MUMBAI, INDIA - SEPTEMBER 30: Matthew Hayden of Australia in action during day one of the Tour Match between Mumbai and Australia played at Brabourne Stadium on September 30, 2004 in Mumbai, India. (Photo by Hamish Blair/Getty Images)
Australia, as one of the best cricketing nations in the world, have had some memorable victories over the years.
Test cricket has been the pinnacle of the sport for as long as it has existed, and while Australia have always been near the top, they haven’t always been the best.
That has created some classic underdog moments over the years, as well as some miraculous series victories which simply weren’t expected.
Playing overseas against other top countries is always seen as a difficult challenge at the best of the times, while playing in the sub-continent sees Australia lose far more than they win.
But that doesn’t mean they haven’t ever picked up wins in that part of the world.
Series against the West Indies at times have also been incredibly difficult, while facing the swinging ball in England hasn’t always been Australia’s best friend.
Let’s count down Australia’s top five Test series victories of all-time.
This would prove to be Australia’s final visit to Pakistan for 24 years, a drought finally brought to an end by their 2022 tour of the nation.
Australia hadn’t won a single Test in Pakistan since 1959 heading into this series, losing six and drawing another seven Tests against the sub-continent nations in tours over an almost 40-year period.
All up, they clung onto a drawn series in 1964, but lost the remaining series against Pakistan in Pakistan in 1979, 1982, 1988 and 1994.
40 years between wins in Pakistan looked like it would continue when Mark Taylor’s team hit the ground in Pakistan, but it took just a matter of days for that to no longer be the case.
Australia would knock Pakistan over for just 269 in their first innings of the series opener in Rawalpindi with Stuart MacGill the chief destroyer, taking 5 for 66.
In response, Michael Slater and Steve Waugh both hit centuries as Australia piled on 513 from over 170 overs, before knocking over the hosts for just 145 to claim a famous victory by an innings and 99 runs.
There would be no results in the second and third Test of the series, with Australia piling on 599 in the second Test on the back of Mark Taylor’s 334 not out, before the final test saw Pakistan run out of time, winding up on 5 for 262 chasing 419.
But it was a 1-0 victory for Australia, and that was all that counted as they ended a mammoth drought in Pakistan.
This tour and series hasn’t made the list for its unexpectedness.
It has made the list for its sheer brilliance as Don Bradman’s invincibles wiped England off the park in four out of five Tests, only being robbed of a whitewash by a rain-hit draw in Manchester.
This Australian side were never losing this series, let’s get that straight. Bradman’s farewell tour and Bradman being supported by the likes of Arthur Morris, Lindsay Hassett, Neil Harvey, Sib Barnes and a bowling attack led by Ray Lindwall.
It was always going to be too much for England, but what followed was incredible. They played a full tour of England, including a staggering 29 tour matches without losing a single game. Including the five Tests, they played 34 matches, and at worst had draws.
The most incredible tour of Australian Ashes history kicked off with an eight-wicket win in Nottingham as Bradman hit 138 on Australia’s way to 509, while Bill Johnston and Keith Miller led the way with the ball.
That set the way for the series, with Australia then winning by a staggering 409 runs at Lord’s in the second Test, seven wickets at Leeds in the fourth Test and an innings and 149 runs in the fifth and final Test back in London at The Oval.
The only low spot from the entire tour was Bradman’s final innings when he failed to reach that magical hundred average, but it hardly mattered. It was an incredible tour which even the most optimistic Australian supporters couldn’t have seen coming.
Australia went to the West Indies in 1995 without a victory over the Carribean nation group in any of their last eight series, either home or away.
They had been beaten 2-1 in the last home series, and 2-1 in the last away series, while each of the prior three series through the 1980s had seen Australia lose three out of the five Tests and win no more than one.
The West Indies weren’t ready to slow down either, heading into the series with named like Brian Lara, Richie Richardson, Carl Hooper, Jimmy Adams, and a fearsome pace-bowling attack led by Curtly Ambrode and Courtney Walsh.
