International cricket in 2005

This article discusses International cricket in the 2005 season. For the purposes of this article the 2005 cricket season is taken to be the whole of the English cricket season, plus those series defined to belong to the 2005 season by Cricinfo. It is a period that saw Test matches between Bangladesh and England, Australia and England, Pakistan and West Indies, and finally West Indies and Sri Lanka. There were also two major ODI tournaments, the NatWest Series and the Indian Oil Cup, an African XI took on an Asian XI for a three-match series deserted by the crowds, and the Australian women played Tests against England.

ICC Championship tables in May 2005

At 19 May 2005, when the final matches of the 2004-05 season were concluded, these were the official ICC Championship tables (as quoted on news sources "Cricinfo" and "Rediff"):

Australians in England

"See also: Australians in England in 2005"

Australia arrived in England in June, and were welcomed by losing a Twenty20 international by 100 runs. They recovered, however, to tie the NatWest Series tournament, after finishing second in the group stage of the three-team tournament (see below). In the NatWest Challenge, the 2-team ODI tournament immediately following the Series, Australia went one down in the first match but came back with two big victories chasing a target. Ricky Ponting made a century in the second ODI and Adam Gilchrist in the third. Australia were favourites going into the Test series (The Ashes), but they had been upset in the ODI series, and some thought their confidence was not perfect. However, after being bowled out for 190 by a good spell of fast bowling by Steve Harmison who took five for 43, the Australians dominated the rest of the match. Glenn McGrath ripped the English batting line-up to shreds as they crashed to 155, and after Australia's second innings England were set a world-record 420 to win. They whimpered to 180, and Australian commentators were once again talking about a 5–0 victory.

However, England came back. They dominated the first three days of the second Test, leaving themselves to take two wickets for 107 runs on the final day - Australia eked out 104 of them before Harmison took the vital wicket, levelling the series. A DVD of this match was later released, entitled "The Greatest Test", which adequately described the feelings in the cricketing community about the match. The third Test was almost as closely fought, and despite one day being rained off, England set Australia 423 to win in a day and 10 overs. However, this time Australia survived, thanks to captain Ricky Ponting scoring Australia's first century of the series with 156. There was no such luck for the Australians at Trent Bridge in the fourth Test, however, as the Australians surrendered a 259-run lead on first innings, and despite an injury to fast bowler Simon Jones, who had taken five wickets in the first innings, England prevailed to take a three-wicket victory and ensure at least a drawn series.

England went into the final Test at The Oval needing a draw to win the Ashes, as a drawn series would give them to their previous holders. They got it, thanks to rain, dropped catches from Australia, and centuries from Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen. England batted first, and Andrew Strauss and Marcus Trescothick set the pace with a good opening partnership. Strauss just batted on, making 129 and boosting the England total to 373, but the Australian opening batsmen - who had struggled earlier on in the series - fought back now with 185 runs for the first wicket. The English weather once again plagued the Australian batsmen, raining off almost half of the second and third day's play, and on the fourth day, light conditions were poor. Australia had to bat on, however, to put pressure on the English, and Andrew Flintoff and Matthew Hoggard could plough through Australia's batsmen. The men in baggy green lost their last nine wickets for 103 and their last five wickets for just 11 runs. Kevin Pietersen finished off the match with a stunning maiden Test hundred to ensure that Australia would only get to face four balls in their second innings. The match was drawn, and Vaughan finally got to lift the small urn in front of a delighted Barmy Army, 16 years and 29 days after David Gower had given it away to Aussies in 1989.

"Australians in England 2005. Test match length: 5 days. Test series result: England won 2–1. ODI series result: Australia won 2–1. One-off Twenty20 International: England won."

West Indies A in Sri Lanka

"See also: West Indies A in Sri Lanka in 2005"

West Indies A, a representative side of the West Indies picked from players that would not be in the international team, played against Sri Lanka A in June and July, playing three unofficial four-day "Tests" and five unofficial "ODIs", with first class and List A status respectively. The plans for the tour were only confirmed in mid-June as a result of a dispute over sponsorship between the West Indies Cricket Board and its players. The row continued between the Board and the senior West Indian players, though, which led to the Board asking all West Indies A players whether they would make themselves available for the Test tour immediately following the A tour. On 28 June it was announced that they had unanimously declined the request. However, that unanimous agreement vanished in the coming days, and several players were called up from the A squad to the main squad - resulting in the A squad needing more players. Twenty players eventually turned out for the West Indies A squad. As for the cricket, both the first-class and one-day series were alive until the very last match. West Indies A took a 57-run victory in the first "Test" match, taking the last five wickets of that game for three runs, but crashed to a humbling innings defeat in the second. Sri Lanka A won the series 2–1 thanks to a four-wicket win in the last match. In the one-dayers, West Indies could have forced a drawn series if they had managed to win the last game, but Sri Lanka's bowling undid them and they lost the series 3–1.

"West Indies A tour of Sri Lanka A in 2005. First-class match length: 4 days. First-class series result: Sri Lanka A won 2–1. One-day series result: Sri Lanka A won 3–1."

Note:All national codes used are IOC codes, except for Scotland (SCO) who do not compete in the Olympics.

