Test Cricket Tours - Australia to Pakistan 1998-99

Tour of Pakistan 1998-99 Captain: Mark Taylor

67th Australian Test 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.

Other Australian Tours

Previous tour

India 1997-98

Next tour

West Indies 1998-99

Next tour of Pakistan

2002-03 (in UAE)

Members of the Test tour party (14)

Opening batsmen:Mark Taylor, Justin Langer, Michael Slater

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

Wicket-keeper: Ian Healy.

Spin bowlers:Stuart MacGill Colin Miller, Gavin Robertson

Fast bowlers: Damien Fleming, Glenn McGrath, Michael Kasprowicz

D W Fleming	V	28	RFM	ODI (C) (B) (P)

I A Healy	Q	34	WK	-

M S Kasprowicz	Q	26	RFM	ODI (C) (B)

J L Langer	W	27	LHB	-

D S Lehmann	S	28	RHB	ODI (C) (B) (P)

S C G MacGill	N	27	LBG	-

G D McGrath	N	28	RFM	ODI (B) (P)

C R Miller	T	34	RHB RM	ODI (P)

R T Ponting	T	23	RHB	ODI (C) (B) (P)

G R Robertson	N	32	OB	ODI (C) (B)

M J Slater	N	28	RHB opener	-

M A Taylor	N	33	LHB opener captain	-

M E Waugh	N	33	RHB ODI vice-captain	ODI (C) (B) (P)

S R Waugh	N	33	RHB vice-captain/ODI captain	ODI (C) (B) (P)


Included only for limited overs and the			M G Bevan (N)	ODI (C) (B) (P)
one-day internationals			A J Bichel (Q)	ODI (C)
			A C Gilchrist (W)	ODI (C) (B) (P)
			B P Julian (W)	ODI (C) (B) (P)
			D R Martyn (W)	ODI (C) (B) (P)
			T M Moody (W)	ODI (C)
			A Symonds (Q)	ODI (B) (P)
			B E Young (S)	ODI (C) (B) (P)

State representation

Sheffield Shield teams

N New South Wales (7)

Q Queensland (2)

S South Australia (1)

T Tasmania (2)

V Victoria (1)

W Western Australia (1)

Average age of team at time of first Test match

(1 October 1998) :

30 yrs 2 months

ODI (C)member of the Australian squad in Commonwealth Games

(B) member of the Australian squad in Bangladesh for Wills International Cup.

(P) member of the Australian squad for one-day internationals in Pakistan

Test Appearances made before the tour

Healy 103, SR Waugh 103, Taylor 96, ME Waugh 78, McGrath 37, Slater 37, Ponting 18, Kasprowicz 13, Langer 8, Fleming 4, Robertson 3, Lehmann 1, MacGill 1, Miller 0.

Tour Officials

Steve Bernard	Tour manager
Geoff Marsh	Coach
Errol Alcott	Physiotherapist (in Kuala Lumpur and Test series)
Patrick Farhart	Physio (from Bangladesh onwards)
Mike Walsh	Computer analyst
David Misson	Fitness advisor
Reg Dickason	Security manager

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

Sydney Q K uala Lumpur Q Karachi

Karachi Q Dhaka

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.

Fixtures/Results

a	ϯ Brisbane (4 Sept)	Australian Cricket Academy(warm-up match)	Lost 30 r
b	ϯ Maroochydore (5 Sept)	New South Wales (Games warm-up match)	Won 130 r
c	ϯ Buderim, Qld. (6 Sept)	New Zealand(Games warm-up match)	Won 9 w
d	ϯ Kuala Lumpur	Canada(Commonwealth Games)	Won 9 w
e	ϯ Kuala Lumpur	Antigua (Commonwealth Games)	Won 7 w
f	ϯ Kuala Lumpur	India(Commonwealth Games)	Won 146 r
g	ϯ Kuala Lumpur	New Zealand(Commonwealth Games)	Won 9 w
h	ϯ Kuala Lumpur	South Africa (Commonwealth Games)	Lost 4 w

i	Karachi	Karachi CA	Won 333 r
j	RAWALPINDI	PAKISTAN First Test	WON inns 99 r
k	Rawalpindi	Rawalpindi	Drawn
l	PESHAWAR	PAKISTAN Second Test	DRAWN
m	KARACHI	PAKISTAN Third Test	DRAWN

n	Â§ Dhaka	India (ODI)	Lost 44 r

o	“ Karachi	Karachi XI (one-day)	Won 65 r
p	Â§ Karachi	Pakistan (1st ODI)	Won 86 r
q	Â§ Peshawar	Pakistan (2nd ODI)	Won 5 w
r	Â§ Lahore	Pakistan (3rd ODI)	Won 6 w

ϯ not first-class

Â§ one-day international

Time spent in Pakistan before First Test: 8 days

(23 September - 1 October)

Test appearances on tour

3 - Healy, Langer, MacGill, McGr ath, Miller, Slater, Taylor, ME Waugh, SR Waugh

2 - Fleming, Lehmann

1 - Ponting, Robertson

0 - Kasprowicz.

Highlights

- 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 ODI and 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	-
Â§ 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

Karachi Q Sydney

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.

Time away from Australia

67 days

(7 September to 13 November)