It’s not hard to see why Australia were written off as next to no chance of winning the series.
That lack of hope turned into something a little more positive after the first Test at Bridgetown though, with Australia’s attack mowing the West Indians out for 195 and 189 in their two innings, eventually setting up a ten-wicket win. It was a match set up by Glenn McGrath’s eight wickets, while all of the batsmen contributed.
Mark Taylor’s side then had to settle for a draw in St John’s, with rain impacting the Test and Courtney Walsh ripping through with nine wickets for the contest.
That led into the third Test at the Port of Spain where it was Curtly Ambrose’s turn to take nine wickets, reducing Australia to rubble with scores of just 128 and 105 possible on a pitch which was simply no fun to bat on.
Despite that, Steve Waugh managed half of Australia’s runs in the first innings, making 63 not out and it would set the tone for the eventual series win to the Aussies as the teams traveled to Kingston.
The future captain’s double hundred in the first innings set Australia up for a lead of more than 200 after the West Indies had been knocked over for 265, and there was simply no looking back as Australia claimed a famous 2-1 victory.
Australia have potentially never entered an Ashes series as unfancied as they were in 1989.
They had lost 11 of their past 13 Test series, including the last two Ashes series. England mightn’t have been in great form, but the home fans still expected them to roll over Australia like they weren’t even there.
The Aussies kicked off the series by piling on 601 for 7 declared at Leeds on the back of 177 not out from a young Steve Waugh, and 136 from Mark Taylor, while captain Allan Border made 66.
It set the tone for the entire series, with Australia going on to win the Test by 210 runs, rolling England for scores of 430 and 191 as Terry Alderman proved his worth with the swinging ball, taking five wickets in each innings.
The second Test saw similar carnage as Australia made 528 in pursuit of England’s first innings of just 286, with Merv Hughes the chief destroyer this time, taking 4 for 71.
Waught made another century with the bat for Australia in setting up their 528, and there would be no come back for the hosts, who found themselves 2-0 down in the six-Test series. That quickly became 2-0 down after three Tests as the third in Birmingham became heavily impacted by rain.
A nine-wicket victory in the fourth Test for Australia would rubber stamp the series win, before they humiliated the home side in Nottingham, piling on 602 as Geoff Marsh made 138 and Mark Taylor 210. That preceded England’s 255, with Alderman taking five, before a follow on was enforced and England were subject to the same medicine again, being knocked over for 167.
The final Test might have been a draw, but Australia cruised through a series they were supposed to lose.
This may well never be beaten when it comes to achievements with the red ball by the Australian cricket team.
If the drought to Pakistan was a long one, then this was just about unbearable. Australia had last won a series in India during the 1969 campaign, with India winning series after series in the gap between.
Australia’s best chance to break the drought appeared to be in the earlier 2001 tour, but even Steve Waugh's incredible team couldn’t break down that barrier despite a ten wicket victory in the opening match of the series and having the ability to enforce the follow-on in the second before India piled on 657.
2004 looked a tougher challenge when Ricky Ponting went down injured, leaving the side under the control of Adam Gilchrist for the four-Test series of the most challenging cricket imaginable for a touring side.
What followed was simply miraculous, with Australia winning the first and third Test, as well as claiming a draw in the second at Chennai to wrap the series up with a match to spare.
The first in Bengaluru saw the emergence of Michael Clarke, who whacked 151 on Australia’s way to 474, while stand-in captain Gilchrist also scored 104. India were then knocked over for 246, before being set 457 to win, a target they would fall more than 200 short of despite Shane Warne struggling to 2 for 115.
Following the draw in Chennai, it was onto Nagpur for the third Test, a match where Australia again batted first, making 398 on the back of Damien Martyn’s century.
It didn’t appear as if it was an overly incredible score, but the bowlers once again turned up, led by Jason Gillespie’s 5-for, routing India for 185.
There was no recovery for the home side from there, eventually set 543 for victory as Simon Katich and Damien Martyn both made scores in the 90, India eventually all out for 200.