Australian Team Zone

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Next ODI Tour will take place in South Africa

Tour Dates 18 Mar 2024 - 22 Mar 2024
Hosting Rights Won By South Africa
Hosting Country South Africa
First Preferred Pitch Dry
Second Preferred Pitch Crumbling
Third Preferred Pitch Sticky

Please join our Association Forum and Discord Channel to be part of tour discussions or just to get more involved in all matters Australia.

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Also to complete the T20 Tour reports,

Game 4 vs Zimbabwe saw Andrew Embley counter-attack with 45 not out from just 35 balls in Crumbling/Humid conditions after we were in trouble early on.
Then in the bowling Roy Stephen was the hero with a Macca's Player of the Day performance, picking up 4 wickets in the middle to dent Zimbabwe hopes and help us to a 39 run win.

Game 5 vs Ireland saw us struggle with the bat as we only managed 106/9 in our 20 overs in Dry/Humid conditions.
In the bowling we started well and had them on the ropes at 70/7, but their lower order fought back well and guided them to a 2 wicket win which meant that we missed out on winning the division.
Macca's Player of the Day was Daniel Kerr, who scored 21 runs and picked up 3 wickets.

With 3 wins and 2 losses, we finished in 2nd place with 12 points which sees us promote to Division 1.

Now onto the ODI Tour, where we start in Division 2 and the goal is to earn promotion back to the top.

Thank you all for supporting Australia and please continue to do so.

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Squad is heading to South Africa for the NAT ODI Tour Division 2 from 18-22 March.
Matches will start at 08:00 FTP time.

Touring Squad

Batters

Andrew Embley (4 caps) West Coast Eagles
Shaggy McCosker (3 caps) Pink Flag
Will Schofield (NAT Debut) West Coast Eagles
Allan Spry (12 caps) Trevor Francis Tracksuit
Swerve Strickland (ODI Debut) The Elite
Gregory Watson (7 caps) Rustars
Robin Greening (3 caps) Marvellous XI

Keepers

Robbo Dickie (5 caps) Caterham Crusaders
Wallace Shepherd (ODI Debut) Marvellous XI

All-Rounders

Orren Barsby (RFS) (3 caps) Rustars
Daniel Kerr (LWS) (3 caps) West Coast Eagles
Luke Shuey (LM) (2 caps) West Coast Eagles

Bowlers

Chris Lewis (RFS) (3 caps) stresseddesserts
Roy Stephen (RWS) (3 caps) Tobago Saucers
Peter Fleiter (LWS) (8 caps) stresseddesserts
Shawnie Sheahan (RFM) (3 caps) Thumbtacks
Brian Calusky (LFM) (8 caps) Trevor Francis Tracksuit
Todd Voss (LF) (8 caps) Pink Flag

Pitches

18 Mar vs UAE: Dry
19 Mar vs South Africa: Dry
20 Mar vs New Zealand: Crumbling
21 Mar vs Zimbabwe: Crumbling
22 Mar vs England: Sticky

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Game 1 of the 2nd ODI tour for this season where we faced the UAE in Dry/Cloudy conditions.
Won the toss and batted first.

Lost 2 early wickets after which Shaggy McCosker and Robbo Dickie got together for a 3rd wicket partnership of 64 runs. We then lost 3 wickets in 3 overs after the drinks break which also led to us collapsing from 119/3 to 163 all out.
Robbo Dickie top scored with 62.

Got a wicket in the first over and another in the first 10 overs, but UAE also got a 50+ run partnership for the 3rd wicket. They also suffered a small collapse after the drinks break but it wasn't enough for us to get the win as we lost by 2 wickets. Our bowlers did really well to try and defend the target but the batters were disappointing and could only manage a below-par total.
Pick of the bowlers and Macca's Player of the Day is Peter Fleiter for his figures of 9-2-24-4.

Australia v UAE >> Match Ratings
Match Ratings
Australia UAE
Batting - Top Order 15,924 15,703
Batting - Middle Order 14,610 14,564
Batting - Tail 7,253 7,122
Bowling - Seam 15,886 (20) 15,528 (20)
Bowling - Spin 16,524 (30) 15,927 (30)
Fielding/Keeping 19,027 19,700
Overall 282,324 280,374

South Africa is next in Dry/Cloudy conditions

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Apologies for not having Game 2 and 3 reviews up so going to do them together.

Against South Africa we played on Dry/Cloudy where we won the toss and batted first again like Game 1.