Bangladesh A in England

"See also: Bangladesh A in England in 2005"

Bangladesh A toured England in July and August 2005 for first class and List A cricket matches against English domestic teams. The Bangladesh A side, which was supposed to represent the players just below the eleven in the national team of Bangladesh, in fact included as many as nine internationals. Despite that, the team struggled in the first class matches, where they drew two and lost three matches, and only looked like having a chance of winning in the last match against Kent. The one-day series went slightly better, with Bangladesh A winning two, losing one and abandoning a fourth, but for a second string national team against mainly second elevens from English domestic cricket, it must have been disappointing for the Bangladeshi selectors that only Tushar Imran performed - scoring a total of 614 runs in 11 innings in all cricket on tour. Tushar got called up to the tour of Sri Lanka as a result, along with Syed Rasel, who took ten wickets in the final first-class match against Kent.

West Indians in Sri Lanka

"See also: West Indians in Sri Lanka in 2005"

West Indies cricket team toured Sri Lanka for two Test matches and a ODI tri-series, the Indian Oil Cup (see below), in July and August 2005. West Indies were severely depleted owing to a contract dispute, which led to players like Brian Lara, Chris Gayle and Corey Collymore refusing to play. Thus, Sri Lanka went into the series as even more overwhelming favourites, their strong game at home and West Indies' poor form - with only one Test win in the last ten attempts. And they confirmed their favourite status, winning both Tests in rather emphatic style, although their batting showed worrying weaknesses against West Indian bowlers who bowled with more heart than talent at times. Muttiah Muralitharan, however, took 17 wickets in the two Tests, devastating the West Indian batsmen and playing a major part in the eventual Sri Lankan victory.

"West Indians in Sri Lanka in 2005. Test match length: 5 days. Test series result: Sri Lanka won 2–0."

ri Lanka Under-19s in England

"See also: Sri Lanka Under-19s in England in 2005"

Sri Lanka Under-19s toured England in July and August 2005. They played three "One Day Internationals" and three "Tests" against the England Under-19 side. However, these matches, despite being internationals, did not have first class status. The England Under-19s were completely dominant, winning two of three ODIs and three Tests, and the third of the ODIs was declared a no result due to rain. The Sri Lankans performed well in patches, but never consistently, too often relying on the one big partnership to carry them to respectable scores. Meanwhile, England had many stand-out players, but skipper Varun Chopra - who made three fifties and was never dismissed for anything below 27 - and all-rounders Tom Smith and Moeen Ali stood out in the Test series. Fast bowler Stuart Broad also impressed in the four matches he played, taking 9 ODI wickets at a bowling average of 8.00, and five Test wickets at an average of 11.60. However, his absence during the last two Tests did not stop England.

"Sri Lanka youth tour of England in 2005. U–19 Test match length: 4 days. U–19 Test series result: England U-19 won 3–0. U–19 ODI series result: England U–19 won 2–0."

Afro-Asian Cup

"See also: 2005 Afro-Asian Cup"

The Afro-Asian Cup was a cricket competition played for the first time 2005. It was a three-ODI series between an Asian XI and an African XI. Controversially, the games were awarded One Day International status. The Cup will run for at least three years. The teams were selected by former Test match players rather than by national selectors, a move that has also given rise to controversy.

It was wrongly expected by the ICC that there would be a strong competitive tender for television rights. However, the main TV players, such as ESPN, declined to bid. Pakistan made it clear that its players did not have to play if they did not want to, and leading South African bowler Makhaya Ntini announced that he would be playing for English county side Warwickshire and so was not available for selection for the African side. Injuries also rampaged the tournament, as four players pulled out a week before the matches were due to start. [http://content.cricinfo.com/afroasiacup/content/story/215652.html]

As for the tournament itself, it was closely fought. Africa won the first match by just two runs, while Asia won the second by 18 runs to set up a series decider. However, after Africa had been bowled out for 106, the Asian innings was curtailed by rain, and the match eventually declared a no result. Thus, the series was tied 1–1.

"Afro-Asian Cup 2005. Match length: 50 overs per side. Series result: Drawn 1–1."

ICC Championship Tables in September 2005

With the conclusion of the Test season on 12 September and the ODI season on 9 August, the official ICC Championship tables were as shown below. Many teams had changed positions owing to the cut-off system used, where results between 1 August 2002 and 1 August 2003 counted for the May rankings but not for the September rankings.

These tables include two Test matches between New Zealand and Zimbabwe classified under the 2005-06 season which were played between 9 August and 12 September 2005. Kenya were no longer ranked because they only played 2 ODIs in the ranking period.

ee also

References

* [http://usa.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/2005/ The Cricinfo Archives 2005]
* [http://usa.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/2005/OTHERS/ICC-CONT/ Cricinfo - ICC Intercontinental Cup 2005]
* [http://www.cricketarchive.com CricketArchive]
* [http://www.cricketeurope.org/ICCT2005/home.shtml ICC Trophy 2005] - official site powered by [http://www.cricketeurope.org CricketEurope]
* [http://www.icc-cricket.com/icc/ International Cricket Council]