New Delhi:
In 152 years of Test cricket and 48 years of ODIs, Australia has been the most dominant team in the world. They are the only country to have a positive head-to-head ratio in Tests and ODIs for such a long period of time. They are the first team to win five World Cups and they are the only team to win it in five different countries, having won in 1987, 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2015 in India, England, South Africa, West Indies and at home in Australia. In many ways, Australia is the ultimate cricketing nation. Indian cricket fans have the passion and talent, Pakistan has their mercurial ways, England have a history of tradition while South Africa are the pretenders to the crown but none have been as dominant as Australia.
In fact, when it comes to the world of cricket, Australia has been involved in the first major event, incident or milestone when it comes to Test cricket and in many factors in ODI cricket. The first Test match in cricket was between England and Australia in Melbourne in 1877. The first ODI was between Australia and England at the same venue in 1971 while the first Twenty20 International was between Australia and New Zealand in 2005. When one extends it to significant milestones, Australia plays a very prominent part.
They were the first team to be part of the tied Test match in 1960 against West Indies in Brisbane while the second tied Test took place against India in Chennai in 1986. Even in ODIs, the first tie was between Australia and West Indies at the MCG in 1984. The first Day-Night Test, also termed the Pink Ball Test also involved Australia and their first game was against New Zealand in Adelaide in 2015. The first-ever tied match in the ICC Cricket World Cup took place in 1999 and it involved Australia and South Africa in the semi-final at Edgbaston.
In the first Test match in 1877, Charles Bannerman of Australia was the first centurion while Billy Midwinter took the first five-wicket haul. In 1971, the decision to abandon the Test match in Melbourne due to rain gave birth to the ODI and Australia won by five wickets against England. In the 1999 World Cup, Australia had defeated South Africa in the super-six stage thanks to a Steve Waugh century and these two sides clashed in the semi-final.
Australia made 213 and South Africa was boosted by Lance Klusener but in the end, Allan Donald was run-out as the match ended in a tie and Australia progressed into the final due to a superior net run-rate over South Africa.
With Australia being involved in so many significant events in world cricket, it is safe to say cricket is a richer game due to the magnificence of the team called Australia.
