Test Cricket Tours - Australia to Pakistan 1998-99
Tour of Pakistan
1998-99Captain: Mark
Taylor
67th AustralianTest
tour
Eighth
Test-playing tour of Pakistan
by Australia
(September
-
November 1998)
The team arrived not having won a Test match, or even a first-class
match, on Pakistan
soil for 39 years - since Richie Benaud's tour in 1959-60. With Pakistan team
unity disrupted by the judges’ inquiry into the match-fixing scandal, the
visitors won the opening Test at Rawalpindi and achieved draws in the next
two, so winning a series in Pakistan at last, after nearly forty years.
In mid-tour the Australians flew to Dhaka,
the only time an Australian team had been in the city since Benaud's side
played a Test in 1959, for the inaugural Wills International Cup, now known
as the Champions Trophy.Sachin
Tendulkar almost single-handedly eliminated Australia from the competition,
by scoring 141 and taking 4 for 38.
The team then returned to Pakistan, under Steve Waugh’s
captaincy to win all three one-day internationals.
In
May 1998 David Misson from New South Wales Cricket Association, son of former
Australian fast bowler Frank Misson, took on the role of ‘fitness advisor’.
Selectors
Selection
Commonwealth Games squad named 16 June 1998
MG Bevan,DW Fleming,AC Gilchrist,B Julian,MS Kasprowicz, DS Lehmann, G D McGrath,DR Martyn,TM Moody,RT Ponting,GR Robertson,ME Waugh,SR Waugh,BE Young.
Unavailable :Paul Reiffel;Jason
Gillespie and Shane Warne (underwent surgery on his right shoulder in May).
Test Tour Party Announced :16 July 1998
- announced by Australian Cricket Board CEO, Malcolm Speed.
Uncapped Colin Miller, the
surprise selection, was the oldest player in the tour party.
Not selected : Greg Blewett.
One-day squad for Pakistan
selected :
Withdrawal:Glenn McGrath
withdrew from the Commonwealth Games squad with a muscle strain on 4
September and was replaced by Andy Bichel.
Time between selection and departure from Australia
52 days
( 16 July - 7 September)
Travel
SydneyQK uala Lumpur QKarachi
KarachiQDhaka
After preparations in Queensland,
the Australians arrived in Kuala
Lumpur for the Commonwealth Games on Monday 7 September, and
braved steady rain during their first training session.
The Test players left from Sydney
on 22 September, via Kuala Lumpur where they
joined up with the Commonwealth Games side, and arrived in Karachi on Wednesday evening 23 September 1998.
The team temporarily left Pakistan
for Bangladesh for the
Wills International Cup, arriving in Dhaka
on Tuesday morning 27 October. The Pakistan team
boarded the same flight along with the Australians.
The ODI specialists had already flown directly to Bangladesh, Michael
Bevan and Brad Young arriving on 25 October and Brendon Julian, Damien
Martin, Andrew Symonds and Adam Gillchrist next day There was only one match, then the squad returned to Karachi
on Saturday 31 October for three one-day internationals.
Time spent in Pakistan
46 days
(23 September - 27 October
(31 October - 12 November)
On-tour
selection
Mark
Taylor (captain),Geoff Marsh(coach),Steve Waugh(vice-captain).
Reinforcements
Tom Moody was originally selected for the one-dayers, but
withdrew after the Commonwealth Games due to injury, to be replaced later by
Andrew Symonds.
•In the first Test match
Michael Slater (108) and Steve Waugh (157) came together with the score at 3
for 28, and added 198 runs for the next wicket.
•Ian Healy beat Rodney
Marsh’s Test record for most dismissals (355) by a wicket-keeper.
•Stuart MacGill took 9
wickets (5-66 and 4-47) to bring Australia
victory at Rawalpindi
•Mark Taylor's innings
of 334 not out at Peshawar was the seventh
highest score in Test cricket and equalled Sir Donald Bradman's record score
for Australia.
•McGrath took 5 -66 in
the final Test at Karachi but MacGill was Australia’s
highest wicket-taker (15).
•Australia, won the third ODI at Lahore
with a total of 316-4, equalling India’s
highest score (made in Dhaka,
January 1998) by a team batting second in a ODIand winning. Sri Lanka had lost scoring 329 in
Sharjah, 1995-96.
Tour
Summary
P
W
L
D
Aban
Test Matches
3
1
0
2
-
Other first-class matches
2
1
0
1
-
ϯ Minor matches
9
7
2
0
-
§ One-day internationals
4
3
1
0
-
All Matches
18
12
3
3
-
‘Minor matches’ include the warm-up
matches in Queensland
and Commonwealth Games matches.
Return
to Australia
KarachiQSydney
The Test-only players, Mark
Taylor, Ian Healy, Stuart MacGill, Michael Slater and Justin Langer boarded
the plane home to Sydney
on 28 October at the end of the Test series.Kasprowicz and Robertson returned to Australia
from Bangladesh.
On 12 November 1998 the ODI touring
party took the morning flight from Lahore to Karachi, then a night departure from Karachi
back to Sydney, by way of New
Delhi and Kuala Lumpur.
They flew back to Australia
just in time for the Ashes series against England.