Tour of New Zealand 2004-05                 Captain: Ricky Ponting

Australia’s 77th Test tour

(February - March 2005)

Ninth Test-playing tour of  New Zealand by Australia

  (previous tour in 2000)

The Australians protested about lax security arrangements after play was held up when they were pelted with plastic bottles during the first one-dayer at the WestPac Stadium.

The Australians clinched the limited-overs series with five straight wins. Similarly in the Test matches, Australia were strong winners, though it needed some spectacular power-hitting from Adam Gilchrist to bring Australia into a winning position in each Test.

The New Zealanders protested about Brett Lee’s bowling but the Australians argued that his action led him to the occasional beamer and that it was not intentional. Match referee Clive Lloyd did not take any action: he agreed that Lee’s pace (160.8 kph at Napier) was quick, but said the Australian attack was not as intimidating as it had been in the mid-1970s.

Other Australian Tours

Previous tour

India 2004-05

Next tour

England 2005

Next tour of New Zealand

2009-10   

Members of the Test tour party  (13)

Opening batsmen  Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer.

Middle-order batsmen:  Damien Martyn, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, Brad Hodge, Simon Katich.

Wicket-keeper:Adam Gilchrist

Spin bowlers: Shane Warne

Fast bowlers:Jason Gillespie, Brett Lee, Michael Kasprowicz,  Glenn McGrath.

⋄    Contracted players

State representation

   Pura Cup teams

NSW   New South Wales (4)

Qld  Queensland (2)

S A  South Australia (1)

Tas   Tasmania (1)

Vic   Victoria (2)

WA  Western Australia (3)

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

(10 March 2005):

   31  yrs   9  months

ODI

Test Appearances made before the tour

Warne 120,  McGrath 106,  Langer 85,  Ponting 85,  Gilchrist 65,  Hayden 64,  Gillespie 63,  Martyn 53,  Lee 37,  Kasprowicz 30,  Katich 13,  Clarke 9,  Hodge 0.

Tour Officials

Selectors

Trevor Hohns (chairman of selectors), Allan Border,  David Boon  and  Andrew Hilditch.

Selection

Unavailable:   Shane Watson (side strain) ;  Darren Lehmann (operation on shoulder).

Limited-overs party announced:  10 February 2005.

Andrew Symonds (achilles tendon) and James Hopes (hamstring) passed fitness tests to take part in the one-day tour.

Test tour party announced:  2 March 2005.

Hohns said he did not see the purpose of choosing a squad larger than thirteen with “the option of flying players in”.

Not selected:   Stuart MacGill,  Andrew Symonds,  Mike Hussey.

Time between selection and departure from Australia

      6 days

(10 - 16 February)

Travel

Sydney Q  Auckland

The team flew from Sydney to Auckland early 16 February 2005.  Hayden, who had been in bed suffering from pleurisy, was able to fly with the team.

Time spent in New Zealand

   44 days

(16 February - 1 April)

On-tour selection

Ricky Ponting  (captain),  John Buchanan  (coach)  and the national selectors.

Reinforcements

None.  Matthew Hayden injured his shoulder during the one-day series and Mike Hussey was asked to remain with the team at the end of the one-day series.

Fixtures/Results

Hamilton lost its one-day international fixture after complaints about the pitch in a World XI match in January

† not first-class

Å  T20 international

§  one-day international

Time spent in New Zealand before First Test: 

  22 days

(16 February - 10 March)

Test appearances on tour

3  -    Clarke,  Gilchrist,  Gillespie,  Hayden,  Kasprowicz,  Katich,  Langer,  McGrath,  Martyn,  Ponting,  Warne.

0  -    Hodge,  Lee.

Match appearances

T  Test match

o  one-day international 

x other match 

⊕ T/20 international

∙  played for opposition

 W won  L lost  D drawn  

N no result   A abandoned 

u unknown result

Australia’s six previous Test tour results:

in India 2004-05 (4 Tests)

  - won 2-1

in Sri Lanka 2003-04 (3 Tests)

- won 3-0

in West Indies 2003 (4 Tests)

 - won 3-1

in UAE v Pakistan 2002 (3 Tests)

 - won 3-0

in South Africa 2001-02 (3 Tests)

 - won 2-1

in England 2001 (5 Tests)

 - won 4-1

Highlights

•   Simon Katich and Adam Gilchrist rescued Australia at Christchurch with a stand of 212 for the 7th wicket. It helped Australia come within 1 run of New Zealand’s total of 433 after being 6 for 201.

•   Shane Warne (5-39) then dismissed New Zealand for a paltry total of 131.

•   Damien Martyn scored 165 at Wellington, and Gilchrist another century (162) adding a record 256 runs for the sixth wicket together. Gilchrist struck five sixes and 22 fours.

•   Ricky Ponting was Player of the Match in the victory at Auckland for scoring 105 and 86 not out

Tour Summary

Return to Australia

Auckland    Q   Sydney

Brett Lee could have flown from Wellington to Brisbane to take part in the Pura Cup final bewteen New South Wales and Queensland but was not selected for the final and he remained with the Test team. 

Return on 1 April.

Time away from Australia

   44 days  

(16 February to 1 April)

Finances

…..

Postscript

Adam Gilchrist was Man of the Series. His batting destroyed New Zealand every time they reached an advantageous position.  Rarely had such consistently destructive power been seen in Test cricket and England’s strategy of containing him was crucial to winning the upcoming Ashes series.

⋆  Gilchrist  hit 121 in 126 balls (with six sixes) at Christchurch, setting a sixth wicket record ; 162 in 145 balls (five sixes) at Wellington setting a 7th wicket record ; and 60 not out in 62 balls (two sixes) at Auckland setting a ninth wicket record against New Zealand.