TheAustralian Tri-Series was an annualone day international (ODI)cricket tournament held in Australia, and contested byAustralia and two touring teams.
The series was the primary format for international one-day cricket throughout most of the early history of ODI cricket in Australia, staged during the height of the Australian cricket season, in the summer months of December, January and February. The tri-series was first held in 1979–80 and was contested every season until 2007–08. It has since been held only twice since 2007–08, and ODI cricket has since been played as bilateral ODI series against a single touring opponent.
The concept of a three-team international series known as a 'tri-series' in cricket originated with theWorld Series Cricket program sponsored byKerry Packer. Packer was keen to exploit what he saw as strong interest in ODI cricket, and staged long tri-series amongst teams from Australia, West Indies, and The Rest of the World in the 1977–78 and 1978–79 seasons. These tournaments have never been awarded either One Day International or List A status.
When the World Series Cricket schism ended in 1979–80, the tri-series format was retained. Throughout its existence, the tournament was held as a series ofOne Day Internationals, featuring a round-robin played amongst the three teams, followed by a finals series played between the top two. The most common format over the years was that each team played each other four times in the round-robin, followed by a final decided by a best-of-three series (with the third match played only if necessary), for a total of fourteen or fifteen ODIs played through the summer.
The basic format has been unchanged throughout the tri-series' history, but specific details have varied:
From 1980–81 to 1985–86, and in 1998–99, each team played the others five times during the round robin
In 1980–81 and 1981–82, the finals series was best of five
In 1994–95 only, a quadrangular series featuring two touring sides, Australia and Australia A was played; each team played the others twice during the round robin, followed by a best-of-three finals series. Matches played against Australia A are considered List A matches, but not as official One Day Internationals.
In 2004–05 only, each team played the others only three times during the round robin
In 2014–15 only, each team played the others only twice during the round robin with a solitary final
Over its duration, the series has taken on several mostly commercial names:
After the 2007–08 season, the tri-series format was abandoned as a regular fixture. For three seasons (2008–09 until 2010–11), Australia still played ODIs against two touring teams, but these were staged as separate ODI series against a single opponent. TheCommonwealth Bank was still the naming rights sponsor of ODI cricket in Australia during these summers, so all series were still known as the Commonwealth Bank Series during this time.
The tri-series format returned in the 2011–12 season, but did not herald a permanent return to the format. A shortened tri-series of only seven matches (six round-robin matches and a final) was played in the 2014–15 season in the lead-up to the2015 World Cup in Australia.[1]
AUS vs IND Victoria Bitter Series 2003–04 at theMCG.
Played mostly during a strong era for Australian cricket, Australia won twenty of the thirty-one tri-series played up to 2014–15. Australia failed to reach the finals on only three occasions. West Indies, who featured in the series frequently during the 1980s, was the next most successful team, winning six tournaments. Other international teams to win the tri-series were England (twice), India, Pakistan and South Africa (once each).
1979–80 – The match on 27 November 1979 betweenAustralia andWest Indies inSydney was the first officialOne Day International to be played at night. Like the tri-series concept itself, night matches were aWorld Series Cricket initiative that was adopted into ODI cricket. For this season, the red ball was used and white pads were worn for matches in Adelaide and Brisbane and Melbourne, and the white ball was used and coloured pads worn for matches in Sydney.
1979–80 –England defeatedWest Indies by two runs in Sydney when, with the West Indies requiring three runs to win from the final ball of the match, England captainMike Brearley pushed all of his fieldsmen, including the wicket-keeper, back to the boundary. ODI rules were changed to incorporate fielding restrictions to prevent any repeat of this incident.
1980–81 – In the third final, withNew Zealand needing six runs from the final ball to tie the match, Australian captainGreg Chappell ordered his younger brother,Trevor tobowl the ball underarm along the ground. This was one of cricket's most controversial moments of all time. ODI laws were changed so that any ball delivered underarm would be called a no-ball and a dead ball.[15]
1981–82 – In the final qualifying match,Australia defeatedWest Indies atSydney on run-rate after rain ended the match with the last 6.5 overs remaining. The next morning, Melbourne'sThe Age newspaper alleged the West Indies haddeliberately lost the match to ensure Australia qualified for the finals ahead of Pakistan, meaning the Australian Cricket Board would receive $800,000 in extra gate takings. West Indies captainClive Lloyd, who had withdrawn from the match due to illness, subsequently won a libel action and $100,000 in damages fromThe Age.
