Rest of the World cricket team in Australia in 1971–72

A World XI cricket team, which was a multi-national captained by Gary Sobers, toured Australia in the 1971–72 season. It replaced the proposed Test tour by South Africa which the Australian Cricket Board had cancelled in 1971.[1] This meant that South Africa would not tour Australia for a test series again until the 1993–94 season.

World XI Cricket team in Australia 1971-72
 
  World XI Australia
Dates November 1971 – February 1972
Captains Gary Sobers Ian Chappell
Test series
Result World XI won the 5-match series 2–1
Most runs Gary Sobers (341)
Hylton Ackerman (323)
Ian Chappell (634)
Greg Chappell (425)
Most wickets Intikhab Alam (19)
Bishan Bedi (17)
Dennis Lillee (24)
Bob Massie (11)

World XI played 16 matches between early November 1971 and early February 1972. There were five matches against Australia which were regarded as official test matches in Wisden however the status was later withdrawn.[2] World XI won this series 2–1. The team also played three limited overs internationals against Australia and the remaining games were first-class fixtures against Australian invitational and state teams.[1]

After this series, World XI would not play in Australia again until World Series Cricket in the late 1970s.

The team

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The World XI cricket team which played in Australia in 1971–72
Players of various nations made up the team;

Player Date of Birth Batting style Bowling style Nation/Region
Gary Sobers  (c) 28 July 1936 Left handed Left-arm fast medium   Barbados   West Indies
Zaheer Abbas 24 July 1947 Right-handed Right-arm offbreak   Pakistan
Hylton Ackerman 28 April 1947 Left-handed Right-arm medium   South Africa
Intikhab Alam 28 December 1941 Right-handed Right arm leg break   Pakistan
Bishan Bedi 25 September 1946 Right-handed Slow left-arm orthodox   India
Robert Cunis 5 January 1941 Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium   New Zealand
Farokh Engineer 25 February 1938 Right-handed Wicket-keeper   India
Sunil Gavaskar 10 July 1949 Right-handed   India
Norman Gifford 30 March 1940 Left-handed Slow left-arm orthodox   England
Tony Greig 6 October 1946 Right-handed Right-arm medium   England
Richard Hutton 6 September 1942 Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium   England
Rohan Kanhai 26 December 1935 Right-handed Right-arm medium   Guyana   West Indies
Clive Lloyd 31 August 1944 Left-handed Right-arm medium   Guyana   West Indies
Asif Masood 23 January 1946 Right-handed Right-arm medium-fast   Pakistan
Graeme Pollock 27 February 1944 Left-handed Leg break   South Africa
Peter Pollock 30 June 1941 Right-handed Right-arm fast   South Africa
Robert Taylor 17 July 1941 Right-handed Wicket-keeper   England[3]

"Test" series summary

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First match

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26 November–1 December 1971 (5–day match)
Scorecard
v
389/4d (85 overs)
IM Chappell 145
BS Bedi 1/53 (8 overs)
285/4d (63 overs)
HM Ackerman 112
KJ O'Keeffe 1/36 (8 overs)
220/3d (58 overs)
IM Chappell 106
GS Sobers 1/7 (4 overs)
108/4 (35 overs)
Zaheer Abbas 32
DK Lillee 2/38 (9 overs)
  • World XI won the toss and elected to field.
  • 29 November was taken as a rest day.
  • There was no play on the second day.
  • BC Francis made his first-class debut for Australia.

Second match

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10–12 December 1971 (5–day match)
Scorecard
v
349 (72.3 overs)
KD Walters 125
AW Greig 4/94 (13.3 overs)
59 (14.1 overs)
Zaheer Abbas 14
CH Lloyd 14

DK Lillee 8/29 (7.1 overs)
279 (f/o) (71.3 overs)
RB Kanhai 118
DK Lillee 4/63 (14 overs)
Australia won by an innings and 11 runs
WACA Ground, Perth
Umpires: LP Rowan and NE Townsend
  • Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
  • The match was scheduled for five days but completed in three.

Third match

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1–6 January 1972 (5–day match)
Scorecard
v
184 (49.3 overs)
AW Greig 66
DK Lillee 5/48 (16.3 overs)
285 (71.6 overs)
GS Chappell 115*
AW Greig 4/41 (16 overs)
514 (124.3 overs)
GS Sobers 254
TJ Jenner 4/87 (20.3 overs)
317 (76 overs)
KD Walters 127
BS Bedi 4/81 (24 overs)
World XI won by 96 runs
Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
Umpires: JR Collins and MG O'Connell
  • World XI won the toss and elected to bat.
  • 4 January was taken as a rest day.
  • J Benaud and RAL Massie made their first-class debuts for Australia.

