The Evolution of Cricket Dominance: Australia’s Rise to Power
In the history of cricket, only one team is feared as the most dominating side. Across many different eras, the Australian war machine has rampaged across the cricketing world. They have defeated and conquered teams across every major period of cricketing history. A country that has procured some of the deadliest batsmen. Terrifying pacers. Deadliest spinners, and some of the outright greatest cricketers of all time. A team that has destroyed the Indian super team to secure a shocking sixth ICC World Cup crown. In this blog, we deep dive into the history of the most feared team of cricket history, Australia. As a former British colony, Australia was one of the first nations to be exposed to the game of cricket. There has been evidence that cricket was played in Australia as far back as the early 19th century.
But one of the most iconic Australian cricket moments took place in the late 19th century. In 1882, an English newspaper called the Sporting Times published a satirical obituary. It contained the iconic declaration that English cricket was dead and that the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia. Their next tour of Australia was dubbed as the quest to regain the ashes. All of us can be sure that the writers at the Sporting Times couldn’t have ever imagined their words had kicked off the fiercest rivalry in all of cricket. The controversial second Ashes test has gone all the way to the top with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his British counterpart Rishi Sunak bowling bouncers at each other. What do you think of the Ashes so far?
The Ashes Test Series between England and Australia has managed to remain as the most intense series in all of Test cricket. On the other hand, the emergence of the Ashes rivalry heavily popularized Test cricket across Australia. This led to the creation of the Sheffield Shield, which has remained the most prestigious first class tournament in Australia. It has been the backbone of Australia’s current international success. The iconic rivalry in England meant that the Aussies constantly invested in their domestic setup, in order to regularly compete with the English and other test-playing nations.
This has led to brilliant Aussie cricketers coming out of the pipeline. The most influential players to come out of the Ashes rivalry was Sir Don Bradman. During his peak, he was the most dominant batsman in the test arena. By the time he had retired, he had sealed his place as the best batsman of all time. Emerging during the post-World War I era, he still held the record for the highest test average of all time. Bradman played a total of 52 test matches for Australia before famously ending his extraordinary career with a duck, leaving the game with an average of 99.94. Still the highest standing average by any player in the game.
But more importantly, he’s gone to inspire countless future Aussie cricketers. Many cricketers have also called him the best cricketer of all time. However, the Second World War caused a halt in Australian cricket. After the war ended, the Aussies reignited their rivalry with the English and even had an entertaining rivalry with the emerging West Indian team. They were still a successful team that could easily beat most teams, but this era would end up preceding a more chaotic decade. The 70s would be marked by constant conflict between the players and the administrators. After the tensions intensified, a media tycoon backed many rebel cricketers as they participated in a breakaway series called World Series Cricket. This one tournament caused a harsh divide to emerge in Australian cricket.
The ugly rivalry severely harmed their intentional performances as they did not allow or refused to let some of the best players play. During this time, a group of rebel cricketers went so far as to break sanctions to go on a tour of apartheid-era South Africa. By the early to mid-80s, Australian cricket had descended to a shameful state. It was undoubtedly their low point. But the Aussies wouldn’t stay down for long. They have a habit of always bouncing back. After resolving their precious disagreements with their cricketers, they set their sights on getting back to their rightful place at the top. Gradually, they built momentum after fighting hard-fought matches against the best teams, but their true comeback was during the 1987 Cricket World Cup. Back then, Australia was not considered a strong contender, although it may be surprising now.
Early on, observers saw them as underdogs and wrote them off. But this absolutely did not stop them from shocking the cricketing world by winning the tournament. In the final, they defeated none other than their fiercest rivals, England. Captain Alan Border and head coach Bob Simpson rejuvenated the team’s performance. The training sessions were grueling for the players. In addition to this, he also imposed a strict drinking ban. His tactics instilled a professional mentality among the squad and would bring them long-lasting success. In the long run, this shocking triumph would reignite cricket’s popularity in Australia. Nowadays, it is finally remembered as the turning point of Australian cricket. In the next Ashes Tour in 1989, the Aussies began a long streak of dominance.
They heavily defeated England by a 4-0 margin to retain the Ashes. This would just mark the start of their test cricket dominance as they went on to hold the ashes for the next 16 years. As they entered the 90s, a brilliant new generation of young Aussie cricketers such as Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath began to emerge. These two in particular would form the base for a bowling attack that would go on to terrorize opposition batsmen for years. However, the next World Cup in 1992 would be disappointing for Australia. With the event happening in Australia, expectations were incredibly high. As defending champions, every team feared Australia, but they would lose in the semis by four wickets to eventual winners, Pakistan. They got further in their next edition, but here too, they would face disappointment.
