ICC Super Series 2005

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While the matches themselves attracted reasonable interest and television viewing, small crowds and a poor performance by the World XI has led to the entire Super Series concept being taken back to the drawing board by the ICC. Many believe that the Super Series cannot work due to lack of cooperation and coordination between the Rest of the World players.

Fixtures

• Warm-up match: Junction Oval, Melbourne, VIC
• * World XI vs. Victoria - 2nd October
• One Day Internationals: Telstra Dome, Melbourne, VIC
• *Game 1 - 5th October
• *Game 2 - 7th October
• *Game 3 - 9th October
• Super Test: Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW
• *14th to 19th October

Teams

Selections

The Australian squads were announced on September 20, and the axe fell on the lacklustre performers on the team during the recent Ashes series, with Damien Martyn dropped from the Test side in favour of Brad Hodge but retaining his one-day spot. Stuart MacGill and Shane Watson, who toured England but did not play in any of the Ashes Tests, were included in the lineup. Jason Gillespie and Michael Kasprowicz were not found worthy for a place in the Test squad nor the ODI squad, while youngster James Hopes getting a surprise call-up for the ODI side following his 146 in a first class game for Australia A on their tour of Pakistan in September 2005.

Test Squads

TAS

NSW

NSW

QLD

VIC

WA

WA

NSW

WA

WI

NSW

VIC

QLD

One-day International Squads

TAS

NSW

NSW

NSW

NSW

QLD

WA

WI

WA

NSW

WI

NT

NSW

QLD

QLD

VIC

Notes

• ¹ Inzamam-ul-Haq replaced India's Sachin Tendulkar, who was originally in the Test squad, but withdrew with an injury.
• ² Dravid and Gayle replaced Tendulkar and South Africa's Herschelle Gibbs, who were both originally in the ODI squad, but withdrew due to injuries.
• ³ Brad Hogg (who was originally called up for ODIs only) and Shaun Tait (called up for both Tests and ODIs) both withdrew from the Australian squad due to injuries. No replacement was named in the Test squad, but Stuart Clark and Cameron White were called up for the ODIs.

Status of the matches

The International Cricket Council declared that the matches would count as official one-day internationals and Test matches. Until recently, ODIs and Test matches had to be played between the teams of two countries. Moreover, the ICC's own rules stipulate that a player can only represent one test match playing side, and that test matches are only played between member sides of the ICC, which the 'rest of the world' is not. Some previous matches, such as the series between England and the Rest of the World in 1970, were initially regarded as Test matches but later stripped of Test status by the ICC. At first it was unclear whether the Super Series matches would be recognised as official internationals, but following the decision to recognise the World Cricket Tsunami Appeal match as an official ODI, the ICC decided to award official status to the Super Series matches too. This was the first official Test match not between two countries.

This decision proved controversial. The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians opposed the move. Some prominent cricket statisticians, such as Bill Frindall, have even said that they will not recognise the ICC's ruling, raising the possibility of two competing sets of cricket statistics being in circulation.

Many current and former Test cricketers have also joined in the debate. For example, former Australian captain Allan Border said: "I firmly believe that this status should be restricted to matches between national sides. Test cricket is an institution that has been built up over a period of 128 years, and it should not be tampered with". Conversely, Tony Greig, who played for the Rest of the World against Australia in 1971-72, said "My understanding of the status of first-class and Test cricket is related to the standard of the players. These are all Test cricketers... [The 1971-72 matches] were played like Tests and were deadly serious".

The matches themselves were characterised by poor crowds (half empty grounds) and lacklustre performances by the World XI. Former England batsman Geoffrey Boycott described the series as a "bunfight" and said that there was "nothing that resembled cricket" in it. The authoritative publication The Wisden Cricketer summed up the "Test" match as follows: " [it] was a terrible game of cricket. It had a small crowd, little meaning and was forgotten quickly".

Match reports

Warm-up: Victoria v World XI (2 October)

World XI

Victoria

In a practice match preceding the first one-day international, a fifty over game was arranged against a strong Victorian side. The game was thirteen-a-side, but with only eleven players allowed to bat and eleven to field. Andrew Flintoff was allowed to rest, with the other World players all playing. By agreement the World batted first, but they fared badly as they collapsed from 63 for no loss to 131 for 6, with Shane Harwood taking 4 for 37. Rahul Dravid's patient knock of 66 off 113 balls and Shaun Pollock's cameo of 54 not out off only 43 balls rescued the innings, which finished on a competitive 281 for 8. Victoria came close in reply, with Brad Hodge top-scoring with 92 before succumbing to Muttiah Muralitharan.