We lost 3 wickets in the first 10 overs, then another in the 11th over, and by the 19th over we were tottering at 48/5. Things got worse as a wicket first ball after drinks we were at 65/7. We then managed a 48 run partnership for the 8th wicket and the tail eventually got us to 133. Only 4 players scored in double figures and bowler Shawnie Sheahan was the top scorer with 32 not out.

With the bowling we managed to make a few inroads, but after 76/4 they managed a 66 run partnership for the 5th wicket, and despite getting another late wicket we ended up losing by 5 wickets. Peter Fleiter was the pick of the bowlers as he had economical figures of 6.3-0-15-1.

Macca's Player of the Day goes to Orren Barsby for his 22 runs with the bat and 2 wickets.

Match Ratings
South Africa Australia
Batting - Top Order 15,359 13,441
Batting - Middle Order 12,839 15,226
Batting - Tail 5,794 6,479
Bowling - Seam 16,700 (20) 15,906 (20)
Bowling - Spin 15,198 (30) 15,220 (30)
Fielding/Keeping 18,642 18,360
Overall 265,099 266,662

Game 3 was against New Zealand on Crumbling/Cloudy, and we won the toss yet again but this time we elected to bowl first.

We picked up 3 wickets in the first 10 overs and managed to get to 53/5, after which they managed to put together a 47 run partnership for the 6th wicket. What followed then can simply be described as a Daniel Kerr special as he got a hattrick and managed to pick up 5 wickets in just 2 overs.
He was also the pick of the bowlers and our Macca's Player of the Day for his figures of 7-3-23-5.

For the first time in this tour our batters to put together a steady performance as we somehow only lost 3 wickets and managed a 7 wicket win. Robin Greening led the way with a captain's knock, scoring 45 not out. Robbo Dickie also supported well with 24 runs.

Match Ratings
New Zealand Australia
Batting - Top Order 14,568 15,406
Batting - Middle Order 14,001 14,281
Batting - Tail 7,039 6,328
Bowling - Seam 15,197 (20) 15,600 (20)
Bowling - Spin 15,344 (30) 15,848 (30)
Fielding/Keeping 18,325 18,524
Overall 266,795 272,053

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Game 4 vs Zimbabwe in Crumbling/Cloudy conditions.

Zimbabwe won the toss and chose to bowl first.

4th game in a row for Andrew Embley, and in 83 balls that he faced he could not trigger his BH talent even once. We did manage a solid start though, getting to 78/2 after which we suffered yet another collapse, falling for just 129 this time. Wallace Shepherd top scored with 36 and extras was the 2nd highest scorer for us with 14.

We managed a good start with the ball with Fast Bowler Todd Voss getting 2 quick wickets. They then had a couple of small partnerships and at 61/3 and 93/6 it felt that the game could go away from us, but Todd Voss came back for a short spell right before the drinks break and made it count with the important wicket of their captain and finisher Eric MacKenzie. We managed to finish the job shortly after and earned a 24 run win. Orren Barsby was the pick of the bowlers with 4 wickets while Todd Voss got 3 and Daniel Kerr picked up 2 wickets.

Macca's Player of the Day goes to Orren Barsby for his 4 wickets and 12 runs with the bat.

Match Ratings
Australia Zimbabwe
Batting - Top Order 14,951 15,127
Batting - Middle Order 13,946 11,956
Batting - Tail 7,049 4,182
Bowling - Seam 15,598 (20) 15,701 (30)
Bowling - Spin 15,160 (30) 13,669 (20)
Fielding/Keeping 17,759 17,842
Overall 266,693 248,846

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Final game of the ODI tour against England in Sticky/Windy conditions.

Won the toss and batted first.

Our start was solid based on the conditions, as the top 5 all managed double figures and got us to 69/2, after which we lost 3 quick wickets to slip to 75/5 and we never really recovered as we ended up getting bundled over for just 121.
Top scorer was Swerve Strickland with 23.

We had a good start and had them on the ropes at 42/4, after which they managed a 57 run partnership for the 5 wicket which took the game away from us. We got a couple of late wickets but still ended up losing by 3 wickets.
Brian Calusky, Chris Lewis, and Roy Stephen each picked up 2 wickets.

Chris Lewis is the Macca's Player of the Day for his 2 wickets and 11 runs with the bat.