After defeating New Zealand and the West Indies in the knockouts, they faced a fired-up Sri Lankan side. At that time, Sri Lanka was not considered a strong team and was seen as underdogs. Going in as the favorite, they shockingly lost by seven wickets. By this point, the Aussies had drilled a strong mindset into themselves. They would not let a single defeat ruin their momentum. They went on to maintain their winning form and bravely bounced back to win the next edition in 1999 .After beating South Africa in the semi-finals. They went on to decisively beat Pakistan by eight wickets. This would be the start of their constant streak of dominance in World Cups. Around this time, they even went on a 16-match winning streak in test matches.
It lasted all the way up to 2001 when they lost against a resilient Indian side in Calcutta. But their amazing form just would not stop. In the 2003 World Cup, they won all of their matches. The Aussies won the biggest competition in cricket with ease. In the final, they defeated the Indians by a massive margin of 125 runs. That’s in the air. The World Cup for Australia. Champions of the 2003. This was the way in which they completely mowed through the terrified teams for years to come. They were without a doubt the best team in international cricket at that time. But their winning streak just would not end and would go on. They just kept on destroying their opposition, even in the next World Cup in 2007.
By that point, the Australian squad was a complete and experienced side under the brilliant leadership of Ricky Ponting. Moreover, many of their young prospects had matured into experienced veterans by then. They ravaged through their opposition and comfortably won the final against Sri Lanka. This was another World Cup in which they were unbeaten and dominant. Years of strong investment into their youth and careful nurturing of cricketers with different profiles had resulted in Australia easily cruising through three consecutive World Cup victories. Their strong emphasis on Test and First Class cricket meant that the dominance extended towards Test cricket too.
Every team dreaded playing against their experienced Test squad. In addition to this, their highly competitive domestic structure such as the Sheffield Shield and Marsh One Day Cup ensured that they always produced domestic cricketers of the highest quality. Even after many of their veteran players of their golden generation, including Ricky Ponting, Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, and Adam Gilrich, retired, the following generations were also terrifying to play against. Although they lost against India in the quarterfinals in the 2011 World Cup, they managed to bounce back by winning the 2015 World Cup. This time, they would comfortably outclass both India and New Zealand on their way to winning on home soil. This would mark the fifth World Cup victory. A testament to their dominance.
At that point, Australia had gone from underdogs in 1987 to five-time world champions by 2015. There wasn’t a single team that didn’t fear them. Throughout the whole of the 2010s, they remained a competitive side in both ODIs and Tests. Despite small setbacks, they were led by brilliant players such as Michael Clarke, Steve Smith, David Warner, Mitchell Stark, and Nathan Lyon. These players would form the core of their strength.
While they would also help nurture the following generation of players as well, the new generation would also inherit the psychologically strong and winning-oriented mentality too. Though the process of veteran players nurturing their following generations and so on, Australia has managed to consistently produce results. Along with their youth development, their strict section process has created heavily competitive and highly motivated squads even now. More importantly for them, losses only serve extra motivation to bounce back and take. Take the latest One Day World Cup as an example.
After going out early in the 2019 edition, they won the 2023 World Cup to win their sixth World Cup trophy by absolutely dominating in the finals against an unbeaten India side. Led by their fearless captain Pat Cummins, they won by strategically outclassing the men in blue. The Indians watched on helplessly as they lost in their home ground. The entire stadium was jam-packed with silent Indian supporters. The fact that Australia completely ripped through them just showed how truly dangerous they were. The two next best teams had only won the World Cup twice. To simply explain why Australia is the most feared team, it boils down to their winning mentality. Their players are closely developed from a young age and even up to their entry into the senior squad.
This goes on and on to ensure that their dominance continues across multiple generations. The main factor behind such a tradition is their careful planning and team structure. It is insanely difficult for a domestic Australian cricketer to get into the team simply because of the intense competition. The sheer legacy and prestige of the team means young Aussies train for years just to get a chance. Once they get in, of course, they will give it their everything. As long as the mindset stays in place, they keep on rampaging through teams all over the globe. After their recent triumph in India, there’s no indication whatsoever that their domination of international cricket will end anytime soon.
The question remains, could the Aussies be embarking on another era of domination?