-10-05 with the first official ICC Super Series match, and the home season lasted until 2006-03-27 when the Pura CupPura Cup
The Sheffield Shield is the domestic cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams from the six states of Australia. Prior to the Shield being established, a number of intercolonial matches were played. The Shield, donated by Lord Sheffield, was first contested during...
final concluded. The national team are, however, playing away matches until 2006-04-28. Australia
Australian cricket team
The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...
played six home Tests during this season – three against West Indies and three against South Africa
South African cricket team
The South African national cricket team represent South Africa in international cricket. They are administrated by Cricket South Africa.South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council, also known as ICC, with Test and One Day International, or ODI, status...
– and also hosted the three-team VB Series
VB Series
The Australian Tri-Series refers to the one day international cricket tournament held between 1979-80 and 2007-08 between the home side and two touring teams, in the height of the Australian cricket season, i.e. during the summer months of December, January and February. Between 1979–80 and 1995–96...
, between Australia, South Africa and Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan cricket team
The Sri Lankan cricket team is the national cricket team of Sri Lanka. The team first played international cricket in 1926–27, and were later awarded Test status in 1981, which made Sri Lanka the eighth Test cricket playing nation...
. The team also toured New Zealand
New Zealand cricket team
The New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the...
for One Day Internationals in December, played five ODIs and three Tests in South Africa in February and March, and visited Bangladesh for the first time in April. Also, the season included a new domestic competition, for the first time in 36 seasons – a Twenty20
Twenty20
Twenty20 is a form of cricket, originally introduced in England for professional inter-county competition by the England and Wales Cricket Board , in 2003. A Twenty20 game involves two teams, each has a single innings, batting for a maximum of 20 overs. Twenty20 cricket is also known as T20 cricket...
tournament called the Twenty20 Big Bash was held in January 2006, with two groups of three teams and the group winners proceeding to the final.
Australia won both their home Test series in November and December, winning the Frank Worrell Trophy
Frank Worrell Trophy
The Frank Worrell Trophy is awarded for the winner of the West Indies - Australia Test match series in cricket.The trophy is named after the former West Indies captain Sir Frank Worrell, and was first awarded at the end of the 1960-61 series...
by virtue of a 3–0 whitewash of the West Indies before defeating South Africa 2–0. Meanwhile, in domestic cricket, New South Wales Blues
New South Wales Blues
The New South Wales cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team based in Sydney, New South Wales...
assumed the ascendancy in both competitions, followed by the Victorian Bushrangers
Victorian Bushrangers
The Victorian cricket team, nicknamed the Bushrangers, is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria. It is administered by Cricket Victoria and draws its players from Melbourne's Premier Cricket competition...
; at the beginning of the New Year, the Blues were four points ahead of the Bushrangers in the Pura Cup, and six points ahead in the ING Cup. The Blues beat the Bushrangers in a top-of-the-table battle in the ING Cup on 2 January, leaving the Bushrangers eleven points adrift in second place, but the Bushrangers came back later in the month with three unbeaten matches against the Blues in the space of a week; a win in the ING, was followed up with a draw with first-innings points in the Pura and finally a win in the Twenty20 Big Bash final.
The Blues only won two matches from then on, falling all the way to last place in the Pura Cup, but one of the two ING Cup wins was a one-wicket win in the final against the Southern Redbacks
Southern Redbacks
The South Australia cricket team, nicknamed the Southern Redbacks and known as the West End Redbacks due to their sponsorship agreement with local brewers West End, are an Australian first class cricket team based in Adelaide, South Australia, and represent the state of South Australia...
, which secured them one title for this season as well. Australia came from one match down in the three-match final of the VB Series to beat Sri Lanka 2–1, and shortly afterwards began their winter tour of South Africa. South Africa won the Twenty20 International and the first two One-day Internationals, but Australia came back to 2–2, before the fifth match where the record for highest team total was broken twice. South Africa won that, but were brought down in the Tests, where Australia won the first and declared
Declaration and forfeiture
In the sport of cricket a declaration occurs when a captain declares his team's innings closed and a forfeiture is when a captain chooses to forfeit an innings. Declaration and forfeiture are covered in Law 14 of the Laws of cricket...
in the second.
The Pura Cup was rounded off in March; Queensland Bulls
Queensland Bulls
The Queensland cricket team, nicknamed the Bulls, are the Brisbane-based Queensland representative cricket team in Australia's domestic cricket tournaments:*Sheffield Shield, 4-day matches with first-class status, since the 1926/27 season...
qualified for their eighth successive final with a match to spare, while the Bushrangers and the Warriors fought for the last spot at the Junction Oval
Junction Oval
The Junction Oval is an historic sports ground in the suburb of St Kilda in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its location near the St Kilda Junction gave rise to its nickname...
. The Bushrangers successively chased 360 in that game to book their ticket for Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
and the final, where they conceded 900 runs in the first innings to lose by an innings and 354 runs.
Domestic competition tables
EWLINE
For an explanation of the points system, please see Pura Cup#Points System Legend:
|
For an explanation of the points system, please see ING Cup#Points system Legend:
|
The same points system is used as in the men's ING Cup. Legend:
|
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Roll of honour
Test series:- ICC Super Series Test match: Australia beat ICC World XI by 210 runs
- Frank Worrell TrophyFrank Worrell TrophyThe Frank Worrell Trophy is awarded for the winner of the West Indies - Australia Test match series in cricket.The trophy is named after the former West Indies captain Sir Frank Worrell, and was first awarded at the end of the 1960-61 series...
: Australia beat the West Indies 3–0 over three Tests to retain the trophy for the sixth time running - South Africans in AustraliaSouth African cricket team in Australia in 2005-06The 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...
: Australia beat South Africa 2–0 in three Tests - Australians in South AfricaAustralian cricket team in South Africa in 2005-06Australian cricket team toured South Africa for cricket matches during the 2005–06 South African cricket season. Australia won the Tests with a 3–0 whitewash, but lost both the limited overs series, the one-off Twenty20 and the five-match ODI, which was concluded with what was described as "the...
: Australia beat South Africa 3–0 in three Tests - Australians in Bangladesh: Australia beat Bangladesh 2-0 in two Tests in April 2006
ODI series:
- Super Series: Australia beat the ICC World XI 3–0
- Chappell–Hadlee Trophy (in New Zealand): Australia beat New Zealand 2–1
- VB SeriesVB SeriesThe Australian Tri-Series refers to the one day international cricket tournament held between 1979-80 and 2007-08 between the home side and two touring teams, in the height of the Australian cricket season, i.e. during the summer months of December, January and February. Between 1979–80 and 1995–96...
: Australia beat Sri Lanka 2–1 in the final series. South Africa finished third - Australians in South Africa: Australia lost 2–3 to South Africa
- Australians in Bangladesh: A series of three ODIs in April 2006
Twenty20 International:
- Australia won the one-off Twenty20 International at home to South Africa
- Australia lost the one-off Twenty20 International in South Africa
Pura Cup:
- Queensland Bulls beat Victorian Bushrangers in the final and won the Pura Cup
ING Cup:
- New South Wales Blues beat Southern Redbacks in the final and won the ING Cup
KFC Twenty20 Big Bash:
- Victorian Bushrangers beat New South Wales Blues in the final and won the KFC Twenty20 Big Bash
Women's Test:
- India women in Australia: Australia beat India in the only Test by an innings and four runs
Women's ODIs:
- India women in Australia: Australia beat India 3–0
Women's National League:
- New South Wales Breakers beat Queensland Fire 2–1 in the finals to win the National League.
Super Series ODIs
The first official match of the season was held on 5 October at the Telstra DomeTelstra Dome
Docklands Stadium is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment stadium in the Docklands precinct of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia...
between the ICC
International Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council is the international governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from England, Australia and South Africa, renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, and took up its current name in 1989.The...
World XI and Australia
Australian cricket team
The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...
, although there had been a one-day friendly match between the World XI and Victoria
Victorian Bushrangers
The Victorian cricket team, nicknamed the Bushrangers, is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria. It is administered by Cricket Victoria and draws its players from Melbourne's Premier Cricket competition...
which did not have List A status three days earlier, and the Cricket Australia Cup
Cricket Australia Cup
The Futures League is the Australian national second XI cricket competition. Run by Cricket Australia, it is part of its development program and includes the various state and territory second XI teams, for the 2009–10 season onwards the tournament was renamed the Futures League because a change of...
begun on 26 September. The first ODI was won by Australia, who bowled the World XI out for 162 to win the first match by 93 runs, and on the second ground in the second ODI they batted to 328 for 4 on their way to a 55-run win and securing a series victory. The final, dead-rubber
Dead-rubber
Dead rubber is a term used in sporting parlance to describe a match in a series where the series result has already been decided by earlier matches...
match was also played at the Telstra Dome, and once again Australia batted first, making 293 for 5 before bowling the World XI out for 137.
- First ODI, 5 October: Australia beat ICC World XI by 93 runs
- Second ODI, 7 October: Australia beat ICC World XI by 55 runs
- Third ODI, 9 October: Australia beat ICC World XI by 146 runs to win the series 3–0
Supertest
The domestic competitions began on 14 October, with Queensland Bulls losing the first game as they posted 99 in reply to the NSW Blues' total of 243 for 7 in the one-day ING Cup, at the same day as the six-day Supertest between Australia and the World XI began at the SCGSydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
. Australia took care of the Supertest as well - after making their way to 260 for 4 due to 111 from Matthew Hayden
Matthew Hayden
Matthew Lawrence Hayden AM is a former Australian cricketer, and was signed to the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL until the 2010 season. Hayden is a powerful and aggressive left-handed opening batsman, known for his ability to score quickly at both Test and one day levels.Hayden holds the record...
, Adam Gilchrist
Adam Gilchrist
Adam Craig Gilchrist AM , nicknamed "Gilly" or "Churchy", is an Australian international cricketer who currently captains Kings XI Punjab and recently captained Middlesex. He is an attacking left-handed batsman and record-breaking wicket-keeper, who redefined the role for the Australian national...
continued with 94 as Australia posted 345. The Aussies then dismissed six men in single figures, as the World XI were bowled out for 190 - Virender Sehwag
Virender Sehwag
Virender Sehwag , affectionately known as Viru, the Nawab of Najafgarh, or the Zen master of modern cricket, is one of the leading batsmen in the Indian cricket team. Sehwag is an aggressive right-handed opening batsman and a part-time right-arm off-spin bowler...
making 76, while spinners Shane Warne
Shane Warne
Shane Keith Warne is a former Australian international cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the history of the game. In 2000, he was selected by a panel of cricket experts as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century, the only specialist bowler selected in the quintet...
and Stuart MacGill
Stuart MacGill
Stuart Charles Glyndwr MacGill is a former right-arm leg spin bowler of the Australian cricket team, with a domestic career at Western Australia, New South Wales, Nottinghamshire, Devon and Somerset...
shared seven wickets - but Hayden and Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting
Ricky Thomas Ponting , nicknamed Punter, is an Australian cricketer, a former captain of the Australian cricket team between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 2011 in One Day International cricket. He is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as a very...
added 122 for the second wicket, and though Australia lost their last eight wickets for 47 runs, the World XI were set a target of 355 to win. Five World batsmen were then dismissed for ducks
Duck (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a duck refers to a batsman's dismissal for a score of zero.-Origin of the term:The term is a shortening of the term "duck's egg", the latter being used long before Test cricket began...
, MacGill took five for 43, and Australia completed a whitewash of the World XI with their 210-run win.
- Supertest, 14 October–17 October: Australia beat ICC World XI by 210 runs to win series 1–0
- ING Cup, 14 October: New South Wales Blues (6pts) beat Queensland Bulls (0pts) by 144 runs
Pura Cup begins, and first full ING round
On 17 October, the Pura CupPura Cup
The Sheffield Shield is the domestic cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams from the six states of Australia. Prior to the Shield being established, a number of intercolonial matches were played. The Shield, donated by Lord Sheffield, was first contested during...
began, with the Bulls taking on the Tasmanian Tigers
Tasmanian Tigers
The Tasmanian cricket team, nicknamed the Tigers, represents the Australian state of Tasmania in cricket tournaments. They compete annually in the Australian domestic senior men's cricket season, which currently consists of the first-class Sheffield Shield, the limited overs Ford Ranger Cup, and...
. Tasmania were effectively 17 for 7 in the second innings when rain intervened, ending the match in a draw. A day later, Victorian Bushrangers
Victorian Bushrangers
The Victorian cricket team, nicknamed the Bushrangers, is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria. It is administered by Cricket Victoria and draws its players from Melbourne's Premier Cricket competition...
completed a four-wicket victory at the WACA Ground
WACA Ground
The WACA is a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia. WACA are the initials of its owners and operators, the Western Australian Cricket Association....
to go top of the Pura Cup table. The week-end from 22 to 23 October saw a full round of ING Cup games, the Blues beating the Southern Redbacks
Southern Redbacks
The South Australia cricket team, nicknamed the Southern Redbacks and known as the West End Redbacks due to their sponsorship agreement with local brewers West End, are an Australian first class cricket team based in Adelaide, South Australia, and represent the state of South Australia...
to go top of the table, while the Bulls and the Western Warriors
Western Warriors
The Western Australia cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team representing the state of Western Australia...
also chased down targets to record wins.
- Pura Cup, 17 October–20 October: Queensland Bulls (2pts) drew with Tasmanian Tigers (0pts)
- Pura Cup, 18 October–21 October: Victorian Bushrangers (6pts) beat Western Warriors (0pts) by four wickets
- ING Cup, 22 October: Queensland Bulls (4pts) beat Tasmanian Tigers (0pts) by two wickets
- ING Cup, 23 October: New South Wales Blues (4pts) beat Southern Redbacks (0pts) by three wickets
- ING Cup, 23 October: Western Warriors (4pts) beat Victorian Bushrangers (0pts) by five wickets
Last week of October
One Pura Cup game was played in the last week of October, the Blues facing the Redbacks at the Sydney Cricket GroundSydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
, and New South Wales prevailed for their fourth win of the season. They declared
Declaration and forfeiture
In the sport of cricket a declaration occurs when a captain declares his team's innings closed and a forfeiture is when a captain chooses to forfeit an innings. Declaration and forfeiture are covered in Law 14 of the Laws of cricket...
twice - in the first innings at 515 for 9, in the second at 187 for 2 - and took the 20 required wickets to win by 187 runs. The West Indies
West Indian cricket team
The West Indian cricket team, also known colloquially as the West Indies or the Windies, is a multi-national cricket team representing a sporting confederation of 15 mainly English-speaking Caribbean countries, British dependencies and non-British dependencies.From the mid 1970s to the early 1990s,...
also started their tour with a drawn first-class match against the Bulls, where Marlon Samuels
Marlon Samuels
Marlon Nathaniel Samuels is a West Indian cricketer. Samuels made his Test debut in Australia in 2000, and his One Day International debut against Sri Lanka in Nairobi during the ICC Knockout Trophy in the same year....
hit a career-best 257 before taking five for 87 in the second innings. Queensland led by 89 with one wicket in hand when the match ended.
The final matches of October saw the Bushrangers face the Warriors for the third time of the month, this time for an ING Cup clash at the Junction Oval
Junction Oval
The Junction Oval is an historic sports ground in the suburb of St Kilda in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its location near the St Kilda Junction gave rise to its nickname...
in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, and the Bushrangers took advantage of home soil to win by eight wickets to go second in the table behind the Blues, whose one-day match with the Tigers was rained off.
- Pura Cup, 25 October–28 October: New South Wales Blues (6pts) beat Southern Redbacks (0pts) by 187 runs
- Tour match, 27 October–29 October: Queensland drew with the West Indians
- ING Cup, 29 October: Victoria Bushrangers (5pts) beat Western Warriors (0pts) by eight wickets
- ING Cup, 30 October: New South Wales Blues (2pts) v Tasmanian Tigers (2pts); match abandoned without a ball bowled
First Test v WI
The first match in November was the Test matchTest cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
between Australia and the West Indies at the Brisbane Cricket Ground
Brisbane Cricket Ground
The Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as The Gabba, is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland. It is named after the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located....
, which began on 3 November, and after a hundred in each innings from Australian captain Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting
Ricky Thomas Ponting , nicknamed Punter, is an Australian cricketer, a former captain of the Australian cricket team between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 2011 in One Day International cricket. He is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as a very...
, and five-wicket-hauls from Shane Warne
Shane Warne
Shane Keith Warne is a former Australian international cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the history of the game. In 2000, he was selected by a panel of cricket experts as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century, the only specialist bowler selected in the quintet...
(first innings) and Brett Lee
Brett Lee
Brett Lee is an Australian cricketer.After breaking into the Australian Test team, Lee was recognised as one of the fastest bowlers in world cricket...
(second innings), Australia hauled home a 379-run win. While the Test was on, the Redbacks recorded their first win of the season, beating the Bulls in the ING Cup after an unbeaten 109 from Mark Cosgrove
Mark Cosgrove
Mark James Cosgrove is a left-handed batsman and part-time medium pace bowler, who is contracted with the Tasmania for the 2010–11 season after previously playing for South Australia. In 2005 Cosgrove was named the Bradman Young Player of the Year...
, while the Blues' total of 309 for 8 was enough to beat the Warriors and widen the top-of-the-table in the other match on 4 November. The women's National Cricket League
Women's National Cricket League
The Women's National Cricket League is the national competition for women's cricket in Australia.The league competition involves the six member teams playing each other in two 50-over limited-over matches, with the side finishing at the top of the table after the preliminary rounds earning the...
began the following day, with Southern Scorpions overcoming Queensland Fire
Queensland Fire
The Queensland Fire are the women's representative cricket team for Queensland and they compete in the Women's National Cricket League.The Fire has played 104 matches for 36 wins, 1 tie, 4 no results and 63 losses.-External links:*The Homepage of...
