Australian Tri-Series

Australian Tri-Series
Company type	Sports competition
Industry	Cricket
Founded	1979–80
Area served	Australia
Products	One Day International cricket tournaments

The Australian Tri-Series was a yearly One Day International (ODI) cricket competition hosted in Australia, involving the national team and two visiting sides. It served as the dominant ODI format throughout the Australian summer from its start in 1979–80 until 2007–08, with only two tournaments held after that period. Since then, ODI matches in Australia have predominantly taken place as bilateral series.

History

The concept of the tri-series was introduced through the World Series Cricket project initiated by Kerry Packer, who leveraged the rising popularity of ODI cricket by organizing triangular contests featuring Australia, West Indies, and other teams during the 1977–78 and 1978–79 seasons. These initial events were not officially recognized as ODIs.

Following the conclusion of World Series Cricket, the tri-series format was adopted officially for ODIs, typically involving a round-robin phase among three teams followed by a finals series contested by the top two. Generally, each pair of teams met four times during the round-robin stage, culminating in a best-of-three final series, resulting in 14 or 15 matches per season.

Notable changes in format included:

From 1980–81 to 1985–86 and again in 1998–99, teams played five round-robin matches against each other
Finals series extended to best-of-five in 1980–81 and 1981–82
A distinctive quadrangular tournament occurred in 1994–95 with Australia A participating; matches involving Australia A were classified as List A but did not carry ODI status
The number of round-robin games per pairing was cut to three during the 2004–05 season
In 2014–15, only two round-robin matches per pairing were played, followed by a single final match

The commercial sponsorship names evolved over time:

Benson & Hedges World Series Cup (1979–80 to 1987–88)
Benson & Hedges World Series (1988–89 to 1995–96), renamed due to tobacco advertising regulations
Carlton & United Series (1996–97 to 1999–2000)
Carlton Series (2000–01)
Victoria Bitter Series (2001–02 to 2005–06 and again from 2015/16 to 2016/17)
Commonwealth Bank Series (2006–07 to 2012–13)
Carlton Mid Series (2013–14 to 2014/15)

After the 2007–08 season, the tri-series format was discontinued as a standard event. Between 2008–09 and 2010–11, Australia instead engaged in separate bilateral ODI series against two touring teams under Commonwealth Bank sponsorship. The tri-series briefly reappeared during the shortened seven-match format in the 2014–15 season ahead of the 2015 Cricket World Cup.

Results

Australia dominated this competition throughout its peak years, securing victory in 20 out of the 31 tournaments held up to the 2014–15 season and failing to reach the finals only on three occasions. The West Indies, regularly participating during the 1980s, won six championships. England claimed two titles while India, Pakistan, and South Africa each won once.

Tournament results by season

Season	Champion	Runner-up	Third Place	Final venues
1979–1980	Template:Cr	Template:Cr	Template:Cr	MCG, SCG
1979–1980	Top Scorer: Viv Richards (WIN) – 485 runs, Leading Wicket-taker: Dennis Lillee (AUS) – 20 wickets
1980–1981	Template:Cr	Template:Cr	Template:Cr	MCG, SCG
1980–1981	Top Scorer: Greg Chappell (AUS) – 686 runs, Leading Wicket-taker: Dennis Lillee (AUS) – 25 wickets
1981–1982	Template:Cr	Template:Cr	Template:Cr	MCG, SCG
1981–1982	Top Scorer: Viv Richards (WIN) – 536 runs, Leading Wicket-taker: Joel Garner (WIN) – 24 wickets
1982–1983	Template:Cr	Template:Cr	Template:Cr	MCG, SCG
1982–1983	Top Scorer: David Gower (ENG) – 563 runs, Leading Wicket-taker: Ian Botham (ENG) – 17 wickets
1983–1984	Template:Cr	Template:Cr	Template:Cr	MCG, SCG
1983–1984	Top Scorer: Kepler Wessels (AUS) – 495 runs, Leading Wicket-taker: Michael Holding (WIN) – 23 wickets
1984–1985	Template:Cr	Template:Cr	Template:Cr	MCG, SCG
1984–1985	Top Scorer: Viv Richards (WIN) – 651 runs, Leading Wicket-takers: Joel Garner, Michael Holding (WIN) – 16 wickets each

