Australia's chequered World T20 history

By their lofty standards, Australia have underachieved at the five World Twenty20s held before this current edition in India.

The fact that this event, which gets underway for Australia on March 18 against New Zealand, is the only major piece of cricketing silverware that they’ve yet to win has been well-documented.

This has remained the case despite Australia being home to a host of proven, world-class T20 players as well the emergence of the Big Bash League in recent years, which offers some of the highest quality domestic cricket in the world.

But Australia’s attitude to the shortest format has taken some time to evolve.

Before the introduction of franchises, the 2006 Big Bash saw former rugby league star Andrew Johns appearing as a ‘celebrity’ player for New South Wales while nicknames like ‘Watto’ and ‘Bear’ were among those to appear on the backs of shirts for the first few seasons of the competition.

Image Id: ~/media/8BCB31BB32FC4920A0DFA9D537A5AD06 Image Caption: Shane Watson fields during a 2007 T20 game for Queensland // Getty

This casual approach to T20 permeated Australia’s efforts at the inaugural World T20 in South Africa almost a decade ago. In their opening match of the 2007 tournament, a lacklustre Australia lost to Zimbabwe, prompting captain Ricky Ponting to suggest that his side needed to "start respecting the game a bit more."

Ponting’s men scraped into the semi-finals where they lost to T20 pioneers India, led by a 30-ball 70 from a rampant Yuvraj Singh, who had hit six sixes from one Stuart Broad over earlier in the tournament.

As T20 quickly became an entrenched part of the international cricket landscape in the following years, Australia’s commitment to the format was no longer questioned.

And while their efforts at the 2009 World T20 in England barely rate a mention – they were knocked out after losing both their group matches – Australia’s performance at the following tournament, in the West Indies in 2010, represents their best World T20 performance to date.

On the back of excellent bowling from speedsters Shaun Tait, Mitchell Johnson and Dirk Nannes, the Michael Clarke-led side went undefeated through the group stage, chased down Pakistan’s 191 in the semi-final thanks to some Michael Hussey brilliance but ultimately lost to England in the final after posting a disappointing 147.

Image Id: ~/media/BF4A0187B9564DEC97F3C02D6BD86C0D Image Caption: Michael Hussey celebrates with after Australia's win over Pakistan in 2010 // Getty

Yet since then, Australia’s performances in Twenty20 Internationals have largely underwhelmed and their performances at the 2012 and 2014 editions of the World T20 reflect that.

The West Indies, thanks to the mastery of Chris Gayle and the mystery of Sunil Narine, eliminated Australia in the semi-finals of the 2012 tournament in Sri Lanka, while 2014 ended in another group-stage exit for the green and gold, with a victory over hosts Bangladesh their only win for the tournament.

Will things be any different in 2016? Australia captain Steve Smith and his men believe so. In the meantime, here’s a more detailed look at the performances they’ll have to exceed if they’re to return home as Australia’s most successful World T20 team.

2007: South Africa

Squad: Ricky Ponting (c), Adam Gilchrist (vc), Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark, Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin, Matthew Hayden, Ben Hilfenhaus, Brad Hodge, Brad Hogg, Michael Hussey, Mitchell  Johnson, Brett Lee, Andrew Symonds, Shane Watson.

Game 1 (Cape Town): Australia (9-138) lost to Zimbabwe (5-139) by five wickets.

Game 2 (Cape Town): Australia (2-136) defeated England (135) by eight wickets.

Game 3 (Cape Town): Australia (1-124) defeated Bangladesh (8-123) by nine wickets.

Game 4 (Johannesburg): Australia (7-164) lost to Pakistan (4-165) by six wickets.

Game 5 (Cape Town): Australia (0-102) defeated Sri Lanka (101) by ten wickets.

Semi-final (Durban): Australia (7-173) lost to India (5-188) by 15 runs.

Image Id: ~/media/C1ACCB22BD0445238EBE2DAE829E95F5 Image Caption: Ricky Ponting looks on as Zimbabwe celebrate their opening game win over Australia in 2007 // Getty

2009: England

Squad: Ricky Ponting (c), Michael Clarke (vc), Nathan Bracken, Brad Haddin, Nathan Hauritz, Ben Hilfenhaus, James Hopes, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Peter Siddle, David Warner, Shane Watson, Cameron White.

Game 1 (The Oval, London): Australia (7-169) lost to the West Indies (3-172) by seven wickets.

Game 2 (Trent Bridge, Nottingham): Australia (9-159) lost to Sri Lanka (4-160) by six wickets.

 

2010: West Indies

Squad: Michael Clarke (c), Daniel Christian, Brad Haddin, Ryan Harris, Nathan Hauritz, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Dirk Nannes, Tim Paine, Steve Smith, Shaun Tait, David Warner, Shane Watson, Cameron White, Brett Lee.

Game 1 (St Lucia): Australia (191) defeated Pakistan (157) by 34 runs.

Game 2 (Bridgetown): Australia (7-141) defeated Bangladesh (114) by 27 runs.

Game 3 (Bridgetown): Australia (5-184) defeated India (134) by 49 runs.

Game 4 (Bridgetown): Australia (5-168) defeated Sri Lanka (87) by 81 runs.

Game 5 (St Lucia): Australia (4-109) defeated the West Indies (105) by six wickets.

Semi-final (St Lucia): Australia (7-197) defeated Pakistan (6-191) by three wickets.

Final (Bridgetown): Australia (6-147) lost to England (3-148) by seven wickets.

Image Id: ~/media/2D0C6DA5BA44422AA54C8DDEFCE4ACAD Image Caption: A dismayed Michael Clarke during the 2010 WT20 final // Getty

2012: Sri Lanka

Squad: George Bailey (c), Shane Watson (vc), Daniel Christian, Pat Cummins, Xavier Doherty, Ben Hilfenhaus, Brad Hogg, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Clint McKay, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Cameron White.

Game 1 (Colombo): Australia (3-135) defeated Ireland (7-123) by seven wickets.

Game 2 (Colombo): Australia (1-100) defeated the West Indies (8-191) by 17 runs (on the Duckworth-Lewis method).

Game 3 (Colombo): Australia (1-141) defeated India (7-140) by nine wickets.

Game 4 (Colombo): Australia (2-147) defeated South Africa (5-146) by eight wickets.

Game 5 (Colombo): Australia (7-117) lost to Pakistan (6-149) by 32 runs.

Semi-final (Colombo): Australia (131) lost to the West Indies (4-205) by 74 runs.

2014: Bangladesh

Image Id: ~/media/F004D9EB1E2D4F9ABFE61060804426CA Image Caption: Pakistan celebrate the wicket of Watson in 2014 // Getty

Squad: George Bailey (c), Doug Bollinger, Daniel Christian, Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Brad Haddin, Brad Hodge, Brad Hogg, Glenn Maxwell, James Muirhead, Mitchell Starc, David Warner, Shane Watson, Cameron White.

Game 1 (Dhaka): Australia (175) lost to Pakistan (5-191) by 16 runs.

Game 2 (Dhaka): Australia (8-178) lost to the West Indies (4-179) by six wickets.

Game 3 (Dhaka): Australia (86) lost to India (7-159) by 73 runs.

Game 4 (Dhaka): Australia (3-158) defeated Bangladesh (5-153) by seven wickets.