, though the Scorpions' captain and number three batter, Karen Rolton
Karen Rolton
Karen Louise Rolton is a former Australian cricketer. A left-handed batsman and occasional left-arm medium-paced bowler, she has scored the most runs for Australia in women's Test cricket....
, was dismissed for a golden duck
Golden duck
A Golden duck may refer to:* A cricket 'golden' duck in which a batsman is out for nought on the first ball he faces* Złota kaczka, Polish for Golden duck, a legendary creature from Warsaw's urban legends...
. The following day, Rolton made 151 off 144 balls in chase of 254 in 50 overs, but the Scorpions still finished on 247 for 8 after Kirsten Pike
Kirsten Pike
Kirsten Elizabeth "Piker" "Pickles" Pike is an Australian cricketer who has played 1 Women's Test, 18 Women's One-day Internationals and three Women's Twenty20s for Australia....
took three wickets for the Fire.
- First Test, 3 November–6 November: Australia beat West Indies by 379 runs
- ING Cup, 4 November: New South Wales Blues (4pts) beat Western Warriors (0pts) by 25 runs
- ING Cup, 4 November: Southern Redbacks (4pts) beat Queensland Bulls (0pts) by six wickets
- Women's National League, 5 November: Southern Scorpions (4pts) beat Queensland Fire (0pts) by five wickets
- Women's National League, 6 November: Queensland Fire (4pts) beat Southern Scorpions (0pts) by seven runs
Domestic matches, first half of November
The Tigers and the Bushrangers also began a Pura Cup game on 4 November — the Tigers took a 180-run lead on first innings and forced the Bushrangers to follow on, but the Bushrangers turned the game around to win by 109 runs and went first in the Pura Cup table. NSW regained the Pura Cup ascendancy two days later, however, completing a victory at the Warriors' ground as they chased 88 to win by eight wickets despite a second-innings 161 from Western Australia's Chris RogersChris Rogers (cricketer)
Christopher John Llewellyn Rogers is an Australian cricketer.Rogers is a left-handed opening batsman and a left-handed leg-break bowler...
. On the same day, the Bulls completed their second draw of the season against the Redbacks, in a match where nearly two days' play were lost to rain. Two days later, on 11 November, Victorian Bushrangers
Victorian Bushrangers
The Victorian cricket team, nicknamed the Bushrangers, is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria. It is administered by Cricket Victoria and draws its players from Melbourne's Premier Cricket competition...
began a three-day tour match with the West Indies - it was drawn, as each team only completed one of two innings, with Victoria making 571 in their 122.4 overs. The West Indies were bowled out for 302 in the reply. The teams agreed to play a Twenty20
Twenty20
Twenty20 is a form of cricket, originally introduced in England for professional inter-county competition by the England and Wales Cricket Board , in 2003. A Twenty20 game involves two teams, each has a single innings, batting for a maximum of 20 overs. Twenty20 cricket is also known as T20 cricket...
match at the end of the match, which Victoria won in the last over, despite six sixes and a 40-ball 81 from West Indian batsman Dwayne Smith
Dwayne Smith
Dwayne Romel Smith is a cricketer who has represented the West Indies. An all-rounder, he is known as an aggressive and powerful right-handed batsman, bowls medium pace, and is also an athletic fielder. Smith has played for Barbados since the start of his career but has also played three seasons...
.
In the ING Cup, the Warriors recorded a win to go second in the table, while the Bulls followed in third after they became the first team to beat the Blues in the season - despite 152 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
from Blues' opener Phil Jaques
Phil Jaques
Philip Anthony Jaques is an Australian cricketer. He is a left-handed opening batsman who has played first-class cricket for New South Wales, Northamptonshire, Yorkshire and Worcestershire, as well as international cricket for Australia...
, the Bulls had Clinton Perren
Clinton Perren
Clinton Terrence Perren is an Australian first-class cricketer who played for Queensland. He was a right-handed middle order batsman....
and Matthew Hayden
Matthew Hayden
Matthew Lawrence Hayden AM is a former Australian cricketer, and was signed to the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL until the 2010 season. Hayden is a powerful and aggressive left-handed opening batsman, known for his ability to score quickly at both Test and one day levels.Hayden holds the record...
respond with a 113-run second wicket stand on their way to a three-wicket win. The Warriors went straight from ING Cup success to Pura Cup disappointment - their third loss in a row in that competition came at the Redbacks, who won by 129 runs after Darren Lehmann
Darren Lehmann
Darren Scott Lehmann is a former Australian cricketer, who made his ODI debut in 1996 and Test debut in 1998. He was on the fringes of national selection for the entirety of the 1990s, and only became a regular in the ODI team in 2001 and Test team in late 2002, before being dropped in early 2005...
hit a career-best 301 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
to send the Redbacks to a first-innings total of 552 for 7 declared. The Redbacks did not enforce the follow on after bowling them out 271 behind, but after setting a target of 411 in three and a half sessions, Dan Cullen
Dan Cullen
Daniel James Cullen is an Australian cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and right-hand off break bowler. He plays his domestic cricket for South Australia and played for Somerset in the 2006 English cricket season....
took five for 92 to help bowl out the Warriors for a total of 271. Warriors wicket-keeper
Wicket-keeper
The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being guarded by the batsman currently on strike...
Ryan Campbell
Ryan Campbell
Ryan John Campbell is a former Australian cricketer who currently plays for ICL's Ahmedabad Rockets. Known as Cambo, he played for the Western Warriors as a wicket-keeper and as a quick-scoring right-handed batsman, often as an opener...
hit 186 runs in two innings in the match.
- Pura Cup, 4 November–7 November: Victoria Bushrangers (6pts) beat Tasmanian Tigers (2pts) by 109 runs
- Pura Cup, 6 November–9 November: New South Wales Bulls (6pts) beat Western Warriors (0pts) by eight wickets
- Pura Cup, 6 November–9 November: Queensland Bulls (2pts) drew with Southern Redbacks (0pts)
- Tour match, 11 November–13 November: Victoria drew with the West Indians
- Tour match, Twenty20, 13 November: Victoria beat the West Indians by four wickets
- ING Cup, 12 November: Western Warriors (5pts) beat Southern Redbacks (0pts) by six wickets
- ING Cup, 13 November: Queensland Bulls (4pts) beat New South Wales Blues (0pts) by three wickets
- Pura Cup, 14 November–17 November: Southern Redbacks (4pts) beat Western Warriors (0pts) by 129 runs
Second Test
The second Test began on 17 November, and this time the West Indies lasted all five days - one more than in Brisbane - despite falling for 149 in two sessions after choosing to bat. Matthew HaydenMatthew Hayden
Matthew Lawrence Hayden AM is a former Australian cricketer, and was signed to the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL until the 2010 season. Hayden is a powerful and aggressive left-handed opening batsman, known for his ability to score quickly at both Test and one day levels.Hayden holds the record...
and Mike Hussey put on 231 for the first wicket, as Australia made 406, and the West Indies were 140 for 6 midway through the morning session on day four. Then Dwayne Bravo
Dwayne Bravo
Dwayne James John Bravo is a West Indian cricketer. A right-handed pace bowler, Bravo is expected to play a significant role in attempts by the West Indies to return to international prominence in the sport....
hit his highest Test score thus far with 113, and with the help of wicket-keeper Denesh Ramdin
Denesh Ramdin
Denesh Ramdin is a West Indian cricketer of Indian descent. He is a right-handed batsman who generally occupies the position of wicketkeeper.He is seen by selectors and fans as a replacement in terms of playing style for Jeff Dujon...
who made a career-best 71 and shared a 182-run stand with Bravo, he helped the West Indies to set a target of 78. Australia lost one wicket in the chase, that of Hayden, who was caught for 46 in the over before Hussey ended the match.
- Second Test, 17 November–21 November: Australia beat West Indies by nine wickets
Pura Cup Week Four
In the Pura Cup, the Blues took care of the Tigers inside three days, posting 522 for 9 declared before Stuart ClarkStuart Clark
Stuart Rupert Clark is an Australian International cricketer who plays domestic cricket for the New South Wales Blues. He plays as a right-arm fast-medium bowler...
took six wickets as Tasmania were bowled out for 294 and 138 in an innings-and-90-run defeat. Queensland also got their first win of the season, rain staying away from the 'Gabba
Brisbane Cricket Ground
The Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as The Gabba, is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland. It is named after the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located....
as Queensland recovered from a 28-run first-innings deficit against the Bushrangers to make 405 in the second innings, before Michael Kasprowicz
Michael Kasprowicz
Michael Scott Kasprowicz is a former Australian Test cricketer. He is a right arm fast bowler, effective outfielder and useful lower order batsman, and has enjoyed a successful career both in Australia and in the English county scene since making his debut for Queensland as a seventeen year old in...
got the best first-class bowling figures in Australia all season with eight for 44. Victoria were bowled out for 155, despite number three Lloyd Mash
Lloyd Mash
Lloyd Ryan Mash is a former Australian first-class cricketer who played for the Victorian Bushrangers. He was a left-handed top order batsman.His Junior club was the Eltham Cricket Club...
making 83 in his second first-class match. The weekend also saw four matches in the women's National League, the Southern Scorpions and the Victoria Spirit winning one match each, while the NSW Breakers
New South Wales Breakers
The New South Wales Breakers are the women's representative cricket team for New South Wales and they compete in the Women's National Cricket League...
started the season unbeaten with two wins over Western Fury
Western Fury
The Western Fury is the representative women's cricket team of Western Australia and is based in Perth, Western Australia. Their home ground is the WACA Ground, although from 2011/2012 they will also play games at Murdoch University....
.
- Pura Cup, 18 November–20 November: New South Wales Blues (6pts) beat Tasmanian Tigers (0pts) by an innings and 90 runs
- Pura Cup, 18 November–21 November: Queensland Bulls (6pts) beat Victorian Bushrangers (2pts) by 225 runs
- Women's National League, 19 November: Southern Scorpions (4pts) beat Victoria Spirit (0pts) by one wicket
- Women's National League, 19 November: New South Wales Breakers (4pts) beat Western Fury (0pts) by seven wickets
- Women's National League, 20 November: Victoria Spirit (5pts) beat Southern Scorpions (0pts) by four wickets
- Women's National League, 20 November: New South Wales Breakers (5pts) beat Western Fury (0pts) by 118 runs
Third Test
The last ING Cup match of the month was on 25 November between the Warriors and the Tigers at the WACA GroundWACA Ground
The WACA is a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia. WACA are the initials of its owners and operators, the Western Australian Cricket Association....
, a match that was decided on the last ball - the Warriors batted to 262 for 7 after 72 from Chris Rogers
Chris Rogers (cricketer)
Christopher John Llewellyn Rogers is an Australian cricketer.Rogers is a left-handed opening batsman and a left-handed leg-break bowler...
and 66 from Shaun Marsh
Shaun Marsh
Shaun Edward Marsh is an Australian cricketer who plays for the Western Warriors in Australian domestic cricket and has represented Australia at One Day International and Twenty20 International levels...
, but Michael di Venuto
Michael Di Venuto
Michael James Di Venuto is a former Australian cricketer of Italian descent who played first-class cricket for Tasmanian Tigers and One Day Internationals for Australia. Although he has retired from representative cricket in Australia, he currently continues to play for Durham CCC. He has also...
hit a hundred for the Tigers, before three wickets fell for 21 to leave the Tigers at 255 for 7 with an over to spare. After two runs came off the first four deliveries, Scott Kremerskothen
Scott Kremerskothen
Scott Paul Kremerskothen in Launceston, Tasmania is an Australian cricketer, who has played for Tasmania. He plays his club cricket for Clarence District Cricket Club...
hit Steve Magoffin
Steve Magoffin
Steven James "Steve" Magoffin is an Australian cricketer currently playing with the Queensland cricket team...
for four off the penultimate ball before taking two off the last to win the game. On the same day, West Indies batsman Brian Lara
Brian Lara
Brian Charles Lara, TC, OCC, AM is a former West Indian international cricket player. Lara is generally regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time...
hit 202 unbeaten runs in the third and final Test to become the second batsman to pass 11,000 Test runs, and he broke Allan Border
Allan Border
Allan Robert Border AO is a former Australian cricketer. A batsman, Border was for many years the captain of the Australian team. His playing nickname was "A.B.". He played 156 Test matches in his career, a record until it was passed by fellow Australian Steve Waugh...
's Test record of most runs on the following day, making 226 out of the West Indies total of 405. However, Australia replied with 428 after Hussey hit another century, and despite the efforts of Bravo (six for 84 in the first innings, 64 with the bat in the second), West Indies lost by seven wickets after Warne took six wickets in the West Indies' second innings and Hayden hit an unbeaten 87 to take Australia to the target and the whitewash.
- Third Test, 25 November–29 November: Australia beat West Indies by seven wickets to win the series 3–0 and win the Frank Worrell Trophy
- ING Cup, 25 November: Tasmanian Tigers (4pts) beat Western Warriors (0pts) by three wickets
Pura Cup Week Five
Michael ClarkeMichael Clarke (cricketer)
Michael John Clarke is an Australian cricketer. He was appointed captain of the Test and ODI teams on 30 March 2011. Nicknamed 'Pup', he is a right-handed batsman, and occasional left-arm orthodox spin bowler...
had been dropped from the Australian team, but responded to the selectors with 201 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
for the NSW Blues in a rain-hit game with the Bulls at the SCG
Sydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
, which ended in a draw, the Bulls' third of the season. The Redbacks also had the help of a dropped Test player as they climbed to third place - Jason Gillespie
Jason Gillespie
Jason Neil Gillespie is an Australian cricketer who formerly represented Australia at international level, in both Tests and One Day Internationals, and South Australia, Yorkshire and Glamorgan at first-class level. His primary role is as a right-arm fast-medium bowler, but he is also a competent...
took seven wickets in the first innings, and nine for 125 in total, before half-centuries from Matthew Elliott and Callum Ferguson
Callum Ferguson
Callum James Ferguson is an Australian cricketer who currently plays Australian Domestic cricket for South Australia.He represented Australia at Under 19 level and debuted for the Australia one-day side in 2009...
gave the Redbacks a win in the final session. The last match of the month was in the Pura Cup, where the Warriors batted first against the Tigers and took a 171-run first-innings lead to take their first points of the season, before being bundled out for 176 in the second innings and losing by two wickets after George Bailey
George Bailey (cricketer)
George John Bailey is an Australian cricketer, and the captain of the Tasmanian Tigers in Australian first class cricket...
made a century and the Tigers made it to eight for 348 - their highest total thus far in the season.
- Pura Cup, 26 November–29 November: New South Wales Blues (2pts) drew with Queensland Bulls (0pts)
- Pura Cup, 26 November–29 November: Southern Redbacks (6pts) beat Victorian Bushrangers (0pts) by seven wickets
- Pura Cup, 27 November–30 November: Tasmanian Tigers (6pts) beat Western Warriors (2pts) by two wickets
Chappell–Hadlee Trophy
Australia's national team travelled to New Zealand for a one-week, three-match ODI series called the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy - at the first match in AucklandAuckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, Australia made eight for 252 after Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting
Ricky Thomas Ponting , nicknamed Punter, is an Australian cricketer, a former captain of the Australian cricket team between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 2011 in One Day International cricket. He is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as a very...
and Simon Katich
Simon Katich
Simon Matthew Katich is an Australian cricketer. He is the captain of the New South Wales Blues, and also captained, up until the end of the 2007 season, Derbyshire County Cricket Club...
hit half-centuries, and though the opposing captain Daniel Vettori
Daniel Vettori
Daniel Luca Vettori ONZM is a cricketer for the New Zealand cricket team. He is the eighth player in Test history to take 300 wickets and score 3,000 runs. He is the youngest player to have represented New Zealand in Test cricket, having made his debut in 1996–97 at the age of 18...
took two wickets and let away 29 runs in ten overs (the third-most economical bowler in the match), it was Australian bowler Brett Lee
Brett Lee
Brett Lee is an Australian cricketer.After breaking into the Australian Test team, Lee was recognised as one of the fastest bowlers in world cricket...
who became Man of the Match due to his bowling. He bowled four maidens with the new ball, taking three wickets for five runs including both the Marshall twins, Hamish
Hamish Marshall
Hamish John Hamilton Marshall is a New Zealand cricketer. He is the identical twin brother of James Marshall. Hamish and James became the second pair of twins to play Test cricket, and are the first identical pair.Marshall, a middle-order batsman, made his Test debut against South Africa in...
and James
James Marshall (cricketer)
James Andrew Hamilton Marshall is a New Zealand cricketer. He is the identical twin brother of Hamish Marshall.The versatile James Marshall can play as both opener and middle-order batsman...
, and ended with the bowling analysis
Bowling analysis
In the sport of cricket, a bowling analysis usually refers to a notation summarising a bowler's performance in terms of overs bowled, how many of those overs are maidens , total runs conceded and number of wickets taken...
of 6–4–5–3. Stuart Clark
Stuart Clark
Stuart Rupert Clark is an Australian International cricketer who plays domestic cricket for the New South Wales Blues. He plays as a right-arm fast-medium bowler...
, playing in his second One-day International, got three for 19, and New Zealand were bowled out for 105 in a 147-run loss.
