Beach Cricket Tri-Nations series
Encyclopedia
Beach cricket
Backyard cricket, street cricket, beach cricket, gully cricket, corridor cricket, deef or garden cricket is an informal ad hoc variant of the game of cricket, played by people of both sexes and all ages in gardens, back yards, on the street, in parks, carparks, beaches or any deef arena not...
competition created and sponsored by Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n beer brand XXXX
XXXX
XXXX is a brand of Australian beer brewed in Milton, Brisbane by Queensland brewers, Castlemaine Perkins. It enjoys wide popularity in the state of Queensland, where it is commonly found on-tap in pubs and bars....
. It was launched on 27 September 2006, and the event coincided with the 2006-07 Ashes series
2006-07 Ashes series
The 2006–07 cricket series between Australia and England for the Ashes was played in Australia from 23 November 2006 to 5 January 2007. Australia won the series and regained the Ashes that had been lost to England in the 2005 Ashes series...
being played in Australia with the first series being played in January 2007.
The first series involved cricketing legends from Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and the West Indies. It was won by England, who beat Australia in the Grand Final on 4 February 2007. Due to the popularity to the initial series, a new 2008 series was held with teams from Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
competing, which also saw the addition of Glenelg Beach
Glenelg, South Australia
Glenelg is a popular beach-side suburb of the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Located on the shore of Holdfast Bay in Gulf St Vincent, it has become a popular tourist destination due to its beach and many attractions, home to several hotels and dozens of restaurants.Established in 1836, it is...
in Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
included in the schedule alongside the existing locations of Maroubra Beach in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Scarborough Beach
Scarborough, Western Australia
Scarborough is a coastal suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located approximately 14 km northwest of the city centre in the local government area of the City of Stirling...
in Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
and Coolangatta Beach on the Gold Coast
Gold Coast, Queensland
Gold Coast is a coastal city of Australia located in South East Queensland, 94km south of the state capital Brisbane. With a population approximately 540,000 in 2010, it is the second most populous city in the state, the sixth most populous city in the country, and also the most populous...
.
2009 saw the series reduced to just one location, Coolangatta Beach. The series did not return in 2010.
Rules
The series incorporated rules that are a hybrid of the regular game and that of indoor cricketIndoor cricket
Indoor cricket is a variant of and shares many basic concepts with cricket. The game is most often played between two teams each consisting of eight players, in matches featuring two innings of sixteen 7-ball overs each...
. As with the regular game boundaries score 6 runs if hit over the perimeter, and 4 if the ball hits the ground before passing or touching the perimeter.
There are eight overs in an innings, with the final two overs declared "Captain's Choice" in which each sides captain is allowed to field the batsmen and bowlers of their own choosing. For the first six overs batsmen and bowlers are swapped out every two overs.
When a batsman is dismissed, he keeps batting — however, he loses runs. A score is decreased by 5 runs when the batsman has been dismissed by two-handed catch, and by 7 runs with a one-handed catch. It is possible to score into negative numbers.
A batsman cannot be dismissed LBW if he plays a shot.
The series uses a plastic drop-in pitch to allow the ball to bounce, and batting and bowling only take place facing one direction. The Coolangatta arena initially featured an open boundary along the surf, allowing fielding to be possible in the water; however this was later removed due to crowd control concerns.
2007 series
Finals played in Maroubra, New South WalesMaroubra, New South Wales
Maroubra is a beachside suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Maroubra is located 10 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Randwick. Maroubra is the largest suburb in the area governed...
, on Sunday, 4 February 2007:
- England v Australia — won by England
2008 series
Leader board| Team | Played | Won | Lost | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 New Zealand |
11 | 7 | 4 | 17 |
 England |
10 | 5 | 5 | 13 |
 Australia |
9 | 3 | 6 | 6 |
Finals played in Coolangatta, Queensland
Coolangatta, Queensland
Coolangatta is the southernmost suburb of the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It has a population of 4,869 and is named after the schooner Coolangatta which was wrecked there in 1846....
, on Sunday, 20 January 2008:
- New Zealand 3/88 v England 6/63
2009 series
| Team | Played | Won | Lost | Bonus | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Zealand |
8 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 16 |
 South Africa |
7 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 8 |
| Australia |
9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
Records
Minimum of 8 overs.Team
- Highest winning score; England 1/153 v Australia at Scarborough, 2008 (Round 1).
- Highest losing score; Australia 0/126 v England at Scarborough, 2008 (Round 1).
