This article contains information, results and statistics regarding the Australian national cricket team in the 2016 and 2016–17 cricket seasons. Statisticians class the 2016–17 season as matches played between May 2016 and April 2017.
Player contracts
The 2016 - 17 list, or roster, was announced on 1 April 2016.[1] Note that uncontracted players are still available to be selected to play for the national cricket team.
Travis Head (Aus) made his ODI debut. * Marlon Samuels (WI) made his highest score in ODIs against Australia.[3] He went on to better this record with a score of 125 during the
8th ODI of this series. * Points: West Indies 4, Australia 0.
Shannon Gabriel (WI) made his ODI debut. * Denesh Ramdin (WI) passed 2,000 ODI runs.[5] * Marlon Samuels (WI) made his highest score in ODIs against Australia, bettering his score of 92 during the
5th ODI of this series.[6] * Australia qualified for the final as a result of this match.[6] * Points: Australia 4, West Indies 0.
Rain stopped play after tea on Day 1, with play being abandoned for the day. *Rain stopped play before tea on Day 2, with play being abandoned for the day. *Bad light and rain stopped play after tea on Day 3, with play being abandoned for the day. *Bad light stopped play on Day 4 and tea was taken, with play being abandoned for the day. *Rain delayed the start of play by an hour on Day 4 and Day 5.
Dhananjaya de Silva and
Lakshan Sandakan (both SL) made their Test debuts. *Sri Lanka's first innings was their shortest innings in Tests after electing to bat.[8] *Dhananjaya de Silva became the first player for Sri Lanka to get off the mark in a Test match by scoring a six.[8] *Kusal Mendis became the youngest player for Sri Lanka to score a Test century against Australia.[9] *Nathan Lyon (Aus) took his 200th Test wicket.[9] *Lakshan Sandakan's (SL) match figures of 7/107 are the best by a
slow left-arm wrist-spin on Test debut.[10] *While attempting to bat time for a draw on the fifth day, the ninth and tenth-wicket partnerships featuring
Steve O'Keefe,
Peter Nevill and
Josh Hazlewood (Aus) faced a Test cricket record 25.4 consecutive overs without scoring a run.[11] *This was only Sri Lanka's second win against Australia in twenty-seven Tests.[12] *Steve Smith suffered his first Test loss as captain of Australia.[12]
Vishwa Fernando (SL) and
Jon Holland (Aus) made their Test debuts. *This was Sri Lanka's 250th Test match.[13] *Mitchell Starc (Aus) took his 100th Test wicket and also became the 26th player to take a wicket with the first ball in a Test match.[14] *Australia's first innings total of 106 is their lowest score against Sri Lanka in Tests.[15] *Rangana Herath became the first Sri Lankan spinner, the second Sri Lankan, and the oldest to take a
hat-trick in a Test.[15] *Mitchell Starc took the best match figures by an Australian pace bowler in Tests in Sri Lanka.[16] *Dilruwan Perera became the first Sri Lankan to take ten wickets and score a half-century in the same Test.[17] *Dilruwan Perera became the fastest Sri Lankan bowler to take 50 wickets, with this being his eleventh Test.[17] *With this win, it was Sri Lanka's first series victory against Australia since
1999.[17] *This was Australia's eighth straight loss in Tests in Asia.[17]
Dhananjaya de Silva (SL) scored his maiden Test century. *Mitchell Starc (Aus) became the first fast bowler to take three five-wicket hauls in a Test series in Sri Lanka and he also took his third consecutive five-wicket haul.[18] *Steve Smith (Aus) became youngest Australian to score 4,000 Test runs.[18] *Rangana Herath (SL) took the best match figures for a Sri Lankan bowler against Australia.[19] *Rangana Herath (SL) took his eighth five-wicket haul in the fourth innings of a Test, the most for any bowler.[19] *This was Sri Lanka's first series whitewash against Australia in Tests.[20]
This was the first day-night ODI to be hosted in Dambulla in six years. *This was
Tillakaratne Dilshan's (SL) final ODI appearance.[25] *Dinesh Chandimal (SL) scored his first ODI century in Sri Lanka. *This was the highest successful run chase against Sri Lanka at Dambulla in an ODI. *This was also Australian's narrowest win in terms of wickets against Sri Lanka in an ODI.