The first match of December was an ING Cup match between the Redbacks and the Bushrangers. The Bushrangers could go second in the table with a win, but after rain delayed the start for 90 minutes and shortened both teams' innings to 41 overs, spinners Dan Cullen
Dan Cullen
Daniel James Cullen is an Australian cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and right-hand off break bowler. He plays his domestic cricket for South Australia and played for Somerset in the 2006 English cricket season....
and Darren Lehmann
Darren Lehmann
Darren Scott Lehmann is a former Australian cricketer, who made his ODI debut in 1996 and Test debut in 1998. He was on the fringes of national selection for the entirety of the 1990s, and only became a regular in the ODI team in 2001 and Test team in late 2002, before being dropped in early 2005...
shared seven wickets and limited the Bushrangers to a total of eight for 204 in their rain-shortened innings. Michael Klinger
Michael Klinger
Michael Klinger is a first-class cricketer with the South Australia Redbacks. His nickname is "Maxy", after the M*A*S*H character Maxwell Klinger....
notched up 103, the Bushrangers' first one-day century of the season, but Greg Blewett
Greg Blewett
Gregory Scott Blewett is a former Australian right handed batsman and a right arm medium fast bowler in cricket who represented the Australian national cricket team in Test cricket and One Day International matches from 1995 to 2000....
and Mark Cosgrove
Mark Cosgrove
Mark James Cosgrove is a left-handed batsman and part-time medium pace bowler, who is contracted with the Tasmania for the 2010–11 season after previously playing for South Australia. In 2005 Cosgrove was named the Bradman Young Player of the Year...
shared an unbeaten 143-run partnership for the third wicket to guide the Redbacks home after two wickets from Peter Siddle
Peter Siddle
Peter Matthew Siddle is an Australian Test cricketer. He is a specialist right-arm fast-medium bowler who plays for Victoria and the Australia national cricket team.-Early life and career:...
had seen the Redbacks to two for 62. In the women's league, the Breakers extended their run of victories to four, while one bonus point and a win in the first match against Western Fury was enough to see Victoria Spirit into the second place, despite losing the second match.
- First One-day International, 3 December: Australia beat New Zealand by 147 runs
- ING Cup, 3 December: Southern Redbacks (4pts) beat Victorian Bushrangers (0pts) by seven wickets
- Women's National League, 3 December: New South Wales Breakers (5pts) beat Queensland Fire (0pts) by seven wickets
- Women's National League, 3 December: Victoria Spirit (5pts) beat Western Fury (0pts) by 81 runs
- Women's National League, 4 December: New South Wales Breakers (5pts) beat Queensland Fire (0pts) by 78 runs
- Women's National League, 4 December: Western Fury (4pts) beat Victoria Spirit (0pts) by three wickets
South Africans arrive
South AfricaSouth African cricket team
The South African national cricket team represent South Africa in international cricket. They are administrated by Cricket South Africa.South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council, also known as ICC, with Test and One Day International, or ODI, status...
began their tour of Australia on 5 December, 11 days before the first Test match, with a three-day tour match against Western Australia. After a century from Adam Voges
Adam Voges
Adam Charles Voges is an Australian cricketer. In domestic cricket, he plays for the Western Warriors. He is a right-hand batsman and part-time left-arm orthodox bowler.-Early career:...
, the Warriors declared on eight for 391, before bowling out South Africa from 179 and 164 in their two innings to take the win by an innings and 48 runs. Meanwhile, the Blues travelled to Victoria and the Bushrangers for a Pura Cup match scheduled to start on 6 December, but heavy rain in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
saw the first day's play called off. After play started at 2pm on the second day, Phil Jaques
Phil Jaques
Philip Anthony Jaques is an Australian cricketer. He is a left-handed opening batsman who has played first-class cricket for New South Wales, Northamptonshire, Yorkshire and Worcestershire, as well as international cricket for Australia...
hit 124 not out as the Blues closed on two for 217, but after he was dismissed no Blues batsman made 25, and the Blues lost their last eight wickets for 80, Allen Wise taking a career-best six for 89 along the way. The Bushrangers then had four top-order batsmen hit half-centuries, and Test bowler MacGill bowled 22 wicketless overs as the Bushrangers racked up a first-innings lead, making 462. Six batsmen were then dismissed for sub-15 scores, with Shane Harwood
Shane Harwood
Shane Michael Harwood is an Australian cricketer who plays for the Victorian Bushrangers. He bowls right-arm fast-medium and has represented Australia in three Twenty20 Internationals....
notching up four scalps and Wise two, but Brad Haddin hung on to make 71 not out, and Matt Nicholson batted with him for 90 minutes for 9 to see the Blues close on seven for 139 and draw the game.
- Tour match, 5 December–7 December: Western Australia beat the South Africans by an innings and 48 runs
- Pura Cup, 6 December–9 December: Victorian Bushrangers (2pts) drew with New South Wales Blues (0pts)
End of New Zealand tour
The final two ODIs of the Chappell–Hadlee Trophy saw four team scores above 320, and a record chase in the final dead rubber match. The second match between Australia and New Zealand saw Australia bat first, and after Australia had been four for 101 after Simon KatichSimon Katich
Simon Matthew Katich is an Australian cricketer. He is the captain of the New South Wales Blues, and also captained, up until the end of the 2007 season, Derbyshire County Cricket Club...
was run out, an Australian record partnership between Michael Clarke
Michael Clarke (cricketer)
Michael John Clarke is an Australian cricketer. He was appointed captain of the Test and ODI teams on 30 March 2011. Nicknamed 'Pup', he is a right-handed batsman, and occasional left-arm orthodox spin bowler...
and Andrew Symonds
Andrew Symonds
Andrew Symonds is a former Australian cricket team all-rounder. A two-time World Cup winner, Symonds is a right-handed middle order batsman and alternates between medium pace and off-spin bowling....
followed. The pair who added 220 for the fifth wicket, Symonds hitting eight sixes and twelve fours on his way to a record score in ODIs between the two sides. His 156 was the third-highest by an Australian against any opponent, and the stand with Clarke paved the way for a total of 322 for 5. New Zealand needed 53 from the last 33 balls, and New Zealand still needed 24 off the final two overs. However, Brett Lee's penultimate over yielded 18 runs, as Brett Lee bowled a no-ball and a wide, and another ball was adjudged a no-ball as Australia had too few players inside the circle. Mick Lewis
Mick Lewis
Michael Llewellyn "Mick" Lewis is an Australian cricketer.-Grade career and state career:Born in Greensborough, Victoria, Lewis was a grade cricketer who played for Northcote and the Victorian Bushrangers gave him his first-class debut in the 1999/2000 season...
was left to bowl the last over, and with six runs required the last two batsmen were run out, leaving New Zealand on 320 – two runs short of victory. Australia thus won the Chappell–Hadlee Trophy with a match to spare.
A warm-up match without List A status saw South Africa beat the Cricket Australia Chairman's XI at Lilac Hill
Lilac Hill
Lilac Hill is a picturesque cricket ground in Western Australia in the Perth suburb of Guildford, where the Swan River wraps itself around its southern and eastern sides. The ends of the ground are known as the river end and the pavilion end....
, with medium pacer Garnett Kruger
Garnett Kruger
Garnett John-Peter Kruger is a South African cricketer. Kruger started his first-class cricket career in 1997–98 for Eastern Province B, moving up to the A team in 1999–2000. In 2003–04 he played for Gauteng, before moving to the Lions on the reorganisation of South African first-class cricket in...
taking four wickets and Herschelle Gibbs
Herschelle Gibbs
Herschelle Herman Gibbs is a South African cricketer, more specifically a batsman.Gibbs was schooled at St Joseph's Marist College and then Diocesan College in Rondebosch...
hitting an unbeaten 91 in the chase. A day later, in the last match of the Chappell–Hadlee Trophy, Mitchell Johnson
Mitchell Johnson (cricketer)
Mitchell Guy Johnson is an Australian cricketer. He is a left-arm fast bowler and left-handed batsman. He was awarded the International Cricket Council's 2009 "Cricketer of the Year" award, the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy.-Career:...
was given his debut as Super Sub
Substitute (cricket)
A substitute in the sport of cricket is a replacement player that the umpires allow when a player has been injured or become ill after the nomination of the players at the start of the game...
, coming in after Australia had batted to seven for 331 with four half-centuries. Johnson bowled nine overs for 64, without taking a wicket, and Scott Styris
Scott Styris
Scott Bernardo Styris is an Australian-born New Zealand cricketer. An allrounder, Styris is an aggressive right-handed middle order batsman and a right-arm medium pace bowler....
hit a hundred as New Zealand chased down the target for the highest successful run chase in ODI cricket thus far. Meanwhile, in the ING Cup, the Redbacks went second after beating the Tigers, former Test bowler Jason Gillespie
Jason Gillespie
Jason Neil Gillespie is an Australian cricketer who formerly represented Australia at international level, in both Tests and One Day Internationals, and South Australia, Yorkshire and Glamorgan at first-class level. His primary role is as a right-arm fast-medium bowler, but he is also a competent...
making up for his wicketless match by taking part in an unbeaten eight-wicket stand of 34 to see the Redbacks to the target, and in the final match of the week the Bushrangers, including Shane Warne
Shane Warne
Shane Keith Warne is a former Australian international cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the history of the game. In 2000, he was selected by a panel of cricket experts as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century, the only specialist bowler selected in the quintet...
, beat the Bulls after Grant Lindsay
Grant Lindsay
Grant Paul Lindsay is an Australian cricketer who played for the Victorian Bushrangers side. He is a right arm medium-pace bowler but also a capable lower-order batsman, especially in one day cricket...
had taken three wickets and the Bulls were bowled out for 185, Liam Buchanan
Liam Buchanan
Liam Buchanan is a Scottish professional footballer currently playing for Scottish Premier League side Dunfermline Athletic.-Career:...
and David Hussey
David Hussey
David John Hussey is an Australian cricketer. Hussey is a right-handed batsman and can also bowl right-arm offbreaks. He is the younger brother of Australian Test cricketer Michael Hussey.-Australian domestic career:...
hit half-centuries and the Bushrangers won by five wickets, taking a bonus point.
- Second ODI, 7 December: Australia beat New Zealand by two runs
- Tour match, 9 December: South Africans beat Cricket Australia Chairman's XI by eight wickets
- Third ODI, 10 December: New Zealand beat Australia by two wickets; Australia win the series 2–1 and become the first winners of the Chappell–Hadlee Trophy
- ING Cup, 10 December: Southern Redbacks (4pts) beat Tasmanian Tigers (0pts) by three wickets
- ING Cup, 11 December: Victorian Bushrangers (5pts) beat Queensland Bulls (0pts) by six wickets
Third week of December
Travis Birt
Travis Rodney Birt is an Australian cricketer, who currently plays Australian state cricket for Western Australia, and in the Indian Premier League for Delhi Daredevils...
(who made 140) and George Bailey (155). Sean Clingeleffer
Sean Clingeleffer
Sean Geoffrey Clingeleffer in Hobart, Tasmania is an Australian cricket player, who plays for the Tasmanian Tigers. He plays his club cricket for North Hobart Cricket Club....
also made a half-century, as the Tigers declared on eight for 421, but the Redbacks batted to a total of 638 after five batsmen passed 50 and eight passed 30. The Tigers, however, batted to four for 291 and a draw, as opener David Dawson
David Dawson (cricketer)
David Graham Dawson is an Australian cricket player, who played for the Tasmanian Tigers...
batted for six and a half hours for 144 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
, a career best score and his second century in 14 first-class games.
- Tour match, 11 December–13 December: Western Australia XI drew with South Africans
- Pura Cup, 12 December–15 December: Southern Redbacks (2pts) drew with Tasmanian Tigers (0pts)
Last matches before Christmas
WACA Ground
The WACA is a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia. WACA are the initials of its owners and operators, the Western Australian Cricket Association....
as favourites, but still conceded a first innings lead, before Brad Hodge
Brad Hodge
Bradley John Hodge is an Australian and Victorian cricketer. He attended St Bede's College in Mentone, Victoria. He is a right hand batsman who bats in the middle order, as well as a part time right arm off spin bowler....
scored a maiden Test century in the second innings. He went on to convert it to a double, ending with 203 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
, and Australia declared on eight for 528. South Africa were left to chase 491 for the victory, or bat for four sessions for the draw; the latter was achieved and the teams would go into the Boxing Day Test with the series tied at 0–0. The Melbourne Herald Sun claimed that the Australian captain Ponting "was dealing with one of the biggest blunders of his career", after Australia failed to win the match.
With the Warriors out of their own stadium due to the Test match, they travelled east to Queensland and the Gabba
Brisbane Cricket Ground
The Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as The Gabba, is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland. It is named after the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located....
, where Brett Dorey
Brett Dorey
Brett Raymond Dorey is an Australian cricketer. He played four One Day Internationals for the Australia national cricket team in 2006, picking up two wickets. He played domestic first-class and one-day cricket for the Western Warriors from the 2004–05 to 2010–11 seasons.-Life and career:Dorey was...
and Beau Casson
Beau Casson
Beau Casson is a former Australian cricketer who played for Western Australia and New South Wales, in a career spanning from 2002 to 2011, and has represented Australia at Test cricket. Primarily a left arm wrist spinner, Casson is also capable with the bat and has a highest First-class score of 99...
helped them restrict the Bulls while in the field. In the first innings, Dorey bowled the most of any Warriors bowler, and in his 31 overs he took a career-best seven for 87. The Bulls lost their last eight wickets for 116, but still posted 308 after a century from opener Lachlan Stevens
Lachlan Stevens
Lachlan McRae Stevens , is a former player for the Queensland cricket team and current coach of the Western Australia cricket team and the Perth Scorchers.-Career:...
, his first ton in first-class cricket. Another seven-for came in the Warriors' innings, when the Bulls' Michael Kasprowicz
Michael Kasprowicz
Michael Scott Kasprowicz is a former Australian Test cricketer. He is a right arm fast bowler, effective outfielder and useful lower order batsman, and has enjoyed a successful career both in Australia and in the English county scene since making his debut for Queensland as a seventeen year old in...
took seven for 103, as the Warriors lost their last eight wickets for 114, two less than Queensland. However, with three half-centuries from Clinton Heron, Marcus North
Marcus North
Marcus James North is an Australian cricketer, who scored centuries on both his Test and Ashes debuts. He has also played for the Australian Cricket Academy, Western Australia, Australia A, Durham, Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, Lancashire and Hampshire.He is a left-handed batsman and right arm...
and Damien Martyn
Damien Martyn
Damien Richard Martyn is a former Australian cricketer. He played for the national team sporadically in 1992–1994 before becoming a regular ODI player in 1999–2000 and a regular Test player in 2001 until his retirement in late 2006...
having sent the Warriors to three for 217, they took a lead of 23. The Bulls were then bowled out for 242, spinner Casson taking five for 88 including two ducks, but with the seventh ball of the Warriors' innings they lost Chris Rogers
Chris Rogers (cricketer)
Christopher John Llewellyn Rogers is an Australian cricketer.Rogers is a left-handed opening batsman and a left-handed leg-break bowler...
for three, and after Clint Heron
Clint Heron
Clinton Jack Heron is a Zimbabwean cricketer, who played for Western Warriors. Heron, nicknamed Torus, is a right-handed batsman and bowls right arm off-break. On his first-class debut in November 2005 he scored 84 against Tasmania, this remains his highest score in first-class cricket...
hit a half-century, seven balls from Andy Bichel yielded three wickets and sent the Warriors from 129 for 3 to 130 for 6. Bichel then held a catch at gully to dismiss Campbell, but with 47 required and three wickets in hand, Sean Marsh and Dorey combined to give the Warriors the winning runs.
There were four matches in the Women's National League this weekend; New South Wales and South Australia won one each of the two matches played at Newcastle
Newcastle, New South Wales
The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...
, with Karen Rolton
Karen Rolton
Karen Louise Rolton is a former Australian cricketer. A left-handed batsman and occasional left-arm medium-paced bowler, she has scored the most runs for Australia in women's Test cricket....
hitting an unbeaten 141 in the second match for the Southern Scorpions, while Queensland Fire won both matches against Western Fury. Two ING Cup matches were also played out on 18 December; the Bushrangers chased down a target of 247 set by the Tigers after David Hussey
David Hussey
David John Hussey is an Australian cricketer. Hussey is a right-handed batsman and can also bowl right-arm offbreaks. He is the younger brother of Australian Test cricketer Michael Hussey.-Australian domestic career:...
and Cameron White
Cameron White
Cameron Leon White is an Australian cricketer and current Australian Twenty20 captain. A powerful middle order batsman and right-arm leg-spin bowler, White made his first-class cricket debut as a teenager in the 2000–01 season for the Victorian Bushrangers as a bowling all-rounder...
shared a fourth-wicket stand of 162, while Phil Jaques
Phil Jaques
Philip Anthony Jaques is an Australian cricketer. He is a left-handed opening batsman who has played first-class cricket for New South Wales, Northamptonshire, Yorkshire and Worcestershire, as well as international cricket for Australia...
hit an unbeaten 158, a career-best in List A cricket, to give the Blues a total of 282 for 4 before Stuart Clark
Stuart Clark
Stuart Rupert Clark is an Australian International cricketer who plays domestic cricket for the New South Wales Blues. He plays as a right-arm fast-medium bowler...
(7.3–0–36–4) and Michael Clarke
Michael Clarke (cricketer)
Michael John Clarke is an Australian cricketer. He was appointed captain of the Test and ODI teams on 30 March 2011. Nicknamed 'Pup', he is a right-handed batsman, and occasional left-arm orthodox spin bowler...
(8–0–27–3) helped to bowl out the Redbacks for 209, which gave the Blues a 73-run win and five points in this top-of-the-table battle. The Blues now had a seven-point lead over the second-placed Bushrangers. Four days later, the round of games was completed, with the Warriors posting 226 against the Bulls after Damien Martyn
Damien Martyn
Damien Richard Martyn is a former Australian cricketer. He played for the national team sporadically in 1992–1994 before becoming a regular ODI player in 1999–2000 and a regular Test player in 2001 until his retirement in late 2006...
, Marcus North
Marcus North
Marcus James North is an Australian cricketer, who scored centuries on both his Test and Ashes debuts. He has also played for the Australian Cricket Academy, Western Australia, Australia A, Durham, Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, Lancashire and Hampshire.He is a left-handed batsman and right arm...
and Dave Bandy hit half-centuries. Pete Worthington then claimed the first five wickets, as the Bulls were five for 113, and they eventually needed ten off the last over. However, Chris Hartley
Chris Hartley
Christopher Desmond "Chris" Hartley in Nambour, Queensland, is an Australian cricketer who plays for the Queensland Bulls in Australian domestic cricket. He is their first choice wicketkeeper batsman...
hit a six off the first ball, and with two needed to win off three balls he hit another six to secure the victory.
