Tour of Sri Lanka & Sharjah to play Pakistan 2002-03      Captain: Steve Waugh

Australia’s 73rd Test tour

(August - October 2002)

Ninth Test-playing tour by the Australians against Pakistan.

(previously toured Pakistan in October-November 1998)

The Test series was originally planned to take place in Pakistan, but the Australian government advised the team against travelling there. On 9 August the Australian Cricket Board withdrew from the tour and proposed that it should be shifted to a neutral country because of security fears. One Test match would be played in Sri Lanka after the Champions Trophy, and two more in Sharjah.

Kenya also looked doubtful as a venue for the one-day triangular arranged with Kenya and Pakistan, but a pre-tour inspection cleared Nairobi’s security arrangements. Pakistan were the hosts of this triangular series which had been moved to Nairobi because of security fears in Lahore.

The team won all four qualifying matches in Kenya easily before the final was spoiled by rain, but reached only the semi-final stage of the more prestigious Champions Trophy, losing heavily to hosts Sri Lanka.

The first Test match against Pakistan was evenly fought.  But in Sharjah, despite having to overcome on-field temperatures exceeding 50°C, the Australians annihilated their inexperienced opponents.  In the second Test match they bowled Pakistan out for 59 and 53, the two lowest total scores in Pakistan’s Test history, and won the match in two days, going on to win the third Test, this time inside three days.

During the third Test the Australian players wore black armbands for victims of the recent bombing in Bali.

Other Australian Tours

Previous tour

To South Africa 2001-02

Next tour

To West Indies 2002-03

Next tour of Pakistan

 2007-08cancelled

Next tour playing Pakistan

2010 (held in England)

Members of the Test tour party  (14  + 1)

Opening batsmen:  Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer

Middle-order batsmen: Darren Lehmann, Damien Martyn, Ricky Ponting, Mark Waugh, Steve Waugh.

Wicket-keeper:  Adam Gilchrist

Spin bowlers: Shane Warne, Nathan Hauritz.

Fast bowlers:  Brett Lee,Andy Bichel, Jason Gillespie (replaced by Brad Williams), Glenn McGrath.

State representation

 Pura Cup teams

NSW   New South Wales (4)

Qld  Queensland (3)

SA   South Australia (2)

Tas   Tasmania (1)

Vic   Victoria (1)

WA  Western Australia (3)

Average age of  eam at time of first Test match

    (3 October 2002) : 

           30 yrs   10 months

ODI (K)Part of the squad for Pakistan State Oil (PSO) Tri-Nations tournament in Kenya

(C)  Part of squad for ICC Champions Trophy in Srti Lanka

Test Appearances made before the tour

SR Waugh 148,  ME Waugh 125,  Warne 101,  McGrath 84,  Ponting 56,  Langer 51,  Gillespie 33,  Gilchrist 31,  Hayden 30,  Martyn 25,  Lee 21,  Bichel 6,  Lehmann 5,  Hauritz 0,  Williams 0.

     Sjh

Tour Officials

David Boon stood in for team manager Steve Bernard in Kenya. 

Former Australia captain Allan Border was asked to take the place in Kenya of coach John Buchanan who had a back injury. Buchanan was able to rejoin the team for the Champions Trophy.

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Selectors

Trevor Hohns (Chairman of the National Selection Panel),  David Boon,  Allan Border and  Andrew Hilditch.

Selection

Unavailable: 

One-day squad announced:  19 July 2002

Withdrawal : Darren Lehmann sustained a hand injury playing county cricket for Yorkshire, and had to withdraw from the Kenya section of the tour. Andrew Symonds of Queensland took his place.

Test Tour Party Announced   24 August 2002.

Not selected :  Contracted players not included in the one-day or Test groups were  Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark, Ian Harvey, Michael Hussey, Martin Love and Stuart MacGill.

