Ashes warm-up to rekindle friendly fire

While enduring the boos of hostile or hyper-antagonistic opposition fans can be challenging and tedious, imagine being jeered by your home crowds when playing on your own turf for no reason other than being part of your nation's elite team.

As implausible as the scenario sounds, it's one that former captain Mark Taylor and his men faced 25 years ago during an extraordinary summer that saw state teammates and close friends pitted against each other in a series of Australia v Australia 'international' games.

The on-field confrontations provoked by that unprecedented match-up will be potentially revisited next month when national selectors use a four-day internal trial game at Southampton in the UK to finalise their touring party for the upcoming Ashes campaign.

While that fixture from July 23-26 is essentially an extended practice session and not expected to draw more than a handful of British onlookers, it is tipped to be hugely competitive given the stakes on offer.

As a result, it's a prospect that stirs memories of previous occasions when incumbent and aspiring Australia players have become heated on-field foes.

Certainly it will rouse the recollections of men's team coach and selector Justin Langer, who was a member of the Australia A team that pushed their more-fancied foes to the limit and Taylor to the brink of exasperation.

And even though none of those past meetings carry official status or count towards career statistics, they have proved – as combatants in next month's trial game will doubtless discover – just as combative as any bona fide international.

Certainly, that was Taylor's bitter experience in the Australia summer of 1994-95 when he should have been basking in the parochial pomp of leading his Test outfit – of which he had been appointed skipper just months earlier – to a thumping Ashes win at home.

Image Id: F77A10E7B9A94AD6B3B41A856454720A Image Caption: Australia captain Mark Taylor in 1994 // Getty

However, it was partly due to the authority of that 3-1 series triumph against an uninspired England that the summer took an unexpected turn.

Then-host broadcaster Channel Nine feared the subsequent ODI tri-series – traditionally the season's big ratings winner – might not rekindle viewer interest that had begun to ebb once the one-sided Ashes series was decided.

That concern was exacerbated by the reality that the third team in the triangular competition was Zimbabwe, a team that was as light-on for drawcards as it was for international success.

So the Australian Cricket Board (now Cricket Australia) agreed that a fourth team – made up of fringe Australia players pushing for a place in the nation's first XI – be added to the competition.

As Steve Waugh recalled in his autobiography, Out of My Comfort Zone: "In theory, this was a real coup for the ACB and Channel Nine … because all Aussies love an underdog and here we had the next-best group of cricketers trying to take down the elite.

"The only Australians who didn't like the idea were, quite obviously, us – the members of the high-achieving 'first team' squad.

"While we were all under pressure, the captain (Taylor) probably had the most to lose, with his reputation as a leader and his own position under scrutiny."

In trying to ensure Taylor was able to smoothly transition to captain following Allan Border's huffy retirement earlier in 1994, the ACB had quietly guaranteed their new skipper his place in the ODI team was safe for at least a year.

Image Id: 13A0C2816BF8473FBA2A287B4F86BEE7 Image Caption: Justin Langer was one of the future stars in the A squad // Getty

But as he struggled to average 25 from his 10 one-day innings leading into that 1994-95 summer, resentment was growing among some in the Australia A squad who saw little hope of forcing their way into the first XI because of the entitlements offered some 'protected species'.

It's the same sort of competitive tension that's expected to bubble to the surface when the two Australia squads square off at Southampton next month with a final few places for the Ashes series – which begins at Edgbaston on August 1 – up for grabs.

Although it's unlikely that warm-up match will generate as much on-field friction or internal angst as did the Australia-Australia A encounters of a quarter of a century ago.

Those matches – which included the tournament's best-of-three finals series as the upstart underdogs finished ahead of England and Zimbabwe after the preliminary rounds – are best remembered for the physical clash between fast bowler Glenn McGrath and opener Matthew Hayden.

But a more pointed run-in featured Hayden, who had lost his Test and ODI berth earlier in 1994, and Taylor who quickly became an avowed opponent of having two Australia teams at each other's throats.

Hayden reputedly took a verbal pot shot at Taylor while batting in one of the four matches between the two Australia teams (all of which were won by the first XI), as historic interstate rivalries and thwarted aspirations found voice in front of a vast television audience.

"Normally such banter is considered part of a one-day international match, but here it was coming from a guy (Hayden) who wasn't considered good enough to be in the top side," Steve Waugh recalled.

"Mark (Taylor) took exception, deeming that Matt had shown a lack of respect.

