2005–06 Australian cricket season

The 2005–06 Australian cricket season took place from October 2005 to March 2006.

The 2005–06 Australian cricket season began on 2005-10-05 with the first official ICC Super Series match, and the home season lasted until 2006-03-27 when the Pura Cup final concluded. The national team are, however, playing away matches until 2006-04-28. Australia played six home Tests during this season – three against West Indies and three against South Africa – and also hosted the three-team VB Series, between Australia, South Africa and Sri Lanka. The team also toured New Zealand for One Day Internationals in December, played five ODIs and three Tests in South Africa in February and March, and visited Bangladesh for the first time in April. Also, the season included a new domestic competition, for the first time in 36 seasons – a Twenty20 tournament called the Twenty20 Big Bash was held in January 2006, with two groups of three teams and the group winners proceeding to the final.

Australia won both their home Test series in November and December, winning the Frank Worrell Trophy by virtue of a 3–0 whitewash of the West Indies before defeating South Africa 2–0. Meanwhile, in domestic cricket, New South Wales Blues assumed the ascendancy in both competitions, followed by the Victorian Bushrangers; at the beginning of the New Year, the Blues were four points ahead of the Bushrangers in the Pura Cup, and six points ahead in the ING Cup. The Blues beat the Bushrangers in a top-of-the-table battle in the ING Cup on 2 January, leaving the Bushrangers eleven points adrift in second place, but the Bushrangers came back later in the month with three unbeaten matches against the Blues in the space of a week; a win in the ING, was followed up with a draw with first-innings points in the Pura and finally a win in the Twenty20 Big Bash final.

...
Wikipedia