Australia A cricket team
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Australia A cricket team is a national cricket team representing Australia, and is the "second tier" of international Australian cricket below the full Australian cricket team. The strength of Australian cricket has meant that the A team has played against full Test sides more often than their equivalent A teams from other nations (as of 2005). They have also played far more one-day than first-class matches; indeed they have played only two first-class games against equivalent A sides, both against South Africa A in 2002-03.
Arguably, Australia A are unique amongst A teams in that they played in an official One-day International series. In the Australian summer of 1994/95, the (then) Benson and Hedges World Series Cup was expanded to involve four teams instead of the usual three - Australia, England, Zimbabwe and Australia A. In a shock result, the Australia A team (captained by Damien Martyn and featuring up-and-comers such as Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden and Greg Blewett, as well as veterans - wicket keeper Phil Emery and pacemen Paul Reiffel and Merv Hughes) ousted England from the series and went into the best-of-3 final against Australia. They were swept 2-0, but it was unquestionably a display of the next generation of Australia's prowess. Many of the 1994-95 A players have now played for Australia.
[edit] Season-by-season results summary
| Australia A matches | First-class v A team | Other first-class | List A v A team | Other List A | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Venue | W | D | L | W | D | L | W | L | NR | W | L | NR |
| 1994-95 | Australia | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3 | 5 | 0 |
| 1995-96 | Australia | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1996-97 | Australia | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 1997-98 | Australia | - | - | - | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 19981 | Scotland | - | - | - | 0 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Ireland | - | - | - | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1998-99 | Australia | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 1999 | United States | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - |
| 1999-2000 | Australia | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - |
| 2000-01 | Australia | - | - | - | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2001-02 | Australia | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2002-03 | South Africa | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5 | 1 | 02 | - | - | - |
| Australia | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 02 | 3 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2003-04 | Australia | - | - | - | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2004-05 | Australia3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | 2 | 0 |
[edit] Players
The most recent games played by the team were in 2005-06, when they played a 5-game List A one-day series against Pakistan A. The 15-man squad consisted of:
- Nathan Bracken
- Stuart Clark
- Dan Cullen
- Brad Haddin
- Chris Hartley
- Brad Hodge
- James Hopes
- Mike Hussey
- Phil Jaques
- Mitchell Johnson
- Mick Lewis
- Marcus North
- Dominic Thornely
- Shane Watson
- Cameron White
[edit] Notes
- 1. Two first-class matches scheduled to be played in England were cancelled.
- 2. One further match was abandoned without a ball being bowled.
- 3. One Twenty20 game was also played, which was won by Australia A.