[Scorecard]

First ODI: Australia v World XI (5 October)

Australia	255/8 (50 overs)	Australia won by 93 runs
	SM Katich 58 DL Vettori (NZ) 4/33 Batting Time: 229 minutes (3 hr 49 min)	Telstra Dome, Melbourne, VIC Umpires: A Dar (Pak), SJ Taufel (Aus) Man of the Match: SR Watson Coin Toss: Australia
World XI	162 (41.3 overs)
	K Sangakkara (SL) 65 SR Watson 3/43 Batting Time: 181 minutes (3 hr 1 min)

Australia won the toss and captain Ricky Ponting elected to bat first. They got off to a good start, with Gilchrist and Katich putting on 80 runs in only 14 overs before Gilchrist was bowled by Kallis. Katich and Ponting put on 48 in the next eight overs, and at 1 for 128 after 22.1 overs, Australia looked to be heading for a big score. But after that wickets fell regularly, with the spinners Muralitharan and Vettori working their way steadily through the middle order to restrict Australia to 8 for 255 at the end of their 50 overs.

The World XI never looked like challenging this total. They lost five of their top six batsmen — Sehwag, Kallis, Lara, Dravid and Pietersen — for single figures, to collapse to 5 for 82 inside 22 overs. Only Sangakkara's innings gave any hope, but when he was out for 65 to leave the World XI on 6 for 101, needing 7 runs an over off the last 22 overs, the game was over. Australia eventually wrapped up the World XI's innings for 162 to record a comprehensive 93-run victory.

Though they had never looked threatened in the World XI's run chase the Australian team came together in a near ecstatic celebration when fittingly Ricky Ponting took the final catch. This over the top, for a game they so easily won, celebration has been widely attributed to the pressure they'd felt going into the match after losing the ashes to England.

[Cricinfo scorecard]

Second ODI: Australia v World XI (7 October)

Australia	328/4 (50 overs)	Australia won by 55 runs
	AC Gilchrist 103 V Sehwag (IND) 1/20	Telstra Dome, Melbourne, VIC Umpires: R Koertzen (SA), D Hair (Aus) Man of the Match: AC Gilchrist Coin Toss: Australia
World XI	273 (45.3 Overs)
	KC Sangakkara (SL) 61 NW Bracken 3/43

Australia won the toss and captain Ricky Ponting elected to bat first. They got off to a good start, with Gilchrist and Katich quickly putting on 110 runs before Katich was bowled by a doosra from Muralitharan. Gilchrist and Ponting put on 63, with Gilchrist reaching his century off 73 balls, before missing a straight Sehwag delivery. Martyn and Ponting consolidated in a 103-run stand, working singles around. On 276, Ponting failed to beat Flintoff to the stumps at the other end and Martyn was bowled next ball, giving the World XI a sniff. However, Andrew Symonds and Michael Clarke pushed the Australian total comfortably past 300, with 4 for 328 at the end of their 50 overs. Every bowler was taken to, except for Muralitharan, who finished with 1 for 43 off 10 overs.

The World XI initially looked like challenging this total. Chris Gayle blasted a 48-ball half-century as the World XI reached 125 off only 16.1 overs. From then on however, they consistently lost wickets, due to insipid running between the wickets and a few soft dismissals, with Lara again hitting Nathan Bracken straight to Symonds at cover. The World XI ended up being dismissed for 273, handing another victory to Australia.

Third ODI: Australia v World XI (9 October)

Australia	293 / 5 (50 overs)	Australia won by 156 runs
	M E K Hussey 75 M Muralitharan 2/38	Telstra Dome, Melbourne, VIC Umpires: A Dar (Pak), D Hair (Aus) Man of the Match: Shane Watson Coin Toss: Australia
World XI	137 (27.5 overs)
	V Sehwag 37 Brett Lee 4/30

Super Test: Australia v World XI (14-19 October)

Australia	345	&	199	Australia won by 210 runs
	ML Hayden 111 A Flintoff 4/59		ML Hayden 77 SJ Harmison 3/41	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW Umpires: RE Koertzen (SA), SJ Taufel (Aus) Man of the Match: ML Hayden Coin Toss: Australia
World XI	190	&	144
	V Sehwag 76 SCG MacGill 4/39		JH Kallis 39* SCG MacGill 5/43

See also

• Rest of the World cricket team in England in 1970
• List of World XI Test cricketers

References

• [ICC Super Series home page]
• [News about the ICC Super Series] from Cricinfo
• [Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians Representation to the ICC]
• [Cricinfo bulletin on Victoria v World XI]

External links

• [Official site]

2005–06 Australian cricket season

Super Series | West Indians | Chappell–Hadlee | South Africans | VB Series | Tour of South Africa |

Tour of Bangladesh | Indian Women | A team in Pakistan | Under–19s in India | Under–19 World Cup |

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