Match Ratings
England Australia
Batting - Top Order 14,806 15,272
Batting - Middle Order 11,258 12,180
Batting - Tail 4,876 6,250
Bowling - Seam 14,672 (20) 15,611 (20)
Bowling - Spin 14,522 (30) 15,294 (30)
Fielding/Keeping 17,082 18,235
Overall 243,041 260,371

We end the tour in 3rd place with 2 wins.
This wasn't the best performance from us and we hope to do better next season.

We switch now to T20s as we have the T20 World Cup coming up.

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The T20 World Cup will be played from 15-22 April and we will be holding squad selection discussions on the association, so let us know if anyone is interested in joining the association.

We will also be holding a fantasy competition with prizes for winners, details will be announced after squad is finalized.

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Hosting country of the T20 World Cup is the Netherlands and matches will start at 12:00 FTP time.

T20 World Cup Squad

Batters

Andrew Embley (3 caps)
Jaeger Fuchs (NAT Debut)
Shaggy McCosker (3 caps)
Allan Spry (3 caps)
Swerve Strickland (3 caps)
Gregory Watson (4 caps)
Robin Greening (T20 Debut)

Keepers

Robbo Dickie (5 caps)
Wallace Shepherd (3 caps)

All-Rounders

Orren Barsby (RFS) (2 caps)
Ashley Sampi (LFS) (NAT Debut)
Daniel Kerr (LWS) (3 caps)
Maddox Wigley (RF) (NAT Debut)

Bowlers

Chris Lewis (RFS) (3 caps)
Peter Fleiter (LWS) (9 caps)
Shawnie Sheahan (RFM) (3 caps)
Brian Calusky (LFM) (3 caps)
Todd Voss (LF) (6 caps)

Pitches

15 April vs Canada: Dry
16 April vs USA: Hard
17 April vs South Africa: Dry
18 April vs Zimbabwe: Hard
19 April vs Dry

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Game 1 of the T20 World Cup saw us face off against Canada in Dry/Humid conditions.

We won the toss and batted first.

Openers gave us a solid start and our other batters also made starts but no one could manage a big score or increase the RR as we could only manage 134/6 in the 20 overs and Allan Spry was the top scorer with 30 runs.

Calusky got an early wicket and bowled a good spell but could not get much support from the other bowlers as Canada comfortably chased the target down in 19 overs. Brian Calusky was the pick of the bowlers and our Player of the Day for his figures of 3-0-13-2.

Australia v Canada >> Match Ratings
Match Ratings
Australia Canada
Batting - Top Order 16,198 15,491
Batting - Middle Order 14,882 14,685
Batting - Tail 7,284 6,924
Bowling - Seam 16,374 (8) 15,679 (8)
Bowling - Spin 16,877 (12) 16,010 (12)
Fielding/Keeping 19,327 19,633
Overall 287,533 279,765

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Game 2 vs USA in Hard/Cloudy conditions.

Won the toss and batted first with the openers again giving us a good start before we then lost 4 quick wickets, after which Swerve Strickland and Shaggy McCosker got together for a 59 run partnership for the 5th wicket and a quickfire 27 from 15 balls got us to 173/6. Strickland was the top scorer with 53 from just 32 balls.

Brian Calusky got 2 wickets in his first over and got us a good start after which they were reeling at 25/3. What followed then can only be described as ridiculous as we could not pick up any more wickets and to make matters worse Orren Barsby conceded 23 runs in his first over which definitively swung the game in their favor.

Player of the Day goes to Swerve Strickland for his 53.

Match Ratings
USA Australia
Batting - Top Order 15,547 15,627
Batting - Middle Order 12,917 14,664
Batting - Tail 5,388 7,267
Bowling - Seam 15,255 (16) 15,914 (16)
Bowling - Spin 16,866 (4) 15,275 (4)
Fielding/Keeping 18,102 18,309
Overall 262,215 276,826

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Game 3 vs South Africa on Dry/Cloudy

Winning the toss and batting first, South Africa got starts and were steadily going along but Shawnie Sheahan made full use of his OBB talent to get 4 wickets in the last over to prevent them from getting to a big total. He was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4-1-30-5 as well as our Player of the Day.

Batters made a quick start with an opening partnership of 60 runs with Andrew Embley leading the way by scoring 57 and we managed a 7 wicket win which finally got us on the points table.

Match Ratings
Australia South Africa
Batting - Top Order 15,271 15,072
Batting - Middle Order 14,651 13,693
Batting - Tail 7,179 6,623
Bowling - Seam 15,462 (8) 15,409 (8)
Bowling - Spin 16,491 (12) 16,503 (12)
Fielding/Keeping 18,792 18,738
Overall 277,998 271,475

Game 4 vs Zimbabwe on Hard/Humid

Won the toss and batted first, with the openers providing another solid start with a 73 run opening stand. Top order batted really well and set us up for a good total, but middle and lower order could not provide us a good finish and we ended up with 186/8. Andrew Embley top scored with 72.