Avishka Fernando (SL) made his ODI debut. *John Hastings (Aus) took his first five-wicket haul in an ODI.[26] *Aaron Finch equalled the record for the fastest fifty by an Australian batsman in an ODI.[26]
Sachith Pathirana (SL) made his T20I debut. *Australia scored the highest total in a T20I, beating the previous highest of 260/6 set by Sri Lanka in 2007.[28] *Glenn Maxwell (Aus) scored his maiden T20I century.[28] *Glenn Maxwell (Aus) became the first to hit a century in his maiden innings as an opener in a T20I.[28] *This was Sri Lanka's biggest defeat in a T20I.[28]
Keshav Maharaj (SA) made his Test debut. *Australia's collapse of 10/86 was their worst collapse after having an opening stand of 150 or more, and third worst by any team in Tests.[34] *Dean Elgar and
Jean-Paul Duminy's partnership of 250 is South Africa's highest partnership in Perth, the third highest overall in Perth, and their second highest against Australia.[35] *This was Australia's first loss in the opening Test of the home series
since 1988.[36] *It was also Australia's first Test match loss at home since they lost in Perth against South Africa in
2012.[36]
Callum Ferguson and
Joe Mennie (Aus) both made their Test debuts. *Australia's first innings total is their lowest at home
for 32 years and their second-shortest innings at home in terms of balls faced.[37] *This was South Africa's third consecutive Test series win in Australia.[38] *This was South Africa's first win against Australia by an innings in Australia.[39]
Peter Handscomb (Aus) scored his first century in Tests.[42] *Pakistan's 450 is their highest ever fourth innings total, the highest fourth innings total set at the Gabba and the fourth highest set overall in Tests.[43] *Asad Shafiq's (Pak) 137 is the highest individual score in the fourth innings of a Test at the Gabba.[43] *Shafiq scored his ninth Test century batting at number six, the most by any player batting in that position.[44]
Tea was taken early on day 1, with no play in the final session due to rain.[45] Lunch was taken early on day 2, with no play in the middle session due to rain. Further rain caused play to cease at 5:15 pm. Rain delayed the start of play on day 3 until 10:35 am. Tea was taken early on day 4, with no play in the final session due to rain.
Azhar Ali (Pak) scored his 1,000th Test run in 2016.[46] * Azhar Ali's first innings score of 205
not out is highest Test score by a Pakistani player in Australia[47] and the second highest Test score by a visiting player at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.[47] *The partnership of 118 runs between Ali and
Sohail Khan (Pak) is the highest 8th wicket partnership against Australia.[47] *Australia's first innings total of 624 is the highest Test innings score at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.[48] *Josh Hazlewood (Aus) took his 100th Test wicket.[49] *Steve Smith (Aus) scored his 1,000th Test run in 2016.[50] *This was the first time Pakistan lost by an innings margin despite scoring 400+ runs in the first innings of the match.[48]
Rain prevented play in the first sessions of days 3 and 4.
Hilton Cartwright (Aus) and
Sharjeel Khan (Pak) both made their Test debuts. *Steve Smith (Aus) played his 50th Test.[51] *David Warner (Aus) became the fifth batsmen to score a century before lunch on the first day of a Test match and the first to do so in Australia.[52] *David Warner's century off 78 balls is the fastest Test century at the Sydney Cricket Ground and the second fastest against Pakistan.[52] *Sarfraz Ahmed (Pak) claimed his 100th Test
dismissal as a
wicket-keeper.[53] *Matt Renshaw (Aus) scored his first Test century.[54] *Younis Khan (Pak) became the first player to score a century in every nation that has hosted a Test match, including the United Arab Emirates.[55] *David Warner's half century off 23 balls in the second innings is the fastest Test fifty by an Australian and the second fastest overall.[56] *This was the fourth consecutive whitewash for Pakistan in Australia in Tests and their sixth consecutive defeat, making it their worst streak.[57] *Jackson Bird (Aus) equalled the record of four catches in a Test as a
substitute fielder.[58]
Mohammad Hafeez (Pak)
captained his first ODI match after
Azhar Ali sustained a
hamstring injury in the first ODI.[60] *This was Pakistan's first victory in any format against Australia in Australia since
January 2005 and ended their longest losing streak in ODIs against any host nation.[61][62]
Peter Handscomb (Aus) made his ODI debut. *Billy Stanlake (Aus) took his maiden ODI wicket.[63] *Babar Azam (Pak) became the joint-fastest player to score 1,000 runs in ODIs and the fastest for Pakistan in his 21st innings.[64] *Steve Smith (Aus) scored his 3,000th ODI run, becoming the quickest Australian to reach the milestone in his 79th innings.[65]