- First Test, 16 December–20 December: Australia drew with South Africa
- Pura Cup, 17 December–20 December: Western Warriors (6pts) beat Queensland Bulls (0pts) by three wickets
- Women's National League, 17 December: New South Wales Breakers (5pts) beat Southern Scorpions (0pts) by 60 runs (D/L Method)
- Women's National League, 17 December: Queensland Fire (5pts) beat Western Fury (0pts) by 38 runs (D/L Method)
- Women's National League, 18 December: Southern Scorpions (4pts) beat New South Wales Breakers (0pts) by three runs
- Women's National League, 18 December: Queensland Fire (4pts) beat Western Fury (0pts) by four wickets
- ING Cup, 18 December: Victorian Bushrangers (4pts) beat Tasmanian Tigers (0pts) by six wickets
- ING Cup, 18 December: New South Wales Blues (5pts) beat Southern Redbacks (0pts) by 73 runs
- ING Cup, 22 December: Queensland Bulls (4pts) beat Western Warriors (0pts) by two wickets
Boxing Day Test
The second Test began at Melbourne Cricket GroundMelbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
on 26 December, Boxing Day
Boxing Day
Boxing Day is a bank or public holiday that occurs on 26 December, or the first or second weekday after Christmas Day, depending on national or regional laws. It is observed in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth nations. In Ireland, it is recognized as...
, with Australia batting to two for 154 before Shaun Pollock
Shaun Pollock
Shaun Maclean Pollock is a retired South African cricketer who is considered a bowling all-rounder. From 2000 to 2003 he was the captain of the South African cricket team, and also played for Africa XI, World XI, Dolphins and Warwickshire. He was also chosen as the Wisden Cricketer of the Year in...
and Andre Nel
Andre Nel
André Nel is a South African cricketer who played Test cricket and ODIs as a fast bowler but has since retired opting to play county cricket for Surrey.-International career:...
started taking wickets; Nel finished with bowling figures on the day of four for 58 as Australia lost seven wickets for 96 and were nine for 248. However, 107 runs were added between Mike Hussey and Glenn McGrath for the tenth wicket, a record in Australia–South Africa Testshttp://usa.cricinfo.com/db/STATS/BY_OPPONENT/AUS-RSA/AUS-RSA_AUS_HIGHEST_PARTNERSHIPS.html, and Australia took a lead of 44 on first innings. A century from Matthew Hayden and 72 off 54 balls from Andrew Symonds
Andrew Symonds
Andrew Symonds is a former Australian cricket team all-rounder. A two-time World Cup winner, Symonds is a right-handed middle order batsman and alternates between medium pace and off-spin bowling....
gave Australia a total of seven for 321 before they declared, and South Africa were bowled out for 181, with Shane Warne
Shane Warne
Shane Keith Warne is a former Australian international cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the history of the game. In 2000, he was selected by a panel of cricket experts as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century, the only specialist bowler selected in the quintet...
taking four second-innings wickets.
- Second Test, 26 December–30 December: Australia beat South Africa by 184 runs
Final Test
South Africa came back from their deficit to be in the advantage, according to Cricinfo commentator Peter English http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/australia/content/story/231495.html, on the second day of the third Test at SydneySydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
. Jacques Kallis
Jacques Kallis
Jacques Henry Kallis is a South African cricketer. As an all-rounder he is a formidable right-handed batsman and fast-medium swingbowler. He is one of the greatest all-rounders of all time, being the only cricketer in the history of the game to hold more than 12,000 runs and 250 wickets in both...
and Ashwell Prince
Ashwell Prince
Ashwell Gavin Prince is a cricketer who plays Test and One Day International cricket for South Africa. A left-handed middle order batsman, he has a high-batted stance and is strong through the offside. He is noted for his gritty style of batting and also for being an athletic fielder in the covers...
broke an 80-year-old record for the highest fourth-wicket partnership for South Africa against Australia. Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting
Ricky Thomas Ponting , nicknamed Punter, is an Australian cricketer, a former captain of the Australian cricket team between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 2011 in One Day International cricket. He is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as a very...
then scored a century to bring Australia within 97 runs of South Africa, and rain cut 70 overs off the fourth day before South Africa declared 286 runs ahead midway through the morning session on the fifth. Ponting then hit another century, becoming the first batsman to hit centuries in both innings of his 100th Test, and guided Australia to an eight-wicket win.
Meanwhile, in the ING Cup, the Blues defended a total of 259 to beat the Bushrangers in the top of the table clash despite an unbeaten 123 from Michael Klinger
Michael Klinger
Michael Klinger is a first-class cricketer with the South Australia Redbacks. His nickname is "Maxy", after the M*A*S*H character Maxwell Klinger....
, as spinner and former Test player Michael Clarke
Michael Clarke (cricketer)
Michael John Clarke is an Australian cricketer. He was appointed captain of the Test and ODI teams on 30 March 2011. Nicknamed 'Pup', he is a right-handed batsman, and occasional left-arm orthodox spin bowler...
took three for 20, while the Bulls failed to take the opportunity to go into second place as they were limited to nine for 186 by the Tigers, who proceeded to chase down the target in the very last over after a sixth-wicket stand worth 100 between Michael Bevan
Michael Bevan
Michael Gwyl Bevan is a former Australian left-handed cricket batsman and a slow left arm chinaman bowler. He played 232 ODI matches for Australia, and was a part of the 1999 and 2003 teams that won the World Cup...
and 21-year-old wicket-keeper
Wicket-keeper
The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being guarded by the batsman currently on strike...
Tim Paine
Tim Paine
Timothy David Paine is an Australian cricketer who plays for the Tasmanian Tigers in Australian domestic cricket and for the University of Tasmania Cricket Club in club cricket. He is a right-handed batsman and wicket-keeper, as well as a right arm bowler at junior level...
.
- Third Test, 2 January–6 January: Australia beat South Africa by eight wickets and won the series 2–0
- ING Cup, 2 January: New South Wales Blues (4pts) beat Victorian Bushrangers (0pts) by eight runs
- ING Cup, 2 January: Tasmanian Tigers (4pts) beat Queensland Bulls (0pts) by four wickets
Twenty20 Big Bash
The group stage of this tournament began on 6 January and ran until 10 January, three days before the VB Series began. The Bulls opened against the Tigers at the GabbaBrisbane Cricket Ground
The Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as The Gabba, is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland. It is named after the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located....
in the first group, losing their first four wickets inside five overs with Ben Hilfenhaus
Ben Hilfenhaus
Benjamin William Hilfenhaus is an Australian cricketer who plays for the Tasmanian Tigers in Australian domestic cricket. Hilfenhaus plays club cricket for Tasmania University Cricket Club. Prior to turning fully professional, he worked as a bricklayer as well as playing cricket...
taking two, but a 79-run partnership between Jimmy Maher
Jimmy Maher
James Patrick Maher is a former Australian cricketer. He is "an attractive left-handed batsman with a clumping cover-drive"....
and Steve Paulsen took the Bulls past the 15-over mark. Hilfenhaus got another wicket, ending with three for 17, and Paulsen was caught off the very last ball to end with 45 of the Bulls' total of seven for 136. In the fourth over of the Tigers' innings, heavy rain stopped play with the score on one for 15, and play was not restarted. In Group A, the Bushrangers batted to nine for 163 in 20 overs, though the Warriors' Ben Edmondson
Ben Edmondson
Ben Matthew Edmondson is an Australian cricketer who has played for the Western Warriors, Southern Redbacks and Gloucestershire. He is a right-arm fast-medium bowler....
conceded only 16 in his four overs, taking three wickets. Cameron White
Cameron White
Cameron Leon White is an Australian cricketer and current Australian Twenty20 captain. A powerful middle order batsman and right-arm leg-spin bowler, White made his first-class cricket debut as a teenager in the 2000–01 season for the Victorian Bushrangers as a bowling all-rounder...
and Liam Buchanan
Liam Buchanan
Liam Buchanan is a Scottish professional footballer currently playing for Scottish Premier League side Dunfermline Athletic.-Career:...
then put on 69 for the fourth wicket, and the last 43 balls yielded 74 runs for the Bushrangers. Adam Voges
Adam Voges
Adam Charles Voges is an Australian cricketer. In domestic cricket, he plays for the Western Warriors. He is a right-hand batsman and part-time left-arm orthodox bowler.-Early career:...
made a half-century, but after three run out
Run out
Run out is a method of dismissal in the sport of cricket. It is governed by Law 38 of the Laws of cricket.-The rules:A batsman is out Run out if at any time while the ball is in play no part of his bat or person is grounded behind the popping crease and his wicket is fairly put down by the opposing...
s the Warriors needed eight off the last five balls. They got five, thus losing by two runs.
Between the first and second round of Twenty20 matches, there were two women's games between Victoria Spirit and New South Wales Breakers in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
. New South Wales won them both to end with seven wins, while Victoria fell down to fourth place in the table after the two defeats.
The Bushrangers made it two from two and qualified for the final two days later, after bowling the Redbacks out for 113 with Shane Harwood
Shane Harwood
Shane Michael Harwood is an Australian cricketer who plays for the Victorian Bushrangers. He bowls right-arm fast-medium and has represented Australia in three Twenty20 Internationals....
getting the best figures with three for 13. 14 extras and an unbeaten 41 from Jonathan Moss
Jonathan Moss (cricketer)
Jonathan Moss is an Australian cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-pace bowler who played for the Victorian Bushrangers from season 2000/01 to 2006/07.-Biography:...
took the Bushrangers past the target in 12.1 of the allotted 20 overs. In the other group, the Bulls hit at a rate of 9.5 runs an over against the Blues, but were bowled out 15 balls before the end to end with a total of 167. Ian Moran took three for 21 for the Blues, getting numbers 6, 7 and 8 out, and also hit 12 not out in the chase. David Thornely shared a 59-run sixth-wicket stand with Moran to see the Blues to the target with two overs and five wickets to spare.
On 10 January, the Warriors and the Redbacks played out a match which had little significance, as the Bushrangers had already qualified from the group, yet 15,000 people came to the WACA Ground
WACA Ground
The WACA is a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia. WACA are the initials of its owners and operators, the Western Australian Cricket Association....
. They saw the home side bat to six for 174 after opener Ryan Campbell
Ryan Campbell
Ryan John Campbell is a former Australian cricketer who currently plays for ICL's Ahmedabad Rockets. Known as Cambo, he played for the Western Warriors as a wicket-keeper and as a quick-scoring right-handed batsman, often as an opener...
made a half-century, before the Redbacks lost their first five wickets for 33. Ken Skewes and Shane Deitz
Shane Deitz
Shane Alan Deitz is an Australian first-class cricketer who plays for the Southern Redbacks. He is a left-handed top order batsman and depending on the availability of Graham Manou may be seen behind the stumps....
added 38 for the sixth wicket, before Dave Bandy and Campbell shared four of the last five wickets to bowl the Redbacks out for 120. In the other match, a virtual semi-final, Phil Jaques
Phil Jaques
Philip Anthony Jaques is an Australian cricketer. He is a left-handed opening batsman who has played first-class cricket for New South Wales, Northamptonshire, Yorkshire and Worcestershire, as well as international cricket for Australia...
hit 61 off 30 balls for the Blues, the highest contribution to the Blues' total of six for 188. Adam Polkinghorne
Adam Polkinghorne
Adam William Polkinghorne is an is an Australian cricket player, who plays as an all-rounder for the Tasmanian Tigers. He is more of a bowling all-rounder, and his fast-medium deliveries are difficult to score from. As a batsman he is a useful left-handed hitter who likes to slog down the order...
took three for 31 for the Tigers, but made 13 runs in the reply, as six Blues' bowlers got a wicket and helped bowl out the Tigers for 119 to send the Blues to the final meeting with the Bushrangers.
- Twenty20 Big Bash, 6 January, Group A: Victorian Bushrangers (2pts) beat Western Warriors (0pts) by two runs
- Twenty20 Big Bash, 6 January, Group B: Queensland Bulls (1pt) v Tasmanian Tigers (1pt); No result
- Women's National League, 7 January: New South Wales Breakers (5pts) beat Victoria Spirit (0pts) by 48 runs
- Women's National League, 8 January: New South Wales Breakers (5pts) beat Victoria Spirit (0pts) by five wickets
- Twenty20 Big Bash, 8 January, Group A: Victorian Bushrangers (2pts) beat Southern Redbacks (0pts) by eight wickets
- Twenty20 Big Bash, 8 January, Group B: New South Wales Blues (2pts) beat Queensland Bulls (0pts) by five wickets
- Twenty20 Big Bash, 10 January, Group A: Western Warriors (2pts) beat Southern Redbacks (0pts) by 54 runs
- Twenty20 Big Bash, 10 January, Group B: New South Wales Blues (2pts) beat Tasmanian Tigers (0pts) by 69 runs
VB Series Warm-ups
The South Africans
South African cricket team
The South African national cricket team represent South Africa in international cricket. They are administrated by Cricket South Africa.South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council, also known as ICC, with Test and One Day International, or ODI, status...
scored almost twice as much as the Bulls in their warm-up match, as Boeta Dippenaar
Boeta Dippenaar
Hendrik Human Dippenaar , known as Boeta Dippenaar, is a cricketer who has played Test and One Day International cricket for South Africa and the ACA African XI. He has played as a specialist batsman in most of his matches, and has played Test cricket in all batting positions from one through seven...
and Jacques Rudolph
Jacques Rudolph
Jacobus Andries Rudolph , popularly known as Jacques Rudolph, is a South African Test and ODI cricketer currently playing in England with Yorkshire CCC and in South Africa with Titans.He had an unbeaten 222 in his debut Test inning...
outscored Queensland's first eight partnerships. The two added 88 for the fourth wicket, helping to total 205, and Garnett Kruger
Garnett Kruger
Garnett John-Peter Kruger is a South African cricketer. Kruger started his first-class cricket career in 1997–98 for Eastern Province B, moving up to the A team in 1999–2000. In 2003–04 he played for Gauteng, before moving to the Lions on the reorganisation of South African first-class cricket in...
and Shaun Pollock
Shaun Pollock
Shaun Maclean Pollock is a retired South African cricketer who is considered a bowling all-rounder. From 2000 to 2003 he was the captain of the South African cricket team, and also played for Africa XI, World XI, Dolphins and Warwickshire. He was also chosen as the Wisden Cricketer of the Year in...
then shared six wickets with the first 61 balls of the match. Eventually, Queensland were bowled out for 111. The following day, the Bushrangers bowled out Sri Lanka for 120, with Allan Wise
Allan Wise
Allan Wise is an Australian cricketer playing first-class cricket with the Victorian Bushrangers....
taking five for 25, before Michael Klinger
Michael Klinger
Michael Klinger is a first-class cricketer with the South Australia Redbacks. His nickname is "Maxy", after the M*A*S*H character Maxwell Klinger....
hit a half-century and Victoria won with seven wickets and 15.4 overs to spare, and in a final warm-up the South Africans beat the Queensland Academy by 46 runs after 80 from Jacques Kallis
Jacques Kallis
Jacques Henry Kallis is a South African cricketer. As an all-rounder he is a formidable right-handed batsman and fast-medium swingbowler. He is one of the greatest all-rounders of all time, being the only cricketer in the history of the game to hold more than 12,000 runs and 250 wickets in both...
.
- Tour match, 10 January: South Africans beat Queensland Bulls by 94 runs
- Tour match, 11 January: Victorian Bushrangers beat Sri Lankans by seven wickets
- Tour match, 13 January: South Africans beat Queensland Academy of Sport by 46 runs
Australia's first home loss
Five matches were played from Friday to Sunday; the VB Series began with two matches, while a full round of ING Cup matches was played on the Saturday. On Friday the 13th, Australia beat Sri Lanka by 116 runs in the tri-series opener, with Sri Lanka's two most experienced bowlers, Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan, yielding combined bowling figures of 20–1–140–0, while in the ING Cup, the Warriors won and earned a bonus point at home after chasing down 198 to win in the fortieth over, with Justin Langer
Justin Langer
Justin Lee Langer AM is a former international cricketer who represented Australia in 105 Test matches and the current Assistant Coach and Batting Coach of the Australian cricket team. A left-handed batsman, his opening partnership with Matthew Hayden was one of the most successful of all time...
getting a half-century. The following day, the Bushrangers beat the Blues to cut the deficit at the top of the table to six points, with Gerard Denton
Gerard Denton
Gerard John Denton is an Australian first-class cricketer who plays for the Tasmanian Tigers. The right-arm fast-medium bowler began his first-class cricket for the Tasmanian Tigers, despite having been born in Queensland...
and Cameron White
Cameron White
Cameron Leon White is an Australian cricketer and current Australian Twenty20 captain. A powerful middle order batsman and right-arm leg-spin bowler, White made his first-class cricket debut as a teenager in the 2000–01 season for the Victorian Bushrangers as a bowling all-rounder...
sharing six wickets between them. Chasing 188 to win, the Bushrangers were three for 160, but lost four wickets in 23 balls before Andrew McDonald
Andrew McDonald (cricketer)
Andrew Barry McDonald is an Australian Test cricketer who plays for the Victorian Bushrangers, and who made his Test debut in Sydney on 3 January 2009, against South Africa. McDonald also represented Australia at under 19 level and has played for the Prime Minister's XI...