Significant Events in the Australian Tri-Series

1979–80 – The match on 27 November between Australia and the West Indies in Sydney marked the inaugural official One Day International held under floodlights, a concept introduced by World Series Cricket and later incorporated into ODI formats. During this season, matches in Adelaide, Brisbane, and Melbourne used red balls with white pads, whereas Sydney fixtures featured white balls paired with coloured pads.
1979–80 – England secured a narrow two-run victory against the West Indies in Sydney when captain Mike Brearley positioned all fielders along the boundary for the final delivery. This tactic led to subsequent changes in ODI regulations concerning fielding restrictions.
1980–81 – In a highly debated final, Australian skipper Greg Chappell directed his brother Trevor to bowl an underarm delivery to prevent New Zealand from hitting a six. This incident resulted in the introduction of rules prohibiting underarm bowling in ODIs.
1981–82 – Australia advanced to the finals ahead of Pakistan after rain prematurely ended their match against the West Indies. Although allegations of match-fixing surfaced, they were ultimately dismissed in legal proceedings.
1982–83 – New Zealand achieved a new world record for the highest successful ODI chase by scoring 297 runs for six wickets in Adelaide, surpassing England’s previous benchmark.
1982–83 – In Melbourne, Lance Cairns recorded the fastest ODI half-century at that time, reaching fifty runs off just 21 balls and striking six sixes—a record that remains unbeaten within Australian Tri-Series history.
1983–84 – The second final at Melbourne between Australia and West Indies produced the tournament’s first tied ODI after Carl Rackemann was run out while attempting the winning run.
1984–85 – West Indies became the first team to remain undefeated throughout the qualifying stage, winning all ten matches. They overcame an initial defeat by Australia to claim the finals series 2–1.
1985–86 – Australia endured a substantial loss to New Zealand in Adelaide, being bowled out for only 70 runs and defeated by a margin of 206 runs—still ranking as Australia’s second-largest defeat by runs in ODI cricket.
1985–86 – Bruce Reid recorded the first-ever hat-trick in Australian Tri-Series play during a match against New Zealand at Sydney.
1986–87 – Despite having won four titles previously, West Indies failed to reach the finals for the first time; England emerged as series champions and also secured The Ashes and Challenge Cup within the same season.
1988–89 – The opening fixture between West Indies and Pakistan at Adelaide was notable as the first ODI where players wore shirts displaying their names and team logos.
1988–89 – A rain-affected third final at Sydney saw West Indies claim victory under revised target calculation rules. Media backlash over this outcome led to replacing the Average Run Rate method with the Most Productive Overs approach for matches interrupted by weather.
1992–93 – Phil Simmons delivered an exceptionally economical bowling performance against Pakistan in Sydney, achieving figures of four wickets for just three runs over ten overs—the most frugal bowling analysis recorded in ODIs.
1995–96 – The tournament introduced player names and shirt numbers on ODI uniforms; Michael Bevan famously clinched a last-ball four-run victory for Australia against West Indies on New Year’s Day.
1996–97 – For the first time since 1979–80, Australia failed to reach the finals. Pakistan won the series 2–0 over West Indies despite disruptions including a power outage.
2000–01 – Mark Waugh set a tournament record with an innings of 173 runs against West Indies at Melbourne; Australia won finals against West Indies for their first triumph since the 1992–93 season.
2001–02 – Australia missed finals qualification for a third occasion, which contributed to Steve Waugh’s removal from the one-day squad; South Africa secured victory over New Zealand in the finals.
2003–04 – Ajit Agarkar delivered the only six-wicket haul (6/42) ever recorded in Australian Tri-Series history during a match against Australia at Melbourne.
2005–06 – Adam Gilchrist achieved the quickest century in tournament history, reaching three figures off just 67 deliveries against Sri Lanka at Brisbane.
2006–07 – England rebounded from a recent Ashes series whitewash to capture the tri-series title against Australia.
2011–12 – Daniel Christian became only the fourth Australian bowler to claim an ODI hat-trick during this edition of the series.

Notes and references

Limited Overs International Cricket – The Complete Record (1971–1996), authored by Bill Frindall, Headline
One Day International Cricket – The Ultimate Guide to Limited-Overs Internationals, compiled by Stephen Samuelson, Ray Mason, and David Clark, published February 1999 by Robinson Publishing

External links