Sam Heazlett (Aus) made his ODI debut. *Aaron Finch (Aus)
captained his first ODI match after
Matthew Wade was ruled out due to back complaint.[68] *Marcus Stoinis (Aus) took his maiden wicket and scored his maiden century in ODIs.[69] He also became the first Australian to score a century and take three wickets in an ODI match.[70] *Stoinis' score of 146
not out is the highest by an Australian batting at number seven and the second highest overall. His innings consisted of 11
sixes, the second highest by an Australian batsmen and the highest by an batsmen in a losing side.[71] *Pat Cummins (Aus) took his 50th wicket in ODIs.[72] *Josh Hazlewood (Aus) became the first player to be dismissed for a
diamond duck in a partnership of more than fifty runs.[73] This was Hazlewood's first dismissal, setting the record for the matches played without being dismissed (33).[74] *Tom Latham (NZ) equalled New Zealand's record of 5 dismissals as a wicket keeper in an ODI innings (record shared with
Gareth Hopkins,
Brendon McCullum and
Adam Parore).[75]
Ross Taylor equaled
Nathan Astle's record for the most ODI hundreds by a New Zealand batsman (16). *Trent Boult (NZ) became the first bowler to take a five-wicket haul in an ODI match at Seddon Park.[77]
Jhye Richardson (Aus) made his T20I debut. *Sam Nogajski (Aus) stood in his first T20I as an umpire.[81] *This was the first T20I match to be played at this venue.[82] *Sri Lanka made 36 runs from the final two overs, the most in a successful run-chase in a T20I.[83] *This was Australia's fifth-consecutive loss at home in T20Is, their longest losing streak.[83] *This was the 50th win for Sri Lanka in T20Is, becoming the third team to do so.[84] *Niroshan Dickwella (SL) was given a two-match ban after he showed his dissent at an umpire's decision. He was also fined 30% of his match fee for the incident.[85]
This was the first Test match at this venue.[87] *Mitchell Starc (Aus) passed 1,000 runs in Tests.[88] *Ravichandran Ashwin (Ind) overtook
Kapil Dev's record for the most wickets in a season in India.[89] *Steve O'Keefe (Aus) took his first 5-wicket haul in Tests.[90] He also took five wickets in 19 balls, the joint-second-fewest deliveries for a five-for against India.[91] *India lost their last seven wickets in the first innings for eleven runs, their worst collapse in Tests.[91] *Steve O'Keefe's match figures of 12 for 70 are the best figures by a visiting spin bowler in a Test in India and are also the best match figures for an Australian bowler against India.[92] *This was Australia's first Test win in India since
2004 and the first win by any visiting team in India since
2012.[92]
Nathan Lyon (Aus) recorded the best bowling figures by a visiting bowler in India.[93] *Nathan Lyon also became the highest Australian wicket taker against India (with 58 wickets), and the first to take three seven-wicket hauls against India.[93] *This was the first time in a Test that four different bowlers each took six wickets in an innings.[94] *Ravichandran Ashwin (Ind) took his
25th five-wicket haul, achieving it in the fewest Tests (47).[94]
This was the first Test to be played at this venue and the 800th Test played by Australia.[95] *Murali Vijay (Ind) played his 50th Test.[95] *Steve Smith (Aus) passed 5,000 runs in Tests, becoming the third-fastest and youngest Australian batsman to do so.[96] *Glenn Maxwell (Aus) scored his maiden Test century and became the second player for Australia to score a century in all three international formats.[97] *Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell's partnership of 191 runs is Australia's highest 5th wicket partnership in India and the 4th highest 5th wicket partnership overall by visiting teams in India.[97] *Steve Smith's score of 178
not out is the highest score by an Australian captain in India and 3rd highest overall score by an Australian in India.[97] *Cheteshwar Pujara (Ind) faced 525 balls for his 202 runs, the most deliveries faced by an Indian batsmen in a Test innings.[98] *The 199-run partnership between Pujara and
Wriddhiman Saha was the highest seventh-wicket stand for India against Australia in Tests.[98]
This was the first Test to be played at this venue.[99] *Ajinkya Rahane (Ind)
captained India for the first time in Tests.[100] *Kuldeep Yadav (Ind) made his Test debut. *Steve Smith became the first batsman for Australia to score three hundreds in a series in India.[101] *Ravichandran Ashwin (Ind) took his 79th wicket in the 2016–17 season, the most for a bowler in a single season.[101]