's 14 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
took them across the line. In the final match, the Tigers and the Redbacks tied in a match that was cut from 50 to 35 overs a side following rain. Michael Bevan
Michael Bevan
Michael Gwyl Bevan is a former Australian left-handed cricket batsman and a slow left arm chinaman bowler. He played 232 ODI matches for Australia, and was a part of the 1999 and 2003 teams that won the World Cup...
made 54 for the Tigers, who chased a revised target of 172 to win, and when Bevan was dismissed the Tigers required 13 off 14 balls. Three more wickets fell, Shaun Tait
Shaun Tait
Shaun William Tait is a professional Australian cricketer, who currently plays only in the Twenty20 format. Tait plays domestic cricket for South Australia and is also a representative for Australia at Twenty20 International level; he has also represented his country in One Day Internationals and...
taking two in an over, and both teams had to be content with the tie. Finally, South Africa beat Australia by five wickets on a Sunday game in Brisbane, with Brett Lee conceding 17 off his final over after South Africa had needed 47 off 30 balls.
- VB Series, 1st Match, 13 January: Australia beat Sri Lanka by 116 runs
- ING Cup, 13 January: Western Warriors (5pts) beat Queensland Bulls (0pts) by six wickets
- ING Cup, 14 January: Victorian Bushrangers (5pts) beat New South Wales Blues (0pts) by two wickets
- ING Cup, 14 January: Southern Redbacks (2pts) tied with Tasmanian Tigers (2pts) (D/L MethodDuckworth-Lewis methodIn the sport of cricket, the Duckworth–Lewis method is a mathematical formulation designed to calculate the target score for the team batting second in a one-day cricket or Twenty20 cricket match interrupted by weather or other circumstance...
) - VB Series, 2nd Match, 15 January: South Africa beat Australia by five wickets
Pura Cup Week Six
The sixth round of matches began on 15 January, with the Warriors hosting the Bulls at the WACA, and after the Warriors had elected to bat and were bowled out for 190, centuries from Martin LoveMartin Love
Martin Lloyd Love is a former Australian cricketer who played in five Tests from 2002 to 2003. He was a right-handed batsman....
and WA
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
-born Brendan Nash
Brendan Nash
Brendan Paul Nash is a Jamaican Australian cricketer who has played Test and One Day International cricket for West Indies. He has also played first-class cricket for Jamaica and Queensland.-Early life:...
gave the Bulls a lead. Wicket-keeper Hartley also hit 73 for the Bulls, who took a 280-run lead on first innings, and though the Warriors replied with 407 after Adam Voges
Adam Voges
Adam Charles Voges is an Australian cricketer. In domestic cricket, he plays for the Western Warriors. He is a right-hand batsman and part-time left-arm orthodox bowler.-Early career:...
' 178, they were bowled out shortly before tea on day four to set Queensland 128 in 40 overs. After half-centuries from Jimmy Maher
Jimmy Maher
James Patrick Maher is a former Australian cricketer. He is "an attractive left-handed batsman with a clumping cover-drive"....
and Love, they broke that target with nine wickets to spare.
In the VB Series match at Brisbane, South Africa were sent back to earth by Sri Lanka, so that all teams had one win after the first round of matches. Jehan Mubarak
Jehan Mubarak
Jehan Mubarak is an American-born Sri Lankan cricketer. He is a left-handed batsman and a right-arm offbreak bowler.-Early career:...
and Kumar Sangakkara
Kumar Sangakkara
Kumar Sangakkara is a Sri Lankan, Sinhalese cricketer and the former captain of the Sri Lanka national cricket team. He is a left-handed top-order batsman...
shared a 112-run stand for the second wicket on the way to a total of eight for 282, and though Jacques Rudolph
Jacques Rudolph
Jacobus Andries Rudolph , popularly known as Jacques Rudolph, is a South African Test and ODI cricketer currently playing in England with Yorkshire CCC and in South Africa with Titans.He had an unbeaten 222 in his debut Test inning...
and Mark Boucher
Mark Boucher
Mark Verdon Boucher is a South African cricketer, who holds the record for the most Test dismissals by a wicket-keeper. He was educated at Selborne College and has represented Border, Africa XI, ICC World XI, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders of the Indian Premier League, and...
hit half-centuries South Africa were bowled out for 188 in the chase.
The Blues and the Bushrangers had started a day later in their game at Lismore
Lismore, New South Wales
Lismore is a subtropical town in northeastern New South Wales, Australia. Lismore is the main population centre in the City of Lismore local government area. Lismore is a regional centre in the Northern Rivers region of the State.-History:...
, and at the close of the third day's play the Bushrangers were in their second innings, leading by 92 with ten wickets in hand. Opener Jason Arnberger
Jason Arnberger
Jason Lee Arnberger is an Australian first-class cricketer who played for the Victorian Bushrangers and New South Wales Blues in Australian domestic cricket. He was a right-handed opening batsman...
had batted for nine hours to secure a double century, ending on 235 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
before the Bushrangers declared, but despite a first innings total of 519 their eventual lead was 82 runs on first innings. With the last day rained off, the match ended in a draw.
Further south, the Redbacks and the Tigers avoided that fate, as the Redbacks rode on a 369-run first innings lead to win by 194 runs, bowling the Tigers out six overs after tea. Two people named Bailey took centre stage in the final innings - chasing 563 to win, Tasmania's George Bailey hit 130, but Redbacks' spinner Cullen took five for 146 as the Tigers were bowled out for 368. The Redbacks' win sent them second in the table, but four teams were within four points at this point.
- Pura Cup, 15 January–18 January: Queensland Bulls (6pts) beat Western Warriors (0pts) by nine wickets
- Pura Cup, 16 January–19 January: Victorian Bushrangers (2pts) drew with New South Wales Blues (0pts)
- Pura Cup, 16 January–19 January: Southern Redbacks (6pts) beat Tasmanian Tigers (0pts) by 194 runs
- VB Series, 17 January: Sri Lanka (5pts) beat South Africa (0pts) by 94 runs
First Twenty20 winners
South Africa suffered their second loss in three days in the VB Series, in a match with eleven single-figure scores. However, Phil JaquesPhil Jaques
Philip Anthony Jaques is an Australian cricketer. He is a left-handed opening batsman who has played first-class cricket for New South Wales, Northamptonshire, Yorkshire and Worcestershire, as well as international cricket for Australia...
made 94, the highest score by an Australian on ODI debut http://uk.cricinfo.com/ci/content/unknown/233754.html, and Brett Lee
Brett Lee
Brett Lee is an Australian cricketer.After breaking into the Australian Test team, Lee was recognised as one of the fastest bowlers in world cricket...
took career-best figures of five for 22 http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/5/5951/o_Bowling_by_Season.html to help bowl South Africa out for 186, two less than in Brisbane three days earlier.
The Bushrangers and the Blues, the two teams that had topped the ING and Pura tables at New Year, also faced off in the Twenty20 final at the North Sydney Oval
North Sydney Oval
-Development:* The first cricket pitch was laid on 6 December 1867, making it one of the oldest cricket grounds in Australia.* The first structure built, in 1879, was a simple pavilion overlooking the cricket ground...
. Despite the match being played in front of a home crowd, the Bushrangers accumulated the highest total in Australian Twenty20 cricket thus far, ending with seven for 233 after Brad Hodge
Brad Hodge
Bradley John Hodge is an Australian and Victorian cricketer. He attended St Bede's College in Mentone, Victoria. He is a right hand batsman who bats in the middle order, as well as a part time right arm off spin bowler....
made 106 in 54 balls and Cameron White
Cameron White
Cameron Leon White is an Australian cricketer and current Australian Twenty20 captain. A powerful middle order batsman and right-arm leg-spin bowler, White made his first-class cricket debut as a teenager in the 2000–01 season for the Victorian Bushrangers as a bowling all-rounder...
hit six sixes to end with 46 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
. White also took three for eight with the ball, as the Blues were at nought for 64 but then lost all their wickets for 76 runs to hand the title to the Victorians.
The last four matches in the regular season stage of the women's National League were also completed; Queensland hosted Victoria for two games, and qualified for the final after a 42-run win in the first match (where they restricted Victoria to 109 for 9 in 32 overs chasing 152 to win), and a century from 21-year-old Kasee Marxsen helped them set a target of 97 to win against the Bushrangers. The Scorpions travelled to Perth, but despite winning both matches, they finished third in the overall standings, and did not qualify for the final series against the Breakers. Queensland Fire finished second in the regular season ladder, qualifying thanks to more bonus points.
In the VB Series, Sri Lanka batted first at the SCG
Sydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
, and posted seven for 309 against an Australian team without Phil Jaques or Glenn McGrath
Glenn McGrath
Glenn Donald McGrath AM , nicknamed "Pigeon", is a former Australian cricket player. He is one of the most highly regarded fast-medium pace bowlers in cricketing history, and a leading contributor to Australia's domination of world cricket from the mid-1990s to the early 21st century...
. The Sri Lankan team, meanwhile, included Sanath Jayasuriya
Sanath Jayasuriya
Sanath Teran Jayasuriya is a former Sri Lankan cricketer. An all-rounder, he played for the Sri Lankan cricket team from 1989 to 2011...
who returned from injury http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/australia/content/story/233964.html by hitting 114 off 96 balls to be named Man of the Match, as Australia were bowled out for 258. However, Sri Lanka failed to back up their winning run, as South African opener Boeta Dippenaar
Boeta Dippenaar
Hendrik Human Dippenaar , known as Boeta Dippenaar, is a cricketer who has played Test and One Day International cricket for South Africa and the ACA African XI. He has played as a specialist batsman in most of his matches, and has played Test cricket in all batting positions from one through seven...
hit 125 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
against them two days later and helped set a target of 264. Sri Lanka were 224 for 4 in reply, but Mahela Jayawardene
Mahela Jayawardene
Denagamage Proboth Mahela de Silva Jayawardene , known as Mahela Jayawardene, is the former captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team. He is a specialist batsman who has a Test average of over 50, and an ODI average in the 30s...
was bowled
Bowled
Bowled is a method of dismissing a batsman in the sport of cricket. This method of dismissal is covered by Law 30 of the Laws of cricket.A batsman is out bowled if his wicket is put down by a ball delivered by the bowler...
by Johannes van der Wath
Johannes van der Wath
-Playing style:Johan is a very attacking and aggressive Right Handed Batsman who usually bats in the lower middle order coming in and increasing the strike rate. He is also a very aggressive Right Arm Medium-Fast Bowler who regularly takes wickets with the new ball....
, and Andrew Hall
Andrew Hall
Andrew James Hall is a South African cricketer and a former member of the South African cricket team . He is an all-rounder who bowls fast-medium pace, and has been used as both an opening batsman and in the lower order. Prior to making it on the South African first class cricket scene he played...
then claimed two wickets in two balls and followed up with a maiden 50th over when Sri Lanka needed 11 to win.
- VB Series, 20 January: Australia (5pts) beat South Africa (0pts) by 59 runs
- Twenty20 Big Bash Final, 21 January: Victorian Bushrangers beat New South Wales Blues by 95 runs
- Women's National League, 21 January: Queensland Fire (5pts) beat Victorian Bushrangers (0pts) by 42 runs
- Women's National League, 21 January: Southern Scorpions (5pts) beat Western Fury (0pts) by nine wickets
- Women's National League, 22 January: Queensland Fire (5pts) beat Victorian Bushrangers (0pts) by 97 runs
- Women's National League, 22 January: Southern Scorpions (5pts) beat Western Fury (0pts) by three wickets
- VB Series, 22 January: Sri Lanka (4pts) beat Australia (0pts) by 51 runs
- VB Series, 24 January: South Africa (4pts) beat Sri Lanka (0pts) by nine runs
ING Cup Wednesday
All six state teams were in action in the ING Cup on Wednesday 25 January, with Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia recording wins. Victorian Bushrangers batted first against the Bulls, and after losing the first three wickets for 59, David HusseyDavid Hussey
David John Hussey is an Australian cricketer. Hussey is a right-handed batsman and can also bowl right-arm offbreaks. He is the younger brother of Australian Test cricketer Michael Hussey.-Australian domestic career:...
added 205 with Cameron White
Cameron White
Cameron Leon White is an Australian cricketer and current Australian Twenty20 captain. A powerful middle order batsman and right-arm leg-spin bowler, White made his first-class cricket debut as a teenager in the 2000–01 season for the Victorian Bushrangers as a bowling all-rounder...
to set a new state record partnership for the fourth wicket http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/australia/content/story/234486.html. White backed up his 85 with four wickets for 23 as the Bulls were 13 runs short of victory at the 'Gabba. In Hobart, there were two centuries in the match between Tasmania and New South Wales; Phil Jaques, who had been left out by Australia three days earlier, hit 138 as New South Wales posted 311 for 7, but Tim Paine
Tim Paine
Timothy David Paine is an Australian cricketer who plays for the Tasmanian Tigers in Australian domestic cricket and for the University of Tasmania Cricket Club in club cricket. He is a right-handed batsman and wicket-keeper, as well as a right arm bowler at junior level...
responded with 111, sharing an opening stand of 179 with Travis Birt
Travis Birt
Travis Rodney Birt is an Australian cricketer, who currently plays Australian state cricket for Western Australia, and in the Indian Premier League for Delhi Daredevils...
. After the opening partnership, however, Tasmania ended on 299 for 9, with Stuart MacGill
Stuart MacGill
Stuart Charles Glyndwr MacGill is a former right-arm leg spin bowler of the Australian cricket team, with a domestic career at Western Australia, New South Wales, Nottinghamshire, Devon and Somerset...
and Aaron O'Brien
Aaron O'Brien
Aaron Warren O'Brien is an Australian cricketer. He has played first class cricket for New South Wales. He was Middleton Cricket Club's professional deputising for the injured Brendon Reddy for the match against Crompton....
claiming three wickets each. Another century came at the WACA; Mark Cosgrove
Mark Cosgrove
Mark James Cosgrove is a left-handed batsman and part-time medium pace bowler, who is contracted with the Tasmania for the 2010–11 season after previously playing for South Australia. In 2005 Cosgrove was named the Bradman Young Player of the Year...
hit 121 for the visiting Southern Redbacks, who set a target of 272 for the hosting Western Warriors to chase, but only Shaun Marsh
Shaun Marsh
Shaun Edward Marsh is an Australian cricketer who plays for the Western Warriors in Australian domestic cricket and has represented Australia at One Day International and Twenty20 International levels...
and Chris Rogers
Chris Rogers (cricketer)
Christopher John Llewellyn Rogers is an Australian cricketer.Rogers is a left-handed opening batsman and a left-handed leg-break bowler...
passed 30 as the Warriors were bowled out for 163.
- ING Cup, 25 January: Victorian Bushrangers (4pts) beat Queensland Bulls (0pts) by 12 runs
- ING Cup, 25 January: New South Wales Blues (4pts) beat Tasmanian Tigers (0pts) by 12 runs
- ING Cup, 25 January: Southern Redbacks (5pts) beat Western Warriors (0pts) by 108 runs
Last week of January
Australia, again without the resting Ricky PontingRicky Ponting
Ricky Thomas Ponting , nicknamed Punter, is an Australian cricketer, a former captain of the Australian cricket team between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 2011 in One Day International cricket. He is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as a very...
notched up consecutive victories over Sri Lanka; on 26 January in Adelaide, they successfully chased down 219 to win by five wickets after a half-century from Simon Katich
Simon Katich
Simon Matthew Katich is an Australian cricketer. He is the captain of the New South Wales Blues, and also captained, up until the end of the 2007 season, Derbyshire County Cricket Club...
, while makeshift captain Adam Gilchrist
Adam Gilchrist
Adam Craig Gilchrist AM , nicknamed "Gilly" or "Churchy", is an Australian international cricketer who currently captains Kings XI Punjab and recently captained Middlesex. He is an attacking left-handed batsman and record-breaking wicket-keeper, who redefined the role for the Australian national...
shared an opening stand of 191 with Katich at Perth three days later, when Australia needed 234 to win. In the two ING matches on 29 January, the Redbacks went unbeaten for their third 50-over match in a row after chasing 223 successfully against the Bushrangers, while the Warriors defended 236 against the Tigers despite 105 from Tigers captain Michael di Venuto
Michael Di Venuto
Michael James Di Venuto is a former Australian cricketer of Italian descent who played first-class cricket for Tasmanian Tigers and One Day Internationals for Australia. Although he has retired from representative cricket in Australia, he currently continues to play for Durham CCC. He has also...
. To round off the month, South Africa and Sri Lanka entertained the Perth crowd, and a spell of 10–3–17–2 from Shaun Pollock
Shaun Pollock
Shaun Maclean Pollock is a retired South African cricketer who is considered a bowling all-rounder. From 2000 to 2003 he was the captain of the South African cricket team, and also played for Africa XI, World XI, Dolphins and Warwickshire. He was also chosen as the Wisden Cricketer of the Year in...
limited Sri Lanka to 221. South Africa chased that down with five overs to spare and took another step towards the three-match final series. The win also meant Australia were assured of a place in the final. http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/vbseries/content/story/235116.html
- VB Series, 26 January: Australia (4pts) beat Sri Lanka (0pts) by five wickets
- VB Series, 29 January: Australia (4pts) beat Sri Lanka (0pts) by six wickets
- ING Cup, 29 January: Southern Redbacks (5pts) beat Victorian Bushrangers (0pts) by seven wickets
- ING Cup, 29 January: Western Warriors (4pts) beat Tasmanian Tigers (0pts) by 13 runs
- VB Series, 31 January: South Africa (4pts) beat Sri Lanka (0pts) by five wickets
Conclusion, VB Series group stage
A round of three-day games started at Hobart on 1 February, with the Warriors bowling out the Tigers for 86 on first innings, as Steve MagoffinSteve Magoffin
Steven James "Steve" Magoffin is an Australian cricketer currently playing with the Queensland cricket team...
took bowling figures
Bowling analysis
In the sport of cricket, a bowling analysis usually refers to a notation summarising a bowler's performance in terms of overs bowled, how many of those overs are maidens , total runs conceded and number of wickets taken...
of 17–12–15–3. Chris Rogers
Chris Rogers (cricketer)
Christopher John Llewellyn Rogers is an Australian cricketer.Rogers is a left-handed opening batsman and a left-handed leg-break bowler...
then outscored the Tigers by hitting 135 in the Warriors' total of 215, and though the Tigers posted 276 the second time around, the Warriors chased it down with seven wickets to spare after a partnership of 106 between Rogers and Shaun Marsh
Shaun Marsh
Shaun Edward Marsh is an Australian cricketer who plays for the Western Warriors in Australian domestic cricket and has represented Australia at One Day International and Twenty20 International levels...