Fourth match

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8–13 January 1972 (5–day match)
Scorecard
v
312 (69.2 overs)
KR Stackpole 104
BS Bedi 4/85 (20 overs)
277 (69.6 overs)
Intikhab Alam 73*
RAL Massie 7/76 (20.6 overs)
546 (102.4 overs)
GS Chappell 197*
Intikhab Alam 4/132 (24.4 overs)
173/5 (48 overs)
HM Ackerman 87
KJ O'Keeffe 3/34 (12 overs)
  • Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
  • 11 January was taken as a rest day.
  • There was no play on the final day.

Fifth match

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28 January–1 February 1972 (5–day match)
Scorecard
v
311 (91.3 overs)
J Benaud 99
AW Greig 6/30 (15.3 overs)
367 (109.5 overs)
RG Pollock 136
AA Mallett 4/116 (34.5 overs)
201 (55.5 overs)
IM Chappell 111*
Intikhab Alam 4/78 (19 overs)
146/1 (41.6 overs)
HM Ackerman 79*
RJ Inverarity 1/52 (12 overs)
World XI won by 9 wickets
Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
Umpires: TF Brooks and LP Rowan
  • Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
  • 30 January was taken as a rest day.
  • The match was scheduled for five days but completed in four.
  • AJ Woodcock made his first-class debut for Australia.

Matches

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No. Date Opponents Fixture Venue City Result Ref
1 5–8 November   Victoria Tour match MCG Melbourne Drawn [4]
2 12–15 November   New South Wales Tour match SCG Sydney Drawn [5]
3 19–22 November   Queensland Tour match The Gabba Brisbane Won by 38 runs [6]
4 26 November–1 December   Australia 1st "Test match" The Gabba Brisbane Drawn [7]
5 4–7 December   Western Australia Tour Match WACA Ground Perth Won by 72 runs [8]
6 10–12 December   Australia 2nd "Test match" WACA Ground Perth Lost by an innings and 11 runs [9]
12 December   Australia Fill-up match WACA Ground Perth Won by 14 runs [10]
14 December   Australia 1st "ODI" WACA Ground Perth Won by 44 runs [11]
7 17–18 December   South Australia Tour match Adelaide Oval Adelaide Lost by an innings and 1 run [12]
8 22–24 December   Tasmania Tour match NTCA Ground Launceston Won by 8 wickets [13]
9 26–28 December   Tasmania Combined XI Tour match TCA Ground Hobart Drawn [14]
10 1–6 January   Australia 3rd "Test match" MCG Melbourne Won by 96 runs [15]
11 8–13 January   Australia 4th "Test match" SCG Sydney Drawn [16]
15 January   Australia 2nd "ODI" SCG Sydney Abandoned due to rain [17]
16 January   Australia 3rd "ODI" MCG Melbourne Lost by ten wickets [18]
16 January   Australia Fill-up match MCG [[Melbourne Lost by 6 runs [19]
18–19 January   Southern New South Wales Tour match Manuka Oval Canberra Drawn [20]
22–24 January   Northern New South Wales Tour match No. 1 Sports Ground Newcastle Drawn [21]
12 28 January–1 February   Australia 5th "Test" Adelaide Oval Adelaide Won by nine wickets [22]

References

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  1. ^ a b T. L. Goodman, "A World XI Team in Australia", Wisden 1973, pp. 899-911.
  2. ^ "What if Packer SuperTests and World XI matches of the 1970s had been official Tests?". Cricket Country. 3 October 2014. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  3. ^ Martin Williamson, "When People Power Sunk South Africa", Cricinfo 1 October 2005
  4. ^ "Victoria v World XI". CricketArchive. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  5. ^ "New South Wales v World XI". CricketArchive. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  6. ^ "Queensland v World XI". CricketArchive. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  7. ^ "Australia v World XI". CricketArchive. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  8. ^ "Western Australia v World XI". CricketArchive. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  9. ^ "Australia v World XI". CricketArchive. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  10. ^ "Australia v World XI". CricketArchive. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  11. ^ "Australia v World XI". CricketArchive. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  12. ^ "South Australia v World XI". CricketArchive. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  13. ^ "Tasmania v World XI". CricketArchive. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  14. ^ "Tasmania Combined XI v World XI". CricketArchive. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  15. ^ "Australia v World XI". CricketArchive. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  16. ^ "Australia v World XI". CricketArchive. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  17. ^ "Australia v World XI". CricketArchive. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  18. ^ "Australia v World XI". CricketArchive. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  19. ^ "Australia v World XI". CricketArchive. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  20. ^ "Southern New South Wales v World XI". CricketArchive. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  21. ^ "Northern New South Wales v World XI". CricketArchive. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  22. ^ "Australia v World XI". CricketArchive. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
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