- Lowest winning score; West Indies v England ?/41 at Coolangatta, 2007 (Round 1).
- Lowest losing score; Australia v South Africa 6/22 at Coolangatta, 2009 (Round 2 Final).
- Most wins in a row; New Zealand 7 from 2008 (Round 3 Final) to 2009 (Round 1 Final).
- Most losses in a row; Australia 5 from 2007 (Round 3 Final) to 2008 (Round 2 - Game 1).
Individual
- Most runs (innings); Graeme Hick 81(57 & 24*) v Australia at Scarborough, 2008 (Round 1)
- Most runs (over); Graham Gooch 36 (6 6 6 6 6 6) v New Zealand at Coolangatta, 2008 (Round 4)
Trophies
Winners of the round robin competition receive a beer glass, while the runners-up receive a can of XXXX Gold beer. Winners of the finals are presented with a beer glass mounted on a wooden stand. In 2009 the trophies were:- Round 1 — Dennis LilleeDennis LilleeDennis Keith Lillee, AM, MBE is a former Australian cricketer rated as the "outstanding fast bowler of his generation"...
Trophy - Round 2 — Jeff ThomsonJeff ThomsonJeffrey Robert Thomson is a former Australian cricketer. Known as "Thommo", he was one of the fastest bowlers ever to play Test cricket and was the opening partner of fellow fast bowler Dennis Lillee; their combination was one of the most fearsome in Test cricket history...
Trophy - Round 3 — McGrath FoundationMcGrath FoundationThe McGrath Foundation is a breast cancer support and education charity in Australia, funding McGrath Breast Care Nurses in communities across Australia as well as educating young women to be breast-aware...
Trophy
Promotions & Marketing
For the 2008 series, XXXX was giving away free XXXX GOLD Beach Cricket Aussie Team Shirts as part of sales of promotional cartons of XXXX GOLD. Television commercials were aired starring some of the Beach Cricket legends.Network Ten
Network Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...
is the host broadcaster of the matches.
Entertainment
Throughout the matches the players are miked up so both fans at the game and at home watching the televised match can hear the players talking. Also music is played throughout the day whilst the matches were being played.When the players were fielding around the boundary, they take time out to sign autographs for fans situated around the boundary.
In between the matches there are performances on field, by the female cheerleading squad XXXX Angels. Also XXXX promotional staff hand out giveaways including XXXX Gold bucket hat
Bucket hat
A bucket hat, or fishing hat, is a soft cotton hat with a wide and downwards sloping brim which is worn by both men and women. The brim offers shade from the sun for the eyes and face. The hat is usually made from heavy-duty cotton fabric such as denim or canvas...
s, beach cricket balls and other promo items.
Controversy
XXXX's sponsorship of the series caused a number of controversies with Cricket AustraliaCricket Australia
Cricket Australia, formerly known as the Australian Cricket Board, is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in Australia. It was originally formed in 1905 as the Australian Board of Control for International Cricket...
, which is sponsored by another beer brand, VB
Victoria Bitter
Victoria Bitter is one of the many iconic beers manufactured in the Australian state of Victoria. VB currently maintains the highest market share of all beer sold in Australia, both on tap and packaged...
from Carlton & United Beverages
Carlton & United Beverages
Carlton & United Breweries is an Australian brewing company based in Abbotsford, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. In 1983 it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Elders IXL and CUB was delisted. In 1990, Elders IXL renamed to the Foster's Group, and in July 2004, CUB changed its name to Carlton and...
.
The Gabba
Brisbane Cricket Ground
The Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as The Gabba, is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland. It is named after the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located....
was forced to remove XXXX billboards promoting the series from the ground after the organisation threatened to take away the ground's rights to host future international matches. Cricket Australia claimed that XXXX's billboards were a form of "ambush marketing
Ambush marketing
Ambush marketing can be defined as a marketing strategy wherein the advertisers associate themselves with, and therefore capitalize on, a particular event without paying any sponsorship fee. The Macmillan English Dictionary defines ambush marketing as a marketing strategy in which a competing...
".
Allan Border was also forced to resign as a national selector for taking part in the series against Foster's Group
Foster's Group
Foster's Group is a beer group with interests in brewing and soft drinks. Foster's Group is the brewer of the Foster's Lager. Foster's Group Limited is a publicly-listed company on the Australian Securities Exchange and is based in Melbourne, Victoria...
wishes.