. On 2 February, play began at the 'Gabba, where Queensland built a 287-run lead on first innings after 116 from Martin Love
Martin Love
Martin Lloyd Love is a former Australian cricketer who played in five Tests from 2002 to 2003. He was a right-handed batsman....
and half-centuries from numbers eight and nine, Andy Bichel
Andy Bichel
Andrew John Bichel is a retired Australian cricket player and was the bowling coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders for the 2009 Indian Premier League....
and Daniel Doran
Daniel Doran
Daniel John Doran is an Australian cricketer who played for Queensland in Australian domestic cricket. He was a right-arm leg break bowler....
. The Blues responded with 378, but Love and Shane Watson
Shane Watson
Shane Robert Watson is an Australian cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-handed fast medium bowler. He mainly bats as an opener in international cricket, although he does not do so domestically....
took Queensland past the target of 92 inside 17 overs after the first two wickets fell for 20. The Redbacks also surrendered a first-innings lead at Adelaide, though Victoria fell from one for 164 to 249 all out, and despite 68 off 64 balls from Shaun Tait
Shaun Tait
Shaun William Tait is a professional Australian cricketer, who currently plays only in the Twenty20 format. Tait plays domestic cricket for South Australia and is also a representative for Australia at Twenty20 International level; he has also represented his country in One Day Internationals and...
of the Redbacks, the Bushrangers chased down the target after a half-century from Jason Arnberger
Jason Arnberger
Jason Lee Arnberger is an Australian first-class cricketer who played for the Victorian Bushrangers and New South Wales Blues in Australian domestic cricket. He was a right-handed opening batsman...
.
In the VB Series, Australia played South Africa twice, winning both games after batting first; in the first game, they totalled seven for 281 after a 109-run sixth-wicket partnership between Mike Hussey and Andrew Symonds
Andrew Symonds
Andrew Symonds is a former Australian cricket team all-rounder. A two-time World Cup winner, Symonds is a right-handed middle order batsman and alternates between medium pace and off-spin bowling....
, and Brett Lee
Brett Lee
Brett Lee is an Australian cricketer.After breaking into the Australian Test team, Lee was recognised as one of the fastest bowlers in world cricket...
then took four wickets as South Africa were bowled out for 201. In the second, Australia batted to a total of six for 344, with Adam Gilchrist
Adam Gilchrist
Adam Craig Gilchrist AM , nicknamed "Gilly" or "Churchy", is an Australian international cricketer who currently captains Kings XI Punjab and recently captained Middlesex. He is an attacking left-handed batsman and record-breaking wicket-keeper, who redefined the role for the Australian national...
, Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting
Ricky Thomas Ponting , nicknamed Punter, is an Australian cricketer, a former captain of the Australian cricket team between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 2011 in One Day International cricket. He is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as a very...
and Damien Martyn
Damien Martyn
Damien Richard Martyn is a former Australian cricketer. He played for the national team sporadically in 1992–1994 before becoming a regular ODI player in 1999–2000 and a regular Test player in 2001 until his retirement in late 2006...
all making half-centuries at rates quicker than a run a ball. Despite 37 off 16 balls from Johannes van der Wath
Johannes van der Wath
-Playing style:Johan is a very attacking and aggressive Right Handed Batsman who usually bats in the lower middle order coming in and increasing the strike rate. He is also a very aggressive Right Arm Medium-Fast Bowler who regularly takes wickets with the new ball....
South Africa made six for 287 in reply, losing again to make the 7 February match in Hobart a play-off match for the right to play Australia in the final.
The weekend between 3 February and 5 February also saw the final stages of the women's National League, with New South Wales Breakers playing Queensland Fire in three matches at the North Sydney Oval
North Sydney Oval
-Development:* The first cricket pitch was laid on 6 December 1867, making it one of the oldest cricket grounds in Australia.* The first structure built, in 1879, was a simple pavilion overlooking the cricket ground...
. In the first match, the Breakers bowled out the Fire for 174, then chased down the target thanks to half-centuries from Leah Poulton and Alex Blackwell; the following day, it was the Breakers who batted first and made a sub-200 total. Chasing 155 to win, the Fire were six for 70, but wicket-keeper Jodie Purves made 61 and added 49 with Megan White for the eighth wicket to bring the series to a final decider. The Breakers batted first in that match, and made the lowest score of the series with 146 all out, as Jude Coleman took four for 28; and with another top-score from Purves, this time for 37, the Fire needed three with three wickets in hand. However, Charlotte Anneveld, who had taken her first wickets in National League cricket earlier on http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/45/45551/waus_Bowling_by_Season.html, took two wickets in the 47th over to complete a haul of four for 29, and Sarah Andrews broke the final partnership when she had White bowled
Bowled
Bowled is a method of dismissing a batsman in the sport of cricket. This method of dismissal is covered by Law 30 of the Laws of cricket.A batsman is out bowled if his wicket is put down by a ball delivered by the bowler...
for 13, leaving New South Wales winners by two runs.
In the international matches, South Africa led by three points before the final group stage match, but still needed at least a tie or a no-result to qualify. Sri Lanka batted first, and made nine for 257 after a century partnership between Marvan Atapattu
Marvan Atapattu
Marvan Samson Atapattu is a former Sri Lankan cricketer and former Sri Lankan captain. Towards the end of his career he joined the Indian Cricket League and captained the Delhi Giants...
and Sanath Jayasuriya
Sanath Jayasuriya
Sanath Teran Jayasuriya is a former Sri Lankan cricketer. An all-rounder, he played for the Sri Lankan cricket team from 1989 to 2011...
, and Sri Lankan seamer
Fast bowling
Fast bowling, sometimes known as pace bowling, is one of the two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket. The other is spin bowling...
Chaminda Vaas
Chaminda Vaas
Warnakulasuriya Patabendige Ushantha Joseph Chaminda Vaas , usually known as Chaminda Vaas, is a Sri Lankan cricketer is regarded as the best fast bowler to have come out of the country - he has been described as the 'most penetrative and successful new-ball bowler Sri Lanka have had'...
then took two South African wickets in the seventh over. Graeme Smith
Graeme Smith
Graeme Craig Smith is a South African cricketer and captain of the South African cricket team Test Match side, having succeeded Shaun Pollock after the 2003 Cricket World Cup...
rebuilt with Mark Boucher
Mark Boucher
Mark Verdon Boucher is a South African cricketer, who holds the record for the most Test dismissals by a wicket-keeper. He was educated at Selborne College and has represented Border, Africa XI, ICC World XI, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders of the Indian Premier League, and...
(partnership of 58) and Ashwell Prince
Ashwell Prince
Ashwell Gavin Prince is a cricketer who plays Test and One Day International cricket for South Africa. A left-handed middle order batsman, he has a high-batted stance and is strong through the offside. He is noted for his gritty style of batting and also for being an athletic fielder in the covers...
, but another double strike, this time from substitute
Substitute (cricket)
A substitute in the sport of cricket is a replacement player that the umpires allow when a player has been injured or become ill after the nomination of the players at the start of the game...
Malinga Bandara
Malinga Bandara
Herath Mudiyanselage Charitha Malinga Bandara , commonly known as Malinga Bandara, is a Sri Lankan Test and one-day international cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and also bowls legbreaks. Malinga Bandara was earmarked from an early age as a legspinner of great potential...
set South Africa back to five for 114. Bandara took two more wickets, was named Man of the Match, and Cricinfo journalist Peter English described his performance as "stunning" http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/vbseries/content/story/235982.html. South Africa were eventually all out for 181, with Jayasuriya, Muttiah Muralitharan
Muttiah Muralitharan
Muttiah Muralitharan , often referred to as Murali, is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who was rated the greatest Test match bowler ever by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2002...
and Tillakaratne Dilshan
Tillakaratne Dilshan
Tillakaratne Mudiyanselage Dilshan born October 14, 1976 in Kalutara, Sri Lanka is a Sri Lankan cricketer and captain of the Sri Lanka national cricket team since April 2011. He has been a member of the team since November 1999, and was also known as Tuwan Mohammad Dilshan prior to his conversion...
chipping in with a wicket each, and Sri Lanka qualified for the three-match final series.
- Pura Cup, 1 February–3 February: Western Warriors (6pts) beat Tasmanian Tigers (0pts) by seven wickets
- Pura Cup, 2 February–4 February: Queensland Bulls (6pts) beat New South Wales Blues (0pts) by eight wickets
- Pura Cup, 2 February–4 February: Victorian Bushrangers (6pts) beat Southern Redbacks (0pts) by seven wickets
- VB Series, 3 February: Australia (5pts) beat South Africa (0pts) by 80 runs
- Women's National League, First Final, 3 February: New South Wales Breakers beat Queensland Fire by eight wickets
- Women's National League, Second Final, 4 February: Queensland Fire beat New South Wales Breakers by three wickets
- VB Series, 5 February: Australia (4pts) beat South Africa (0pts) by 57 runs
- Women's National League, Third Final, 5 February: New South Wales Breakers beat Queensland Fire by two runs
- VB Series, 7 February: Sri Lanka (5pts) beat South Africa (0pts) by 76 runs
VB Series Finals
In the first match of the three-match final series Sri Lanka pulled off a "convincing" http://abc.net.au/news/items/200602/1567516.htm?sa loss to inflict the first defeat on Australia since 22 January. Set 275 to win after half-centuries from Marvan AtapattuMarvan Atapattu
Marvan Samson Atapattu is a former Sri Lankan cricketer and former Sri Lankan captain. Towards the end of his career he joined the Indian Cricket League and captained the Delhi Giants...
and Kumar Sangakkara
Kumar Sangakkara
Kumar Sangakkara is a Sri Lankan, Sinhalese cricketer and the former captain of the Sri Lanka national cricket team. He is a left-handed top-order batsman...
, Australia scored 51 without loss in the first ten overs, but a total of five run out
Run out
Run out is a method of dismissal in the sport of cricket. It is governed by Law 38 of the Laws of cricket.-The rules:A batsman is out Run out if at any time while the ball is in play no part of his bat or person is grounded behind the popping crease and his wicket is fairly put down by the opposing...
s and three for 40 from Muttiah Muralitharan
Muttiah Muralitharan
Muttiah Muralitharan , often referred to as Murali, is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who was rated the greatest Test match bowler ever by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2002...
sent them all out for 252.
The second match saw Chaminda Vaas
Chaminda Vaas
Warnakulasuriya Patabendige Ushantha Joseph Chaminda Vaas , usually known as Chaminda Vaas, is a Sri Lankan cricketer is regarded as the best fast bowler to have come out of the country - he has been described as the 'most penetrative and successful new-ball bowler Sri Lanka have had'...
take three wickets as Australia were three for 10, but Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting
Ricky Thomas Ponting , nicknamed Punter, is an Australian cricketer, a former captain of the Australian cricket team between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 2011 in One Day International cricket. He is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as a very...
shared a 237-run stand with Andrew Symonds
Andrew Symonds
Andrew Symonds is a former Australian cricket team all-rounder. A two-time World Cup winner, Symonds is a right-handed middle order batsman and alternates between medium pace and off-spin bowling....
, an Australian all-wicket record partnership http://www.smh.com.au/news/cricket/ponting-stands-and-delivers/2006/02/12/1139679478826.html. Michael Clarke
Michael Clarke (cricketer)
Michael John Clarke is an Australian cricketer. He was appointed captain of the Test and ODI teams on 30 March 2011. Nicknamed 'Pup', he is a right-handed batsman, and occasional left-arm orthodox spin bowler...
made his half-century in 27 balls, and Australia scored what was then their highest score in a limited-over international (five for 368). In reply, Nathan Bracken
Nathan Bracken
Nathan Wade Bracken is a former Australian cricketer. A tall left-arm fast-medium bowler, Bracken is capable of swinging the ball both ways. He has represented Australia in all forms of the game...
took four for 30 off six overs, and though Russel Arnold
Russel Arnold
Russel Premakumaran "Rusty" Arnold is a former Sri Lankan cricketer of Tamil descent. Arnold made his Test debut against Pakistan in 1997 and his One day international debut against South Africa later in the year. Originally an opening batsmen, Arnold has since moved down the batting order...
hit an unbeaten 64, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 201.
Having opted to bat in the third match, Sri Lanka set a target of 267 after half-centuries frm Sangakkara, Arnold and Mahela Jayawardene
Mahela Jayawardene
Denagamage Proboth Mahela de Silva Jayawardene , known as Mahela Jayawardene, is the former captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team. He is a specialist batsman who has a Test average of over 50, and an ODI average in the 30s...
, while Bracken got three for 44 for Australia. However, the target was no match for Adam Gilchrist
Adam Gilchrist
Adam Craig Gilchrist AM , nicknamed "Gilly" or "Churchy", is an Australian international cricketer who currently captains Kings XI Punjab and recently captained Middlesex. He is an attacking left-handed batsman and record-breaking wicket-keeper, who redefined the role for the Australian national...
and Simon Katich
Simon Katich
Simon Matthew Katich is an Australian cricketer. He is the captain of the New South Wales Blues, and also captained, up until the end of the 2007 season, Derbyshire County Cricket Club...
; the two shared an opening stand of 196 before Gilchrist was bowled
Bowled
Bowled is a method of dismissing a batsman in the sport of cricket. This method of dismissal is covered by Law 30 of the Laws of cricket.A batsman is out bowled if his wicket is put down by a ball delivered by the bowler...
by Muralitharan for a 91-ball 122. Katich also reached his century, ending on 107 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
, and with Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting
Ricky Thomas Ponting , nicknamed Punter, is an Australian cricketer, a former captain of the Australian cricket team between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 2011 in One Day International cricket. He is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as a very...
he guided Australia past the target.
- VB Series, 10 February: Sri Lanka beat Australia by 22 runs
- VB Series, 12 February: Australia beat Sri Lanka by 167 runs
- VB Series, 14 February: Australia beat Sri Lanka by nine wickets and won the series 2–1
Pura Cup Week Eight
The Tigers began their match one day before Australia and Sri Lanka faced off in the VB Series, and recorded their first win since November; the Bushrangers, by contrast, hadn't lost since November. The first-innings third-wicket stand between Michael di VenutoMichael Di Venuto
Michael James Di Venuto is a former Australian cricketer of Italian descent who played first-class cricket for Tasmanian Tigers and One Day Internationals for Australia. Although he has retired from representative cricket in Australia, he currently continues to play for Durham CCC. He has also...
and Travis Birt
Travis Birt
Travis Rodney Birt is an Australian cricketer, who currently plays Australian state cricket for Western Australia, and in the Indian Premier League for Delhi Daredevils...
of the Tigers was worth 143, eight more than Victoria managed in their first innings, and though Cameron White
Cameron White
Cameron Leon White is an Australian cricketer and current Australian Twenty20 captain. A powerful middle order batsman and right-arm leg-spin bowler, White made his first-class cricket debut as a teenager in the 2000–01 season for the Victorian Bushrangers as a bowling all-rounder...
and Shane Warne
Shane Warne
Shane Keith Warne is a former Australian international cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the history of the game. In 2000, he was selected by a panel of cricket experts as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century, the only specialist bowler selected in the quintet...
scored half-centuries for Victoria the second time around, they fell 121 short of their target of 409. In Sydney, the Warriors batted to nine for 508 thanks to centuries from Marcus North
Marcus North
Marcus James North is an Australian cricketer, who scored centuries on both his Test and Ashes debuts. He has also played for the Australian Cricket Academy, Western Australia, Australia A, Durham, Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, Lancashire and Hampshire.He is a left-handed batsman and right arm...
(151 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
) and Luke Ronchi
Luke Ronchi
Luke Ronchi is an Australian professional cricketer who currently plays for Australia and Western Australia...
(100), and Steve Magoffin
Steve Magoffin
Steven James "Steve" Magoffin is an Australian cricketer currently playing with the Queensland cricket team...
and Brett Dorey
Brett Dorey
Brett Raymond Dorey is an Australian cricketer. He played four One Day Internationals for the Australia national cricket team in 2006, picking up two wickets. He played domestic first-class and one-day cricket for the Western Warriors from the 2004–05 to 2010–11 seasons.-Life and career:Dorey was...
then took three wickets each as the Blues were bowled out for 117. The second time around, the Blues made 478, but despite three wickets from spinner Jason Krejza
Jason Krejza
Jason John Krejza is an Australian cricketer. He also plays for the Tasmanian Tigers and Leicestershire. Krejza's father was a association football player from Czechoslovakia and his mother was born in Poland...
the Warriors made it home with six wickets to spare.
- Pura Cup, 13 February–16 February: Tasmanian Tigers (6pts) beat Victorian Bushrangers (0pts) by 120 runs
- Pura Cup, 14 February–17 February: Western Warriors (6pts) beat New South Wales Blues (0pts) by six wickets
ING Cup conclusion
The final round of the ING Cup was opened in Brisbane, where the Redbacks posted nine for 313 after a century from Greg BlewettGreg Blewett
Gregory Scott Blewett is a former Australian right handed batsman and a right arm medium fast bowler in cricket who represented the Australian national cricket team in Test cricket and One Day International matches from 1995 to 2000....
. Despite 12 wides from Redbacks fast bowler Shaun Tait
Shaun Tait
Shaun William Tait is a professional Australian cricketer, who currently plays only in the Twenty20 format. Tait plays domestic cricket for South Australia and is also a representative for Australia at Twenty20 International level; he has also represented his country in One Day Internationals and...