Image Id: F0A89162596E4BD999BA3E82413EFEC1 Image Caption: The senior side eventually won the controversial series // Getty

"I could see both sides of the argument but knew that if I was in the Australia A team I would have been letting the top boys have both barrels, reminding them I was around and didn't want the 'A' next to my team name."

The fear of failure instilled in players during these supposedly 'friendly' encounters was best encapsulated by former Test captain Ricky Ponting who was part of the A-team line-up during that summer in which he turned 20.

In his autobiography At the Close of Play, Ponting recalls being almost paralysed at the crease when Taylor threw the ball to David Boon – Ponting's boyhood idol and fellow Launceston hero – lest he lose his wicket to his Tasmanian teammate's innocuous spin.

"I knew he'd come on to bowl for my benefit – they (Australia) knew how much I idolised Boonie and that I'd probably be too scared to play a shot, for fear of getting out," Ponting wrote.

"I figured he'd probably bowl off-breaks, and I think that's what they were. And jeez they were hard to get away - 'don't you get out, Ponts,' he kept chirping down the wicket, 'If you do, I won't ever let you forget it'."

Ponting kept his wicket intact but his scoring slowed to a crawl, which he admitted fatally stalled the A-team's run chase.

It also emboldened Taylor to use Boon's bowling more regularly, although his moment of triumph – dismissing A-team wicketkeeper Phil Emery later in the series – does not make the record books due to the games' unofficial status.

Boon therefore ended his playing career without an international wicket to his name.

As crowd support for the underdog A-team began to build, fanned by their Greg Blewett and Michael Bevan-inspired win over England in the final preliminary game that lifted them into the series finals, Taylor's unease also heightened.

A tipping point was reached in the finals series when the A-team's best-performed fast bowler Paul Reiffel was elevated to the first XI (where he was sidelined as 12th man) which led fans to openly boo Taylor and his men in Sydney and Melbourne.

"I don't like playing against my own players," Taylor had told journalists after the first Australia v Australia A encounter at Adelaide Oval in December 1994.

"I don't like it when the crowd doesn't support us when we play at home.

"I can't blame the crowd; I don't think they should have been made to choose whether to back Australia or the other Australian team.

"I don't have to say anything official (to CA) - I'd be surprised if the Australia A thing happens again."

But the concept was revived, fleetingly, during a time of even greater upheaval three years later.

In the aftermath of an ugly contract dispute that had seen the national men's team threaten strike action, and just weeks after selectors revealed they planned to formally split the captaincy and personnel of the Test and ODI outfits, two Australias met again.

This time it was a one-off 50-over game at the SCG, the fixture squeezed into the first XI's commitments in an ongoing triangular ODI tournament that, itself, had been sandwiched between home Test campaigns against New Zealand and South Africa.

In a bid to ascertain just who were the best 'specialist' one-day players given the hectic churn of red and white-ball matches, the ACB scheduled the match between new ODI captain Steve Waugh's outfit and an A-team led by Queensland skipper Stuart Law.

The potential for on-field fireworks was increased by the decision to name Test keeper Ian Healy – who just weeks earlier had been told by Waugh his ODI career was finished – in the A-team, while his Australia replacement Adam Gilchrist took the gloves for the first XI.

Despite the game - won by Waugh's team with an over and three wickets to spare courtesy of Ponting's unbeaten 79 - unfolding without incident, it proved the final time the Australia A uniform was donned against the national men's team on home soil.

Image Id: 179BA2A4158F45E29B5F05ACCD6E74A6 Image Caption: Like Taylor before him, Steve Waugh captained against the A side in 1997 // Getty

There have been other occasions, mainly warm-up fixtures to help transition from first-class to short-form cricket or as preparation for overseas tours after a prolonged break from playing, when the national men's team has tackled home-town opponents.

