AUSTRALIAN TRI-SERIES

The 'Commonwealth Bank Series', the current naming rights sponsor of the 'Australian Tri-Series' refers to the international cricket tournament held since 1979 between the home side and two touring teams, in the height of the Australian cricket season, i.e. during the summer months of December, January and February. Between 1979-80 and 1995-96 it was known as the World Series Cup. From 1996-97 to 1999-2000 it was known as the 'Carlton and United Series'. In 2000-01 it was known as the 'Carlton Series'. It was renamed the 'VB Series' between 2001-02 and 2005-06, and renamed to the 'Commonwealth Bank Series' for the 2006-07 series. The name comes from the Australian bank Commonwealth Bank, who sponsors the competition.
For the past ten seasons, the tournament has been held as a series of one-day internationals between three teams, where the top two qualify for the finals, and so was the 2005–06 instalment. The concept of a three-team international series (known as a ''tri-series'') in cricket originated with the World Series Cricket program sponsored by Kerry Packer, and the first two tri-series between Australia, West Indies and a World XI have never been awarded official one-day international status.
However, from 1979–80 onwards, the tournament has been official, and it has featured under various names and various formats during this time, such as the ''Benson and Hedges World Series Cup'' or ''Carlton and United Series''. A rename to ''VB Series'' was agreed to in a five-year contract in 2001–02, though the company who sponsors the tournament, Carlton & United Beverages, remains the same.
Whilst Carlton and United Beverages/Foster's Group remains one of Cricket Australia's primary commercial partners, the company has decided to no longer be the naming rights sponsor of the One Day International Triangular Series, as of season 2006/2007. The series has been renamed the Commonwealth Bank Series as of season 2006/2007, as the Commonwealth Bank have signed a new three-year deal to sponsor the series, as well as the Australian one-day team in all matches within Australia.
VB is a secondary sponsor of the 2007 series which ties in with the 'Boonanza' promotion featuring David Boon.

Contents

Tournament results

Notes and references

External links

Tournament results

This list covers the results of the era during the rebranding of the series between 'Carlton and United', the 'Carlton Series', the 'VB Series' and the current 'Commonwealth Bank Series'.

Season	Winner	Runner-up	Third place	Most Runs	Most Wickets
1996–97[1]	Pakistan	West Indies West Indies	Australia	Brian Lara WI 424	Shane Warne AUS 19
1997–98[2]	Australia	South Africa	New Zealand	Ricky Ponting AUS 462	Allan Donald SAf 17
1998–99[3]	Australia	England	Sri Lanka	Mark Waugh AUS 542	Glenn McGrath AUS 27
1999–2000 [4]	Australia	Pakistan	India	Ricky Ponting AUS 404	Glenn McGrath AUS 19
2000–01 [5]	Australia		West Indies West Indies	Mark Waugh AUS 542	Shane Warne AUS 19
2001–02 [6]	South Africa	New Zealand	Australia	Jonty Rhodes SA 345	Shane Bond NZ 21
2002–03 [7]	Australia	England	Sri Lanka	Nick Knight ENG 461	Brett Lee AUS 18
2003–04 [8]	Australia	India	Zimbabwe	Adam Gilchrist AUS 498	Irfan Pathan IND 16
2004–05 [9]	Australia	Pakistan	West Indies West Indies	Michael Clarke AUS 411	Brett Lee AUS 16
2005–06 [10]	Australia	Sri Lanka	South Africa	Kumar Sangakkara SL 469	Nathan Bracken AUS 17
2006-07 [11]	England	Australia	New Zealand	Ricky Ponting AUS 445	Glenn McGrath AUS 13

Notes and references

1. Carlton and United Series 1996/97 from CricketArchive, URL accessed 17 January 2006
2. Carlton and United Series 1997/98 from CricketArchive, URL accessed 17 January 2006
3. Carlton and United Series 1998/99 from CricketArchive, URL accessed 17 January 2006
4. Carlton and United Series 1999/00 from CricketArchive, URL accessed 17 January 2006
5. Carlton Series 2000/01 from CricketArchive, URL accessed 17 January 2006
6. VB Series 2001/02 from CricketArchive, URL accessed 17 January 2006
7. VB Series 2002/03 from CricketArchive, URL accessed 17 January 2006
8. VB Series 2003/04 from CricketArchive, URL accessed 17 January 2006
9. VB Series 2004/05 from CricketArchive, URL accessed 17 January 2006
10. VB Series 2005/06 from CricketArchive, URL accessed 2 November 2006
11. Commonwealth Bank Series 2006/07 from CricketArchive, URL accessed 11 January 2006-07

External links

★ Commonwealth Bank Cricket Series 2006-07 in Australia

★ Inside Cricket Australia - Commercial Partners

★ One-Day International Matches played on Melbourne Cricket Ground

★ A history of the VB Series - Cricinfo

★ Commonwealth Bank Series Results Summary - SportsAustralia.com