, the Bulls were bowled out for 245, and the Redbacks secured a bonus point and a six-point lead over the third-placed Bushrangers, who needed six points in their match the following day to draw level with the Redbacks. On the same day, Australia Under-19
Australian U-19 cricket team
The Australian Under-19 cricket team have been playing official Under-19 test matches since 1978. Former captains include Stuart Law, Damien Martyn, Brad Haddin, Nathan Hauritz and Cameron White who have all gone on to play international cricket for Australia....
played their final match in the U-19 World Cup
2006 U-19 Cricket World Cup
The 2006 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup was played in Sri Lanka from February 5 to February 19, 2006.The final was played between Pakistan and India in Colombo, which Pakistan won by 38 runs, enabling them to become the first back-to-back champions of the tournament.- Participating Nations :Sixteen...
, losing their semi-final to Pakistan Under-19
Pakistan Under-19 cricket team
Pakistan Under-19 cricket team are twice Cricket World Champions at the under-19 level. Their second win made them the first and to date only back to back champions.-Pakistan U-19 Squad:* Azeem Ghumman* Sarmad Bhatti...
by 163 runs to finish joint third with England Under-19.
Twice the run rate of the opposition was needed in order to obtain six points, and after Tasmania won the toss and batted to seven for 242, the Bushrangers needed 485 to be able to qualify for the final. Instead, they lost both wickets in the opening over to Adam Griffith
Adam Griffith
Adam Richard Griffith is an Australian cricket player. He currently plays for Tasmania and has also had a spell at Leicestershire. He plays his club cricket for North Hobart Cricket Club....
, who got career best ING figures of four for 36 http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/australia/content/story/237680.html as the Bushrangers were bowled out for 128. This meant that the Blues and the Redbacks had qualified for the final before the final match between the Blues and the Warriors, which the latter won by a margin of one run; the Blues had needed seven off Ben Edmondson
Ben Edmondson
Ben Matthew Edmondson is an Australian cricketer who has played for the Western Warriors, Southern Redbacks and Gloucestershire. He is a right-arm fast-medium bowler....
's last over, but two wickets fell on the first two balls, and Aaron Bird
Aaron Bird
Aaron Christopher Bird is an Australian cricketer who currently plays first-class cricket for the New South Wales Blues. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm fast bowler....
and Stuart MacGill
Stuart MacGill
Stuart Charles Glyndwr MacGill is a former right-arm leg spin bowler of the Australian cricket team, with a domestic career at Western Australia, New South Wales, Nottinghamshire, Devon and Somerset...
could only add five from the last four.
In the only women's Test match of the season, the hosts won inside three of the scheduled four days; captain Karen Rolton
Karen Rolton
Karen Louise Rolton is a former Australian cricketer. A left-handed batsman and occasional left-arm medium-paced bowler, she has scored the most runs for Australia in women's Test cricket....
opted to bat first, and made 63, and a half-century from Lisa Sthalekar
Lisa Sthalekar
Lisa Carprini Sthalekar is a female cricketer who plays for Australia, and captains New South Wales. One of the key players in the team, she is a right-handed all rounder who bowls off spin, and was rated as the leading all rounder in the world when rankings were introduced...
took Australia
Australian women's cricket team
The Australian women's cricket team played their first Test match in 1934/5, when they lost to England two-nil in a three-Test series. Since then they have improved and are generally considered the best women's cricket team in the world...
to 250. Fast bowler Cathryn Fitzpatrick
Cathryn Fitzpatrick
Cathryn Lorraine Fitzpatrick is a former Australian cricketer. She was recognised as the world's fastest women pace bowler, bowling at up to 125 km/h...
then got the best figures with three for 24 as India
Indian women's cricket team
The Indian women's cricket team played their first Test match in 1976/1977, when they drew with the West Indies in a six-match series. They performed better than expected in the last Women's Cricket World Cup, reaching the finals but then losing to Australia. In 2005 they won their second Women's...
were bowled out for 93 and made to follow on, and in the second innings, Sthalekar got five for 30 and India were bowled out for 153, four short of making Australia bat again.
The final match of the Pura Cup's eighth week was also concluded; the Bulls earned a 138-run lead on first innings, then added 365 in their second with Clinton Perren
Clinton Perren
Clinton Terrence Perren is an Australian first-class cricketer who played for Queensland. He was a right-handed middle order batsman....
making 168 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
before they declared. Andy Bichel
Andy Bichel
Andrew John Bichel is a retired Australian cricket player and was the bowling coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders for the 2009 Indian Premier League....
and Michael Kasprowicz
Michael Kasprowicz
Michael Scott Kasprowicz is a former Australian Test cricketer. He is a right arm fast bowler, effective outfielder and useful lower order batsman, and has enjoyed a successful career both in Australia and in the English county scene since making his debut for Queensland as a seventeen year old in...
then shared eight of ten Redback wickets as the visitors were bowled out for 209.
- ING Cup, 17 February: Southern Redbacks (5pts) beat Queensland Bulls (0pts) by 68 runs
- ING Cup, 18 February: Tasmanian Tigers (5pts) beat Victorian Bushrangers (0pts) by 114 runs
- Women's Test, 18 February–20 February: Australia Women beat India Women by an innings and four runs and won the series 1–0
- ING Cup, 19 February: Western Warriors (4pts) beat New South Wales Blues (0pts) by one run
- Pura Cup, 19 February–21 February: Queensland Bulls (6pts) beat Southern Redbacks (0pts) by 294 runs
Tour of South Africa begins, and ING Cup final
Australia embarked on their second set of matches against South Africa this season, this time in South Africa. The tour began with a Twenty20Twenty20
Twenty20 is a form of cricket, originally introduced in England for professional inter-county competition by the England and Wales Cricket Board , in 2003. A Twenty20 game involves two teams, each has a single innings, batting for a maximum of 20 overs. Twenty20 cricket is also known as T20 cricket...
international at the Wanderers, where South Africa won by two runs after half-centuries from Graeme Smith
Graeme Smith
Graeme Craig Smith is a South African cricketer and captain of the South African cricket team Test Match side, having succeeded Shaun Pollock after the 2003 Cricket World Cup...
and Herschelle Gibbs
Herschelle Gibbs
Herschelle Herman Gibbs is a South African cricketer, more specifically a batsman.Gibbs was schooled at St Joseph's Marist College and then Diocesan College in Rondebosch...
. Australia needed 19 off the final over, but could only get 10 off the first five balls, and despite Brett Lee
Brett Lee
Brett Lee is an Australian cricketer.After breaking into the Australian Test team, Lee was recognised as one of the fastest bowlers in world cricket...
hitting the last ball for six over midwicket South Africa took the first spoils.
The women's team played a series of three One-day Internationals over four days in the last week of February; they began at St Peter's College, Adelaide
St Peter's College, Adelaide
St Peter's College, , is an independent boy's school in the South Australian capital of Adelaide...
, where two of the three matches. Australia won the first after being bowled out for 173 in 49 overs, with Karen Rolton
Karen Rolton
Karen Louise Rolton is a former Australian cricketer. A left-handed batsman and occasional left-arm medium-paced bowler, she has scored the most runs for Australia in women's Test cricket....
taking four for 29 and helping to stop India for 161 despite 66 from Anjum Chopra
Anjum Chopra
Anjum Chopra is a member of the India national women's cricket team. She was born in New Delhi. She made her debut in One-day Internationals on 12 February 1995 against New Zealand at Christchurch, New Zealand, and made her debut in Test cricket a few months later, against England at Eden...
. The second match saw no such efforts from Chopra, as India were bowled out for 89 with Cathryn Fitzpatrick
Cathryn Fitzpatrick
Cathryn Lorraine Fitzpatrick is a former Australian cricketer. She was recognised as the world's fastest women pace bowler, bowling at up to 125 km/h...
taking five wickets, and Karen Rolton hit 47 as Australia won by four wickets.
On the same day as Australia's women secured the One-day Internationals, the men's tour of South Africa continued, this time with a One Day International win at Centurion
Centurion, Gauteng
Centurion is an area with 279,430 inhabitants in Gauteng Province of South Africa, located between Pretoria and Midrand . Formerly an independent municipality, with its own town council, it is now part of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality...
. Australia batted first, making eight for 229 after half-centuries from Michael Clarke
Michael Clarke (cricketer)
Michael John Clarke is an Australian cricketer. He was appointed captain of the Test and ODI teams on 30 March 2011. Nicknamed 'Pup', he is a right-handed batsman, and occasional left-arm orthodox spin bowler...
and Michael Hussey
Michael Hussey
Michael Edward Killeen Hussey is an Australian cricketer, a left-handed specialist batsman. Hussey is also widely known by his nickname Mr Cricket. Hussey was a relative latecomer to both the one-day international and Test Australian teams, debuting at 28 and 30 years of age in the respective...
, and the recalculated target under the Duckworth/Lewis method was 204 in 41 overs. Graeme Smith
Graeme Smith
Graeme Craig Smith is a South African cricketer and captain of the South African cricket team Test Match side, having succeeded Shaun Pollock after the 2003 Cricket World Cup...
hit 119 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
to take South Africa home with six wickets to spare. Back in Australia, the Redbacks hosted the Blues for the ING Cup final, and aimed to take their first win in 19 years http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/australia/content/story/238681.html. However, despite a match top-score of 49 from Mark Cosgrove
Mark Cosgrove
Mark James Cosgrove is a left-handed batsman and part-time medium pace bowler, who is contracted with the Tasmania for the 2010–11 season after previously playing for South Australia. In 2005 Cosgrove was named the Bradman Young Player of the Year...
and six wickets from Shaun Tait
Shaun Tait
Shaun William Tait is a professional Australian cricketer, who currently plays only in the Twenty20 format. Tait plays domestic cricket for South Australia and is also a representative for Australia at Twenty20 International level; he has also represented his country in One Day Internationals and...
, the Redbacks could not defend their total of 154. Stuart MacGill
Stuart MacGill
Stuart Charles Glyndwr MacGill is a former right-arm leg spin bowler of the Australian cricket team, with a domestic career at Western Australia, New South Wales, Nottinghamshire, Devon and Somerset...
secured the trophy with a leg glance off Darren Lehmann
Darren Lehmann
Darren Scott Lehmann is a former Australian cricketer, who made his ODI debut in 1996 and Test debut in 1998. He was on the fringes of national selection for the entirety of the 1990s, and only became a regular in the ODI team in 2001 and Test team in late 2002, before being dropped in early 2005...
, the second time he'd hit the winning runs for the Blues in as many seasons http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/australia/content/story/238743.html.
The final women's One-day International saw India bat out 50 overs, but their total of seven for 128 was not enough, as Alex Blackwell
Alex Blackwell
Robert Alexander Blackwell is a retired American professional basketball player, who had a brief stint with the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA...
and Rolton both hit half-centuries and took Australia to a nine-wicket win.
- Twenty20 International, 24 February: South Africa beat Australia by two runs
- First Women's One-day International, 25 February: Australia Women beat India Women by 12 runs
- First One-day International, 26 February: South Africa beat Australia by six wickets
- Second Women's One-day International, 26 February: Australia Women beat India Women by six wickets
- ING Cup Final, 26 February: New South Wales Blues beat Southern Redbacks by one wicket to win the ING Cup
- Third Women's One-day International, 28 February: Australia Women beat India Women by nine wickets
Pura Cup Week Nine
New South Wales followed up their ING Cup trophy with a three-day defeat at the Bellerive OvalBellerive Oval
Bellerive Oval, also known as its sponsored name Blundstone Arena, is primarily a cricket and Australian Rules Football ground located in Bellerive, City of Clarence, on the eastern shore of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia...
, after totalling 141 and 157 in their two innings. Tasmanian bowler Ben Hilfenhaus
Ben Hilfenhaus
Benjamin William Hilfenhaus is an Australian cricketer who plays for the Tasmanian Tigers in Australian domestic cricket. Hilfenhaus plays club cricket for Tasmania University Cricket Club. Prior to turning fully professional, he worked as a bricklayer as well as playing cricket...
took ten for 87 in the match, including seven in the second innings, while Travis Birt
Travis Birt
Travis Rodney Birt is an Australian cricketer, who currently plays Australian state cricket for Western Australia, and in the Indian Premier League for Delhi Daredevils...
top scored, hitting seven sixes and nineteen fours in a four-hour 160. Meanwhile, in South Africa, Australia suffered their second-highest loss by runs in One-day Internationals, Makhaya Ntini
Makhaya Ntini
Makhaya Ntini is a former South African cricketer who was the first ethnically black player to play for the South African team. A fast bowler, he tends to bowl from wide of the crease with brisk, although not express, pace...
taking six for 22 as Australia were all out for 93 to lose by 196 runs. The result meant Australia had to win their three last matches to take the series.
On 5 March, Queensland Bulls won the league stage and made sure the Pura Cup final would be held in Brisbane after beating Victoria by 106 runs http://smh.com.au/news/cricket/queensland-to-host-another-final/2006/03/05/1141493541419.html. Jimmy Maher
Jimmy Maher
James Patrick Maher is a former Australian cricketer. He is "an attractive left-handed batsman with a clumping cover-drive"....
and Matthew Hayden
Matthew Hayden
Matthew Lawrence Hayden AM is a former Australian cricketer, and was signed to the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL until the 2010 season. Hayden is a powerful and aggressive left-handed opening batsman, known for his ability to score quickly at both Test and one day levels.Hayden holds the record...
opened by adding 153 for the first wicket, and despite seven for 100 from Shane Warne
Shane Warne
Shane Keith Warne is a former Australian international cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the history of the game. In 2000, he was selected by a panel of cricket experts as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century, the only specialist bowler selected in the quintet...
, Queensland totalled 408 after an unbeaten 76 from Andy Bichel
Andy Bichel
Andrew John Bichel is a retired Australian cricket player and was the bowling coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders for the 2009 Indian Premier League....
. The Bushrangers barely made half of that, ending on 212 with Jonathan Moss
Jonathan Moss (cricketer)
Jonathan Moss is an Australian cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-pace bowler who played for the Victorian Bushrangers from season 2000/01 to 2006/07.-Biography:...
top scoring with 60, and Queensland declared shortly before the close of play on day three on five for 189. All five Bulls' bowlers got at least one wicket on the final day, and though Nick Jewell
Nick Jewell
Nicholas "Nick" Jewell is a former Australian rules footballer and a professional cricketer who played for Victoria.Jewell was educated at Caulfield Grammar School in Melbourne and played for Under-18s football for Prahran; in Year 12 at Caulfield, he set a then Associated Public Schools of...
and Cameron White
Cameron White
Cameron Leon White is an Australian cricketer and current Australian Twenty20 captain. A powerful middle order batsman and right-arm leg-spin bowler, White made his first-class cricket debut as a teenager in the 2000–01 season for the Victorian Bushrangers as a bowling all-rounder...
put on 100 for the fifth wicket, a double strike from injured leg spinner Daniel Doran
Daniel Doran
Daniel John Doran is an Australian cricketer who played for Queensland in Australian domestic cricket. He was a right-arm leg break bowler....
after tea saw the Bushrangers to seven for 239. Michael Kasprowicz
Michael Kasprowicz
Michael Scott Kasprowicz is a former Australian Test cricketer. He is a right arm fast bowler, effective outfielder and useful lower order batsman, and has enjoyed a successful career both in Australia and in the English county scene since making his debut for Queensland as a seventeen year old in...
and Andy Bichel
Andy Bichel
Andrew John Bichel is a retired Australian cricket player and was the bowling coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders for the 2009 Indian Premier League....
took the last three wickets to give Queensland their eighth successive Pura Cup final appearance. Australia also came back to 1–2 in the five-match ODI series in South Africa, successfully defending 255 to win despite half-centuries from Shaun Pollock
Shaun Pollock
Shaun Maclean Pollock is a retired South African cricketer who is considered a bowling all-rounder. From 2000 to 2003 he was the captain of the South African cricket team, and also played for Africa XI, World XI, Dolphins and Warwickshire. He was also chosen as the Wisden Cricketer of the Year in...
and AB de Villiers. Brett Lee
Brett Lee
Brett Lee is an Australian cricketer.After breaking into the Australian Test team, Lee was recognised as one of the fastest bowlers in world cricket...
took four for 48 for Australia.
The Warriors could have gone second in the Pura Cup table if they had managed to force a win on the final day against the Redbacks, having earned a three-run first innings lead when Steve Magoffin
Steve Magoffin
Steven James "Steve" Magoffin is an Australian cricketer currently playing with the Queensland cricket team...
had Dan Cullen
Dan Cullen
Daniel James Cullen is an Australian cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and right-hand off break bowler. He plays his domestic cricket for South Australia and played for Somerset in the 2006 English cricket season....
caught behind for six midway through day three. Effectively 88 for three overnight, the Warriors lost nightwatchman Beau Casson
Beau Casson
Beau Casson is a former Australian cricketer who played for Western Australia and New South Wales, in a career spanning from 2002 to 2011, and has represented Australia at Test cricket. Primarily a left arm wrist spinner, Casson is also capable with the bat and has a highest First-class score of 99...
and Adam Voges
Adam Voges
Adam Charles Voges is an Australian cricketer. In domestic cricket, he plays for the Western Warriors. He is a right-hand batsman and part-time left-arm orthodox bowler.-Early career:...
in the first session, but Marcus North
Marcus North
Marcus James North is an Australian cricketer, who scored centuries on both his Test and Ashes debuts. He has also played for the Australian Cricket Academy, Western Australia, Australia A, Durham, Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, Lancashire and Hampshire.He is a left-handed batsman and right arm...
and Dave Bandy batted out four hours in a 211-run fifth-wicket partnership. The Warriors batted out the day to draw the game, and were thus third, with a chance to qualify with a win in the final round at the Bushrangers.
