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) an ...

toured India in the 1986–87 season to play a three-match

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

series and a five-match one day international series against

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The Test series was drawn 0-0, with one tie, and India won the one-day series 3–2. It is best remembered for the tied first Test – only the second time this result has occurred in Test cricket.

Australian squad

Australia had just lost two-Test series against New Zealand and only narrowly held on to a 0–0 draw against India during the 1985–86 summer. The team was in a rebuilding phase, with Bob Simpson having newly been appointed as coach. However Australia were not unfamiliar with Indian conditions having recently toured in 1984. The original squad was selected by Lawrie Sawle, Greg Chappell, Jim Higgs and Bobby Simpson. It was announced on 30 April 1986: *Batsmen –

Allan Border Allan Robert Border (born 27 July 1955) is an Australian cricket commentator and former international cricketer. A batsman, Border was for many years the captain of the Australian team. His playing nickname was "A.B.". He played 156 Test ma ...

(captain),

David Boon David Clarence Boon (born 29 December 1960) is an Australian cricket match referee, former cricket commentator and international cricketer whose international playing career spanned the years 1984–1996. A right-handed batsman and a very oc ...

(vice-captain),

Geoff Marsh Geoffrey Robert Marsh (born 31 December 1958) is a former Australian cricketer, coach and selector. He played 50 Test matches and 117 One Day Internationals for Australia as an opening batsman. As the coach of Australia he was in charge w ...

, Dean Jones,

Greg Ritchie Gregory Michael Ritchie (born 23 January 1960) is a former Australian international cricketer who played in 30 Tests matches and 44 One Day Internationals between 1982 and 1987. Ritchie played for Queensland between 1980 and 1992. He scored ...

Mike Veletta Michael Robert John Veletta (born 30 October 1963) is a former Australian cricketer. He played in eight Test matches and 20 One Day Internationals between 1987 and 1990. He played 127 first-class matches including 114 Sheffield Shield matc ...

*Fastbowlers –

Craig McDermott Craig John McDermott (born 14 April 1965) is a former Australian cricketer. Between 1984 and 1996 he played 71 Tests for Australia, taking 291 wickets. Following the end of his playing career, he was the bowling coach for the Australian team fo ...

Bruce Reid Bruce Anthony Reid (born 14 March 1963) is a former Australian international cricketer. A tall left-arm fast-medium bowler, Reid also played domestically for his home state Western Australia. Domestic career Reid played for Western Australi ...

, Dave Gilbert, Simon Davis *Spinners –

Ray Bright Raymond James Bright (born 13 July 1954) is a former Australian Test and One Day International cricketer from Victoria. He was a left arm spin bowler and lower order batsman who captained Victoria for a number of seasons. He was also an Australi ...

*All rounders –

Greg Matthews Gregory Richard John Matthews (born 15 December 1959) is a New South Wales and Australian former cricket all rounder ( off-spin bowler and left-handed batsman) who is now a television cricket commentator. When Australian cricket was in the ...

Steve Waugh Stephen Rodger Waugh (born 2 June 1965) is an Australian former international cricketer and twin brother of cricketer Mark Waugh. A right-handed batsman, he was also a medium-pace bowler. As Australian captain from 1997 to 2004, he led Australi ...

*Wicketkeepers –

Tim Zoehrer Timothy Joseph Zoehrer (born 25 September 1961) is a former Australian cricket player. He played as a wicket-keeper and is of Austrian descent. He began his career in the 1980–81 season with Western Australia in the Sheffield Shield as an und ...

Greg Dyer Gregory Charles Dyer (born 16 March 1959) is a former New South Wales and Australian wicketkeeper. Dyer played in six Tests and 23 ODIs from 1986 to 1988, including playing in the victorious 1987 World Cup Final. He toured India in 1986 as a ...

*Team officials – Bob Simpson (coach), Alan Crompton (tour manager), Errol Alcott (physio), Charlie Pinto (transport), Govind Bawji (baggageman) A number of top-level Australian cricketers were unavailable for selection because they had signed to tour South Africa and were banned from playing international cricket. Selection panel on tour: Border, Boon, Simpson Wayne Phillips had been Australia's wicketkeeper over the 1985–86 summer, then replaced by Tim Zoehrer and tried as a batting specialist. However he was overlooked for selection – the only member of the New Zealand tour squad not picked to go to India. On the night of his non-selection Phillips told the media "I'm going to do what I want to do and not be at the beck and call of these idiots who pick the side." He was fined $2,000 by the Australian Cricket Board and never played cricket for Australia again. Allan Border returned early from county cricket with Essex on 19 August to prepare for the tour. The Australian squad attended a special six day training camp with Simpson,

Greg Chappell Gregory Stephen Chappell (born 7 August 1948) is a former cricketer who represented Australia at international level in both Tests and One-Day Internationals (ODI). The second of three brothers to play Test cricket, Chappell was the pre-eminen ...

and

Ashley Mallett Ashley Alexander Mallett (13 July 1945 – 29 October 2021) was an Australian cricketer who played in 38 Tests and 9 One Day Internationals between 1968 and 1980. Until Nathan Lyon, he was Australia's most successful off spin bowler since World ...

Test series summary

First Test

See

Tied Test A Tied Test is a Test cricket match in which the side batting second is bowled out in the fourth innings, with scores level. This is a very rare result; only two ties have occurred in the 2,000 Tests played since 1877. The first was in 1960 and t ...

for details.

Second Test

Third Test

ODI series

India won the Charminar Challenge Cup 3–2.

1st ODI

2nd ODI

3rd ODI

4th ODI

5th ODI

6th ODI

Tour matches

Board President's XI v Australians at Bangalore, 30 Aug-1 Sep 1986
– match drawn. Geoff Marsh scored a century and Matthews took five wickets in the game.

– match drawn. Greg Ritchie scored a century as opener and Matthews made 99.

– match drawn

– match drawn – Dave Gilbert scored a century.

Summary

The tour established

and

as Australia's opening combination, and Dean Jones as a Test batsman.

appeared to establish his credentials as a top line spinner. Jones later argued the tied Test marked a turning point in Australian cricket, although Australia went on to lose the 1986–87 Ashes series 2–1.Andrew Miller, 'Dean Jones - Tied Test marked the renaissance of Australian cricket', ''Cricinfo'' 13 Oct 2004
accessed 15 June 2012 By the end of that series, Boon, Ritchie, Matthews, McDermott, Davis, Gilbert and Bright had all been dropped from the Australian Test team. The experience gained by the players did prove valuable for Australia in their campaign to win the 1987 World Cup in India.

References

External links

Tour home
at

ESPN Cricinfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a ...

Australia in India : Aug/Oct 1986
at ESPN Cricinfo archives

at Test Cricket Tours {{DEFAULTSORT:Australian cricket team in India in 1986-87 1986 in Australian cricket 1986 in Indian cricket 1986-87 Indian cricket seasons from 1970–71 to 1999–2000 International cricket competitions from 1985–86 to 1988