They include:

Steve Waugh XI v Ian Healy XI at Allan Border Field in August, 1999 – the first hit-out for Waugh's World Cup-winning group after their 1999 triumph, and match practice ahead of the Test team's forthcoming tour to Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. Despite a century from incumbent Test opener (and limited-overs discard) Michael Slater, Waugh's team triumphed

Australia v Victoria at Junction Oval in January, 2001 – a warm-up for an upcoming ODI tri-series against the West Indies and Zimbabwe, the game drew a huge crowd who parted with gold coin donations as admission fee. Victoria opener Matthew Elliott almost got the 'home' team over the line, although Australia's eventual three-run win featured Damien Martyn batting twice in their innings

Image Id: 82690AC825A64DCEABD610362289DD00 Image Caption: Shane Warne bowls against Victoria at the Junction Oval // Getty

Australia v Queensland, Allan Border Field in August, 2014 – a 45-over match was part of the national men's team preparation days before departing for an ODI tri-series against Zimbabwe and South Africa in Harare. While the Queensland team included draftees David Warner and the late Philip Hughes, the pair were not required to wear the maroon playing strip of their new Bulls teammates

Steve Smith XI v Adam Voges XI, Colombo in July 2016 – essentially a centre-wicket practice session leading into Australia's three-Test series against Sri Lanka. The Test touring party was supplemented by members of the National Performance Squad who were returning home from a training camp in neighbouring Chennai

Also at the height of the Test-ODI team split, a match to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of the founding of the then cricket academy in Adelaide was staged between the national men's one-day team and some of the academy's rising stars and past pupils.

While the game, played at Adelaide Oval in October 1997, featured a number of academy alumni in the first XI captained by Steve Waugh (among them Shane Warne, McGrath and Bevan) the spotlight shone once again on the irrepressible underdogs.

Image Id: 6B99AD79BAE6490E93AB31B6C1B8AB1A Image Caption: Michael Bevan scored 130 in a tied game against an Academy XI in 1997 // Getty

Turning out for the Academy from which he graduated in 1993, Ricky Ponting posted an unbeaten 51 (bettered only by teammate Slater's 56) and looked to have set-up the apprentices for a fairytale win over the masters fuelled by 18-year-old Brett Lee's bowling spell.

Lee removed Steve Waugh via a brilliant run out on his follow-through and then had his older brother, Shane Lee, caught and bowled to leave Australia 5-77 chasing the Academy's 277, after seamer Paul Wilson (now an ICC umpire) had snared three early wickets.

But Academy graduate Bevan showed no empathy for his former finishing school, compiling a masterful 130 from 129 balls (before being run out by Brett Lee) which enabled Australia to complete a face-saving tie when Adam Dale scored a boundary from the final delivery.

Having experienced both sides of the 'mate against mate' concept, Ponting believed it was a positive initiative, although noting he didn't have to face the consequences of potentially losing to a subsidiary national team when he became Australia captain.

"I think the Australia A experiment was a fruitful exercise, but having gone on to captain Australia myself I can see why Tubby Taylor didn't like the concept (and he certainly wasn't the only one in his team who felt that way)," Ponting wrote.

"If they (Australia) won, they were the bad guys, but if they lost, their Test and ODI places were in jeopardy.

"The guys in the main team told me later they hated getting booed at home and fair enough.

"On balance though, I believe the good outweighed the bad, so if Cricket Australia ever wanted to revive the idea I'd be for it."

He gets his chance to show that support when Australia takes on Australia for the first time on foreign soil next month.

Image Id: B4B289C8C753416180A212DE2A2444D1 Image Caption: Ian Healy and Greg Blewett at the MCG in the second final // Getty

Australia v Australia A, 1994-95 one-day series

Australia 202 (Slater 64, Hughes 3-33) beat Australia A 196 (Hayden 45, Ponting 42, McGrath 4-43, Warne 3-40) by six runs in Adelaide. Scorecard

Australia 5-252 (M Waugh 93, Boon 86, Reiffel 2-46) beat Australia A 218 (Blewett 63, Hayden 51, Law 3-46) by 34 runs in Brisbane. Scorecard

First Final: Australia A 8-209 (Bevan 73, Hayden 50, McDermott 4-25) lost to Australia 5-213 (Slater 92, Blewett 2-25) by five wickets in Sydney. Scorecard

Second Final: Australia A 226 (Blewett 64, Martyn 58, Fleming 4-28, McGrath 3-41) lost to Australia 4-229 (S Waugh 56no, Slater 56, Blewett 2-44) by six wickets in Melbourne. Scorecard

2019 Qantas Ashes Tour of England

Tour match: Australia v Australia A, July 23-26

First Test: August 1-5,Edgbaston

Tour match: Australians v Worcestershire, August 7-9

Second Test: August 14-18,Lord's

Third Test: August 22-26, Headingley

Tour match: Australians v Derbyshire, August 29-31

Fourth Test: September 4-8, Old Trafford

Fifth Test: September 12-16, The Oval