- Pura Cup, 2 March–4 March: Tasmanian Tigers (6pts) beat New South Wales Blues (0pts) by an innings and 55 runs
- Pura Cup, 2 March–5 March: Queensland Bulls (6pts) beat Victorian Bushrangers (0pts) by 106 runs
- Pura Cup, 3 March–6 March: Western Warriors (2pts) drew with Southern Redbacks (0pts)
- Second One-day International, 3 March: South Africa beat Australia by 196 runs
- Third One-day International, 5 March: Australia beat South Africa by 24 runs
"The greatest match ever"
Those were words used by iafrica.com columnist Dan Nicholl following the fifth One-day International between Australia and South Africa. Australia had won the fourth match, taking victory by one wicket after Nathan BrackenNathan Bracken
Nathan Wade Bracken is a former Australian cricketer. A tall left-arm fast-medium bowler, Bracken is capable of swinging the ball both ways. He has represented Australia in all forms of the game...
and Stuart Clark
Stuart Clark
Stuart Rupert Clark is an Australian International cricketer who plays domestic cricket for the New South Wales Blues. He plays as a right-arm fast-medium bowler...
added 23 for the ninth wicket and Clark and Mick Lewis
Mick Lewis
Michael Llewellyn "Mick" Lewis is an Australian cricketer.-Grade career and state career:Born in Greensborough, Victoria, Lewis was a grade cricketer who played for Northcote and the Victorian Bushrangers gave him his first-class debut in the 1999/2000 season...
batted together to secure victory in the last over, which left the series tied at 2–2 with one to play. Australia won the toss, chose to bat first, and amassed runs off the South African bowlers. Their total of four for 434 was the highest team total thus far in ODI cricket, leaving South Africa to chase 435 to win – over 100 runs more than any team had chased before.
Yet, they did it. Herschelle Gibbs
Herschelle Gibbs
Herschelle Herman Gibbs is a South African cricketer, more specifically a batsman.Gibbs was schooled at St Joseph's Marist College and then Diocesan College in Rondebosch...
and Graeme Smith
Graeme Smith
Graeme Craig Smith is a South African cricketer and captain of the South African cricket team Test Match side, having succeeded Shaun Pollock after the 2003 Cricket World Cup...
added 187 in 20.5 overs for the second wicket, and though Nathan Bracken
Nathan Bracken
Nathan Wade Bracken is a former Australian cricketer. A tall left-arm fast-medium bowler, Bracken is capable of swinging the ball both ways. He has represented Australia in all forms of the game...
took five wickets and South Africa were down to the last man, Mark Boucher
Mark Boucher
Mark Verdon Boucher is a South African cricketer, who holds the record for the most Test dismissals by a wicket-keeper. He was educated at Selborne College and has represented Border, Africa XI, ICC World XI, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders of the Indian Premier League, and...
won them the game by hitting a four off the fifth ball of the final over. Gibbs and Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting
Ricky Thomas Ponting , nicknamed Punter, is an Australian cricketer, a former captain of the Australian cricket team between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 2011 in One Day International cricket. He is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as a very...
(164) were jointly awarded the Man of the Match award, but Ponting declined http://edition.cnn.com/2006/SPORT/03/12/cricket.records.reut/.
- Fourth One-day International, 10 March: Australia beat South Africa by one wicket
- Fifth One-day International, 12 March: South Africa beat Australia by one wicket and won the One-day International series 3–2
Pura Cup Week Ten
The final round of the Pura Cup was also played out; the winner of the Bushrangers–Warriors match at Junction OvalJunction Oval
The Junction Oval is an historic sports ground in the suburb of St Kilda in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its location near the St Kilda Junction gave rise to its nickname...
in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
would join the Bulls in the final, while a draw would see it come down to quotient with other sides. The Tigers finished first, winning their third match in succession after bowling the Bulls out for 176 and 140, while Michael Bevan
Michael Bevan
Michael Gwyl Bevan is a former Australian left-handed cricket batsman and a slow left arm chinaman bowler. He played 232 ODI matches for Australia, and was a part of the 1999 and 2003 teams that won the World Cup...
scored a century and captain Daniel Marsh
Daniel Marsh
Daniel James Marsh was an Australian cricketer who captained the Tasmanian Tigers. The son of former Australian keeper Rod Marsh, Dan was a right-handed batsman and a handy slow left-arm orthodox bowler...
made 96 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
. The Redbacks and the Blues played out a match with three declared innings at Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
; South Australia batted first, making seven for 541 after centuries from Shane Deitz
Shane Deitz
Shane Alan Deitz is an Australian first-class cricketer who plays for the Southern Redbacks. He is a left-handed top order batsman and depending on the availability of Graham Manou may be seen behind the stumps....
, Cameron Borgas
Cameron Borgas
Cameron James Borgas is an Australian cricketer who plays for the Southern Redbacks. He is a right-handed middle order batsman and has previously represented Australia at under 19 level. He also plays A grade cricket for Sturt District Cricket Club.He was just 17 years old when first contracted by...
and Mark Cosgrove
Mark Cosgrove
Mark James Cosgrove is a left-handed batsman and part-time medium pace bowler, who is contracted with the Tasmania for the 2010–11 season after previously playing for South Australia. In 2005 Cosgrove was named the Bradman Young Player of the Year...
, and the Blues responded with six for 314 before declaring, knowing that their only chance of qualifying for the final would be a win in this game. The Redbacks batted for 27 overs, making three for 115 before setting the Blues 343 in a minimum of 100 overs. The Blues were five for 233 after 80 overs, when the Redbacks took the new ball
Cricket ball
A cricket ball is a hard, solid leather ball used to play cricket. Constructed of cork and leather, a cricket ball is heavily regulated by cricket law at first class level...
http://sportal.com.au/cricket.asp?i=news&id=79235, but Paul Rofe
Paul Rofe
Paul Cameron Rofe is a cricketer who played for South Australia. He is a right-arm fast bowler of some promise who has taken 181 First Class wickets at an average of 29.66, with a best of 7-52. His limited overs career has been slightly less successful although he has still taken 37 wickets at an...
took three wickets in thirteen balls. In the last hour, the Redbacks needed two wickets, and claimed the last when Aaron O'Brien
Aaron O'Brien
Aaron Warren O'Brien is an Australian cricketer. He has played first class cricket for New South Wales. He was Middleton Cricket Club's professional deputising for the injured Brendon Reddy for the match against Crompton....
was bowled
Bowled
Bowled is a method of dismissing a batsman in the sport of cricket. This method of dismissal is covered by Law 30 of the Laws of cricket.A batsman is out bowled if his wicket is put down by a ball delivered by the bowler...
for 48 by former Australian Test bowler Jason Gillespie
Jason Gillespie
Jason Neil Gillespie is an Australian cricketer who formerly represented Australia at international level, in both Tests and One Day Internationals, and South Australia, Yorkshire and Glamorgan at first-class level. His primary role is as a right-arm fast-medium bowler, but he is also a competent...
with seven balls remaining.
However, the result from Melbourne meant that the Redbacks' total of 26 points was not enough. The Warriors had earned a 19-run lead on first innings, though the Bushrangers' last three wickets had added more than their first seven (7–92 to 206 all out), and eight double-digit figures with a high of 66 from Chris Rogers
Chris Rogers (cricketer)
Christopher John Llewellyn Rogers is an Australian cricketer.Rogers is a left-handed opening batsman and a left-handed leg-break bowler...
gave the Warriors a lead of 360 with 15 overs left on the third day. Before this match, the highest fourth innings total to win at the Junction Oval
Junction Oval
The Junction Oval is an historic sports ground in the suburb of St Kilda in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its location near the St Kilda Junction gave rise to its nickname...
was six for 209 by Western Australia in 1956–57. The final day was delayed by rain http://www.sportal.com.au/cricket.asp?i=news&id=79231, but after four half-centuries and 46 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
from captain Cameron White
Cameron White
Cameron Leon White is an Australian cricketer and current Australian Twenty20 captain. A powerful middle order batsman and right-arm leg-spin bowler, White made his first-class cricket debut as a teenager in the 2000–01 season for the Victorian Bushrangers as a bowling all-rounder...
, the Bushrangers totalled five for 361 to win the match by five wickets and qualify for the final. Warriors pacer Brett Dorey
Brett Dorey
Brett Raymond Dorey is an Australian cricketer. He played four One Day Internationals for the Australia national cricket team in 2006, picking up two wickets. He played domestic first-class and one-day cricket for the Western Warriors from the 2004–05 to 2010–11 seasons.-Life and career:Dorey was...
, leading wicket-taker for the season in the Warriors http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Events/AUS/Pura_Cup_2005-06/Bowling_by_Wickets.html, ended with nought for 102 off 25 overs.
- Pura Cup, 10 March–13 March: Southern Redbacks (6pts) beat New South Wales Blues (0pts) by 45 runs
- Pura Cup, 10 March–12 March: Tasmanian Tigers (6pts) beat Queensland Bulls (0pts) by an innings and 40 runs
- Pura Cup, 10 March–13 March: Victorian Bushrangers (6pts) beat Western Warriors (0pts) by five wickets
South Africa Tests and Pura Cup final
The first Test of the three-match series in South Africa, at NewlandsNewlands Cricket Ground
Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town is a South African cricket ground. It's the home of the Cape Cobras, who play in the SuperSport Series, MTN Domestic Championship and Standard Bank Pro20 competitions. It is also a venue for Test matches. Newlands is regarded as one of the most beautiful cricket...
, was over inside three days after Stuart Clark
Stuart Clark
Stuart Rupert Clark is an Australian International cricketer who plays domestic cricket for the New South Wales Blues. He plays as a right-arm fast-medium bowler...
claimed nine for 89 on Test debut to be named Man of the Match in Australia's seven-wicket win. South Africa batted first, making 205 with Nicky Boje
Nicky Boje
Nico "Nicky" Boje is a South African cricketer who played in 43 Tests and 115 One Day Internationals for South Africa, and attended Grey College in Bloemfontein...
's 31 from number nine the highest score, and Matthew Hayden
Matthew Hayden
Matthew Lawrence Hayden AM is a former Australian cricketer, and was signed to the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL until the 2010 season. Hayden is a powerful and aggressive left-handed opening batsman, known for his ability to score quickly at both Test and one day levels.Hayden holds the record...
and Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting
Ricky Thomas Ponting , nicknamed Punter, is an Australian cricketer, a former captain of the Australian cricket team between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 2011 in One Day International cricket. He is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as a very...
then brought Australia within 30 of that before Ponting was caught off the bowling of Jacques Kallis
Jacques Kallis
Jacques Henry Kallis is a South African cricketer. As an all-rounder he is a formidable right-handed batsman and fast-medium swingbowler. He is one of the greatest all-rounders of all time, being the only cricketer in the history of the game to hold more than 12,000 runs and 250 wickets in both...
. Another half-century, from Andrew Symonds
Andrew Symonds
Andrew Symonds is a former Australian cricket team all-rounder. A two-time World Cup winner, Symonds is a right-handed middle order batsman and alternates between medium pace and off-spin bowling....
, took Australia to a lead of 103, and Clark was leading wicket-taker in the second innings to bowl South Africa out for 197, and despite three wickets from Makhaya Ntini
Makhaya Ntini
Makhaya Ntini is a former South African cricketer who was the first ethnically black player to play for the South African team. A fast bowler, he tends to bowl from wide of the crease with brisk, although not express, pace...
, Australia made it to the target and won their third successive Test against South Africa.
In the second Test, Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting
Ricky Thomas Ponting , nicknamed Punter, is an Australian cricketer, a former captain of the Australian cricket team between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 2011 in One Day International cricket. He is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as a very...
scored centuries in both the first and second innings to pass Don Bradman's mark of 29 Test hundreds http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/rsavaus/content/story/242211.html, while a five-wicket-haul from Brett Lee
Brett Lee
Brett Lee is an Australian cricketer.After breaking into the Australian Test team, Lee was recognised as one of the fastest bowlers in world cricket...
helped Australia take a lead of 108 on first innings despite 114 from Jacques Kallis
Jacques Kallis
Jacques Henry Kallis is a South African cricketer. As an all-rounder he is a formidable right-handed batsman and fast-medium swingbowler. He is one of the greatest all-rounders of all time, being the only cricketer in the history of the game to hold more than 12,000 runs and 250 wickets in both...
. Half an hour before tea on day four, Ponting declared with a lead of 409, but weather conditions stopped play after tea and meant Australia had one day to bowl out South Africa and take the Test series win http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/rsavaus/content/story/242211.html. AB de Villiers added 91 with Graeme Smith
Graeme Smith
Graeme Craig Smith is a South African cricketer and captain of the South African cricket team Test Match side, having succeeded Shaun Pollock after the 2003 Cricket World Cup...
for the first wicket, but Shane Warne
Shane Warne
Shane Keith Warne is a former Australian international cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the history of the game. In 2000, he was selected by a panel of cricket experts as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century, the only specialist bowler selected in the quintet...
accounted for them both and four more to take his first five-wicket-haul of the series and end with six for 86. South Africa were seven for 181 at one point, but Mark Boucher
Mark Boucher
Mark Verdon Boucher is a South African cricketer, who holds the record for the most Test dismissals by a wicket-keeper. He was educated at Selborne College and has represented Border, Africa XI, ICC World XI, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders of the Indian Premier League, and...
put on 72 with Nicky Boje
Nicky Boje
Nico "Nicky" Boje is a South African cricketer who played in 43 Tests and 115 One Day Internationals for South Africa, and attended Grey College in Bloemfontein...
for the eighth wicket and 39 with Andre Nel
Andre Nel
André Nel is a South African cricketer who played Test cricket and ODIs as a fast bowler but has since retired opting to play county cricket for Surrey.-International career:...
for the ninth to give South Africa a chance of the draw; however, with six overs remaining, Makhaya Ntini
Makhaya Ntini
Makhaya Ntini is a former South African cricketer who was the first ethnically black player to play for the South African team. A fast bowler, he tends to bowl from wide of the crease with brisk, although not express, pace...
was given lbw
Leg before wicket
In the sport of cricket, leg before wicket is one of the ways in which a batsman can be dismissed. An umpire will rule a batsman out LBW under a series of circumstances which primarily include the ball striking the batsman's body when it would otherwise have continued on to hit the batsman's...
to Warne and Australia could cheer.
The final match of the domestic season was played at the 'Gabba
Brisbane Cricket Ground
The Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as The Gabba, is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland. It is named after the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located....
, and after the Bushrangers had made 344 in the first innings (with three batsmen, Brad Hodge
Brad Hodge
Bradley John Hodge is an Australian and Victorian cricketer. He attended St Bede's College in Mentone, Victoria. He is a right hand batsman who bats in the middle order, as well as a part time right arm off spin bowler....
, Nick Jewell
Nick Jewell
Nicholas "Nick" Jewell is a former Australian rules footballer and a professional cricketer who played for Victoria.Jewell was educated at Caulfield Grammar School in Melbourne and played for Under-18s football for Prahran; in Year 12 at Caulfield, he set a then Associated Public Schools of...
and David Hussey
David Hussey
David John Hussey is an Australian cricketer. Hussey is a right-handed batsman and can also bowl right-arm offbreaks. He is the younger brother of Australian Test cricketer Michael Hussey.-Australian domestic career:...
, making over three quarters of the score), it was the hosts' turn to bat. They overtook the Victorian score with just one wicket lost, that of Lachlan Stevens
Lachlan Stevens
Lachlan McRae Stevens , is a former player for the Queensland cricket team and current coach of the Western Australia cricket team and the Perth Scorchers.-Career:...
for 66, and continued to bat well past it. In fact, they batted past the previous state record of 687 from 1930–31, with Jimmy Maher
Jimmy Maher
James Patrick Maher is a former Australian cricketer. He is "an attractive left-handed batsman with a clumping cover-drive"....
(223), Shane Watson
Shane Watson
Shane Robert Watson is an Australian cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-handed fast medium bowler. He mainly bats as an opener in international cricket, although he does not do so domestically....
(201, retired hurt
Substitute (cricket)
A substitute in the sport of cricket is a replacement player that the umpires allow when a player has been injured or become ill after the nomination of the players at the start of the game...
), Clinton Perren
Clinton Perren
Clinton Terrence Perren is an Australian first-class cricketer who played for Queensland. He was a right-handed middle order batsman....
(173) and Martin Love
Martin Love
Martin Lloyd Love is a former Australian cricketer who played in five Tests from 2002 to 2003. He was a right-handed batsman....
(169) all passing 150 for Queensland. They lost three wickets in four overs to Dirk Nannes
Dirk Nannes
Dirk Peter Nannes is a Dutch Australian cricketer. A left-arm fast bowler, he plays for the Australian cricket team, the Victorian Bushrangers, the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League, and Fitzroy-Doncaster in Victorian club cricket. He has also represented the Netherlands...
after passing 850, but eventually declared on six for 900, the eleventh highest first class score of all time http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/242208.html?CMP=OTC-RSS. Mitchell Johnson
Mitchell Johnson (cricketer)
Mitchell Guy Johnson is an Australian cricketer. He is a left-arm fast bowler and left-handed batsman. He was awarded the International Cricket Council's 2009 "Cricketer of the Year" award, the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy.-Career:...
then took two wickets before stumps on the third day, and four on the fourth, to help bowl the Bushrangers out for 202 and secure the Pura Cup for Queensland. Daniel Doran
Daniel Doran
Daniel John Doran is an Australian cricketer who played for Queensland in Australian domestic cricket. He was a right-arm leg break bowler....
also took three wickets in the second innings.
- First Test, 16 March–18 March: Australia beat South Africa by seven wickets
- Second Test, 24 March–28 March: Australia beat South Africa by 112 runs
- Pura Cup Final, 26 March–29 March: Queensland Bulls beat Victorian Bushrangers by an innings and 354 runs and won the Pura Cup