The Australia A cricket team is a
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...
team representing
Australia and is the second team of the
Australian cricket team
The Australia men's national cricket team represents Australia in men's international cricket. As the joint oldest team in Test cricket history, playing in the first ever Test match in 1877, the team also plays One-Day International (ODI) ...
.
In the Australian summer of 1994–95, the (then)
Benson and Hedges World Series Cup was expanded to involve four teams instead of the usual three – Australia, England, Zimbabwe and Australia A (though games involving Australia A are not considered official One-Day Internationals). In a shock result, the Australia A team (captained by
Damien Martyn and featuring up-and-comers such as
Ricky Ponting
Ricky Thomas Ponting (born 19 December 1974) is an Australian cricket coach, commentator, and former cricketer. Ponting was captain of the Australian national team during its "golden era", between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 20 ...
,
Matthew Hayden
Matthew Lawrence Hayden (born 29 October 1971) is an Australian cricket commentator and former cricketer. His career spanned fifteen years. Hayden was a powerful and aggressive left-handed opening batsman, who along with opening partners, Just ...
and
Greg Blewett, as well as veterans – wicket-keeper
Phil Emery
Philip Allen Emery (born 25 June 1964) is a former Australian cricketer. A wicket-keeper and valuable left-handed batsman, he represented Australia internationally and New South Wales domestically.
Born in St Ives, Sydney, Emery was educ ...
and pacemen
Paul Reiffel and
Merv Hughes
Mervyn Gregory Hughes (born 23 November 1961) is a former Australian cricketer. A right-arm fast bowler, he represented Australia national cricket team, Australia in 53 Test cricket, Test matches between 1985 and 1994, taking 212 wickets. He pla ...
) ousted England from the series and went into the best-of-3 final against Australia. They were swept 2–0, but it was unquestionably a display of the next generation of Australia's prowess. Many of the 1994–95 A players later played for Australia.
In earlier times, Australia often sent Second XI teams on overseas tour, consisting of players on the fringes of national selection. Instances of this occurred in 1949–50 and 1959–60, to New Zealand.
In one-day cricket, Australia A's team colours were the same as Australia's, except reversed with dark green instead of bottle green and canary yellow instead of wattle gold.
Results summary
Former players
Current squad
Australia A squad for
Australian tour of Sri Lanka 2022
References
{{National sports teams of Australia
Cricket, A
Australia in international cricket
National 'A' cricket teams