Time between selection of limited-overs side and departure from Australia 

     38 days

(19 July  - 26 August)

Travel

Brisbane  Q  Nairobi     Q  Colombo

Colombo   Q Sharjah

The one-day international team assembled in Brisbane from 21 August to prepare for departure to Nairobi on Monday 26 August.  Allan Border joined the flight out of Sydney at the last minute as coach in place of John Buchanan after he suffered acute lower back pain in the final practice session.  Meanwhile David Boon stood in as acting-manager while Steve Bernard was attending a conference in South Africa for another few days. The team arrived in Nairobi late on Tuesday 27 August.

After the PSO tri-series tournament, they flew into Colombo on 9 September. Darren Lehmann travelled to Sri Lanka on 6 September with coach John Buchanan; both had missed the tournament in Kenya due to injury.

The Australian took a weekend off on the holiday islands of the Maldives during the Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka.

Test captain Steve Waugh who was not part of the one-day squad joined his team mates in Colombo on 25 Sept.

Brad Williams left Australia for Sharjah on Tuesday 8 October as a reinforcement.

The Australians arrived in Sharjah from Sri Lanka on Wednesday 9 October for two Test matches against Pakistan.

Time spent in Sri Lanka

    30 days  (9 September - 9 October)

and in Sharjah

     15 days   (9 -24 October)

On-tour selection

David Boon (on-tour selector)

Reinforcements

On 19 August Darren Lehman (finger injury) was replaced in the 14-man squad for the Tri-Nations Cup in Kenya by Andrew Symonds but Lehman was able to take back his place for the Champions Trophy.

Brad Williams reinforced the team in place of Jason Gillespie, who had a strained right calf muscle injury during the first Test.  Gillespie remained with the squad for further treatment.

Fixtures/Results

(SSC)  Sinhalese Sports Club   (RPS)   R Premadasa Stadium   (PSS)   P Saravanamuttu Stadium

† not first-class

§  one-day international

The Pakistan State Oil (PSO) tri-nation tournament with Kenya and Pakistan began on 29 August

Time spent in Sri Lanka before First Test: 24 days

(9 September - 3 October)

Test appearances on tour

3 -   Gilchrist,  Hayden,  Langer,  Lee,  McGrath,  Martyn,  Ponting,  Warne,  M E Waugh,  SR Waugh.

2 -   Bichel 

1 -   Gillespie.

0 -   Hauritz,  Lehmann,  Williams 0.

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 South Africa 2001-02 (3 Tests)

 - won 2-1

in England 2001 (5 Tests)

 - won 4-1

in India 2000-01 (3 Tests)

 - lost 1-2

in N Zealand 1999-00 (3 Tests)

 - won 3-0

in Zimbabwe 1999-00 (1 Test)

 - won 1-0

in Sri Lanka 1999-00 (3 Tests)

 - lost 0-1

Highlights

•  Ricky Ponting scored 141 in the first Test at Colombo and a further 150 in the 3rd match in Sharjah

•  The second Test marked Steve Waugh’s 150th Test appearance.

•  In a two-day defeat Pakistan were twice skittled out for their lowest totals in Test cricket (59 and 53)

•  Steve Waugh scored an undefeated century (103*) in the 3rd match, adding 211 runs while at the wicket

•  Shane Warne took the record number of wickets for Australia in a three-Test series - 27

Tour Summary

Return to Australia

Sharjah  Q  Perth  Q  Sydney

The team returned home from Sharjah to Australia on Thursday 24 October 2002, the Western Australians disembarking at Perth and the remainder flying on to Sydney.

Darren Lehmann, who who did not play in the Tests, was given permission to return home a day earlier than the rest of the squad to play for South Australia.

Time away from Australia 

59 days   

(26 August - 24 October)

Finances

The tour was sponsored by foreign exchange company Travelex.

Written accounts of the tour

Postscript

Shane Warne was banned for a year in February 2003 for testing positive to an illegal diuretic and missed Australia’s next tour (to West Indies 2002-03)

John Buchanan decided in future to have the computer analyst act as an assistant coach, which meant doing away with the services of Mike Walsh and the appointment of Tim Neilsen in August. Walsh's role ended with this tour.