Zimbabwe batters also gave them a great start and they were keeping up with the RRR throughout, and in the last over with just 11 runs to get and 7 wickets in hand they were favorites, but Shawnie Sheahan again showed a great display of his OBB talent by picking up a wicket and a runout in the same over got us a 1 run win. Shawnie Sheahan shares the Player of the Day with Andrew Embley.

Match Ratings
Zimbabwe Australia
Batting - Top Order 15,165 15,117
Batting - Middle Order 12,959 14,093
Batting - Tail 5,367 6,820
Bowling - Seam 15,570 (16) 15,201 (16)
Bowling - Spin 14,865 (4) 16,630 (4)
Fielding/Keeping 18,102 17,840
Overall 260,053 268,260

Game 5 vs Pakistan on Dry/Sunny

Won the toss and batted first which started off horribly as we lost 3 wickets for just 8 balls. A 96 run partnership for the 4th wicket followed which got us back in the game and some late hitting by Ashley Sampi got us to 164/7.

We went in with 4 spinners due to fatigue reasons and fortunately this move paid off as we managed to pick regular wickets and got an 11 run win which secured us a place in the semi-final.
Ashley Sampi gets Player of the Day for his all-round contribution as he also picked up 3 wickets and effected a run-out.

Match Ratings
Australia Pakistan
Batting - Top Order 14,542 14,815
Batting - Middle Order 14,521 13,451
Batting - Tail 7,061 6,166
Bowling - Seam 15,006 (4) 14,649 (8)
Bowling - Spin 15,929 (16) 14,790 (12)
Fielding/Keeping 17,918 17,262
Overall 269,914 257,017

Semi-Final vs Ireland on Slow/Sunny

Won the toss and batted first, lost couple of early wickets but middle order batted superbly and got us to 152/5 with Shaggy McCosker leading the way with a fine 65.

Chris Lewis picked up 3 top order wickets to set them back in the chase and Shawnie Sheahan yet again excelled at the death and picked up 4 wickets. Both bowlers share the Player of the Day for this game.

Match Ratings
Ireland Australia
Batting - Top Order 14,685 14,242
Batting - Middle Order 14,518 14,656
Batting - Tail 6,802 9,115
Bowling - Seam 14,965 (12) 15,471 (8)
Bowling - Spin 14,945 (8) 15,735 (12)
Fielding/Keeping 17,863 17,997
Overall 265,596 275,080

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World Cup Final vs UAE

The groundsman prepared a Hard pitch with Hot weather for this all-important final match.
4 wins on the bounce in the group stage meant that the Emiratis had already secured their spot in the semi-final where they overcame Canada to make it to their maiden T20 World Cup Final, while we started 0-2 in the group stage and managed 3 thrilling wins to get to the semi-final where we got past Ireland to make it to the Final.

It was the 3rd ever World Cup Final for me and the first time ever in this format.

We won the toss and batted first with our openers racing out of the blocks and got us to 70 in just 5 overs. We were well-set to get past 200 but could only manage to score 26 in the last 4 overs which got us to 192/6 and kept UAE in the game. Orren Barsby top scored with 47.

UAE also raced out of the blocks but our bowlers did pull things back somewhat. Just when the RRR got past 11, UAE hit another gear and scored 18 off the 19th over to leave them needing 19 off the last over. A wicket in the over moved things in our favor and we barely just managed to hold on and secure a 6 run win and with it the T20 World Cup title!!!

This might sound unusual but my Player of the Day goes to Peter Fleiter for being the most economical bowler in the game, going for only 6.5 RPO which raised the pressure for UAE and allowed our other bowlers to pick up wickets.

Match Ratings
Australia UAE
Batting - Top Order 14,544 13,864
Batting - Middle Order 13,444 14,080
Batting - Tail 6,835 5,896
Bowling - Seam 14,893 (12) 15,396 (12)
Bowling - Spin 15,602 (8) 15,615 (8)
Fielding/Keeping 17,189 18,785
Overall 259,912 263,240

The management team thanks all of our supporters for supporting thing throughout the season even though we had a rough start and this title goes to you all for backing us despite the setbacks we faced.

We also thank all the managers that own Aussie players for training them.