Australia are arguably the world’s best team across the format. Speaking of their test cricket history, they were one of the two teams who played the first ever red-ball game. They are the No. 1 ranked Test side at the moment and are winning series after series. The dominance of Australia in test cricket is well known world-wide.
But there are some days when the champions also struggle. Every player and every team has gone through some bad days. Australia has also struggled at times. The Men in Yellow have also been dismissed below 50 runs in one innings of a test match four times. So let’s check the lowest totals for Australia in Test cricket.
3. Australia (44 all out) against England at The Oval
All three of Australia’s lowest scores have come against England. The third lowest score in a Test match at The Oval in August 1896. It’s been more than 128 years since that match. After winning the toss, England batted first and scored only 145 runs in 81.3 overs. In reply, the Aussies also played in a similar fashion but could only score 119 runs in 53.1 overs.
England got the first innings lead of 26 runs. With that lead, England couldn’t do much and were bowled out for just 84 runs in the second innings. As a result, Australia got the target of 110 to chase. But in those days, it was a big target, and that’s what happened. The Men in Yellow got all out for 44 runs and lost the match by 66 runs.
2. Australia (44 all out) against England at Sydney
The second lowest total for Australia came in 1888 against England at Sydney. After winning the toss, Australia chose to bowl first. England made 113 runs in their first innings in 100 overs. Charlie Turner and J.J. Ferris picked up five and four wickets respectively. Both of them bowled 97 overs between them out of 100. In response, Australia got all out for 42 runs in 37.3 overs. George Lohmann and Bobby Peel picked up five wickets each for England.
With a lead of 81 runs, the English team batted again and scored another 137 runs in 75 overs. After picking up five wickets in the first innings, Charlie Turner picked up seven wickets in the second as well. They gave Australia a target of 218 runs that was a big target to chase those day. But the Aussies couldn’t do the job. In fact they got all out for just 82 runs and lost the match by 126 runs.
1. Australia (36 all out) against England (Fifth lowest in Test Cricket)
After two low scores, the lowest also came against England in 1902 at Birmingham. England won the toss and batted first. The English team did a good job with the bat and made over 350 runs. They declared their first innings at 376/9 in 142 overs. Johnny Tyldesley was the top scorer, scoring 138 runs. But Australia had their worst day at the bat.
The Men in Yellow were bowled out in 23 overs and scored only 36 runs. Only one batter crossed the 10-run mark, and none of the others could go past 5 runs. Following on, Australia batted again. Trailing by a massive 340 runs, Australia were at 46/2 when the rain came and the match ended with no result. Australia were lucky that even after getting out to the lowest total, they didn’t lose.
List of Lowest Test Score of Australia
| Score | Overs | Inns | Against | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 36 | 23.0 | 2 | England | Birmingham | 29 May 1902 |
| 42 | 37.3 | 2 | England | Sydney | 10 Feb 1888 |
| 44 | 26.0 | 4 | England | The Oval | 10 Aug 1896 |
| 47 | 18.0 | 3 | South Africa | Cape Town | 9 Nov 2011 |
| 53 | 22.3 | 1 | England | Lord’s | 22 Jun 1896 |
| 58 | 12.3 | 4 | England | Brisbane | 4 Dec 1936 |
| 60 | 29.2 | 3 | England | Lord’s | 16 Jul 1888 |
| 60 | 18.3 | 1 | England | Nottingham | 6 Aug 2015 |
| 63 | 80.0 | 1 | England | The Oval | 28 Aug 1882 |
| 65 | 22.4 | 4 | England | The Oval | 19 Aug 1912 |