1982–83 – New Zealand breaks the world record for the highest successful run chase in an ODI, scoring 297–6 to surpass England's 296–5 inAdelaide. The record stood until 1992.[16]
1982–83 – In the second final atMelbourne versus Australia, New ZealanderLance Cairns scored the then World record fastest ODI fifty off 21 balls, hitting 6 sixes. This is still currently the fastest 50 in Australian Tri-Series matches.[17]
1983–84 – The first ever tied One-day International took place in the second final at theMCG betweenAustralia andWest Indies, afterCarl Rackemann was run out attempting the winning run.[18]
1984–85 –West Indies were the first team to go through the qualifying round unbeaten by winning all 10 matches. Although they lost the first match v Australia, they came back from behind to win the finals series 2–1.[19]
1985–86 – After having clinched a finals berth,Australia was defeated byNew Zealand by 206 runs inAdelaide after being bowled out for 70. This is still Australia's second-heaviest defeat by runs in ODI history.[20]
1985–86 – Australian fast bowlerBruce Reid took the firsthat-trick in the history of the Australian Tri-series inSydney versusNew Zealand on 29 January 1986.
1988–89 – The first match of that season's tournament,West Indies vPakistan,Adelaide, 10 December 1988, was the first one-day international to feature shirts bearing both the team's names and player's names and surnames.[21]
1988–89 – In the third final at Sydney, rain stopped play for one hour and 25 minutes with West Indies at 47/2 after 6.4 overs chasing Australia's 4/226 off 38 overs, and West Indies target was revised to 108 off the 18 overs that remained; West Indies won the match (and the competition) with 4.4 overs remaining afterDesmond Haynes hitSteve Waugh for six. Australian fans loudly booed this unsatisfactory conclusion, and criticism from the media led to theAverage Run Rate method being replaced by theMost Productive Overs method for setting revised targets in interrupted matches.[22]
1992–93 –West Indian all-rounderPhil Simmons recorded bowling figures of 4/3 from 10 overs againstPakistan inSydney. These remain the most economical bowling figures in one-day international history (qualification of 30 balls bowled).[23]
1995–96 – The first match in the tournament,West Indies vSri LankaAdelaide, 15 December 1995, was the first One Day International that featured numbers and names on the back of player's shirts after they were introduced for that season'sMercantile Mutual Cup tournament.[24] That same season, Michael Bevan famously hit four runs off the last ball of the match to give Australia a hard-fought victory against West Indies onNew Year's Day.[25]
1996–97 – Australia misses the finals for the first time since the 1979–80 Series; it is also the first time West Indies finish as Runners-up, with Pakistan winning the series 2 – 0, and not even a power failure in the 2nd final could stop them from winning.
2000–01 –Mark Waugh scored 173 runs for Australia against West Indies at theMelbourne Cricket Ground, the highest innings total in Australian Tri-Series history.[26] It is also the first finals clash between Australia and West Indies since the 1992–93 season, and the first time Australia has defeated West Indies in the best of 3 finals.
2001–02 – Australia misses the finals for a third time (ultimately leading to Steve Waugh's dismissal from the Australian one day team), South Africa wins the finals 2–0 over New Zealand.
2003–04 –Ajit Agarkar recorded bowling figures of 6/42 from 9.3 overs against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It was the first and, to date, only six wicket haul in an Australian Tri-series match.[27]
One Day International Cricket – The Ultimate Guide to Limited-Overs Internationals compiled by Stephen Samuelson, Ray Mason and David Clark. Feb 1999. Robinson PublishingISBN1-84119-038-1
Australia
England
West Indies
India
Pakistan
New Zealand
Sri Lanka
South Africa
Zimbabwe
