# Rest of the World cricket team in Australia in 1971–72

A World XI cricket team, which was a multi-national captained by Gary Sobers, toured Australia in the 1971–72 season. It replaced the proposed Test tour by South Africa which the Australian Cricket Board had cancelled in 1971. This meant that South Africa would not tour Australia for a test series again until the 1993–94 season.
World XI played 16 matches between early November 1971 and early February 1972. There were five matches against Australia which were regarded as official test matches in Wisden however the status was later withdrawn. World XI won this series 2–1. The team also played three limited overs internationals against Australia and the remaining games were first-class fixtures against Australian invitational and state teams.
After this series, World XI would not play in Australia again until World Series Cricket in the late 1970s.

## The team

The World XI cricket team which played in Australia in 1971–72 Players of various nations made up the team;
| Player | Date of Birth | Batting style | Bowling style | Nation/Region |
| Gary Sobers (c) | 28 July 1936 | Left handed | Left-arm fast medium | Barbados West Indies |
| Zaheer Abbas | 24 July 1947 | Right-handed | Right-arm offbreak | Pakistan |
| Hylton Ackerman | 28 April 1947 | Left-handed | Right-arm medium | South Africa |
| Intikhab Alam | 28 December 1941 | Right-handed | Right arm leg break | Pakistan |
| Bishan Bedi | 25 September 1946 | Right-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | India |
| Robert Cunis | 5 January 1941 | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | New Zealand |
| Farokh Engineer | 25 February 1938 | Right-handed | Wicket-keeper | India |
| Sunil Gavaskar | 10 July 1949 | Right-handed | – | India |
| Norman Gifford | 30 March 1940 | Left-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | England |
| Tony Greig | 6 October 1946 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | England |
| Richard Hutton | 6 September 1942 | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | England |
| Rohan Kanhai | 26 December 1935 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | Guyana West Indies |
| Clive Lloyd | 31 August 1944 | Left-handed | Right-arm medium | Guyana West Indies |
| Asif Masood | 23 January 1946 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | Pakistan |
| Graeme Pollock | 27 February 1944 | Left-handed | Leg break | South Africa |
| Peter Pollock | 30 June 1941 | Right-handed | Right-arm fast | South Africa |
| Robert Taylor | 17 July 1941 | Right-handed | Wicket-keeper | England |

## "Test" series summary
### First match

* 26 November–1 December 1971 (5–day match) Scorecard
* Match drawn Brisbane Cricket Ground, Woolloongabba, Brisbane Umpires: TF Brooks and LP Rowan
* World XI won the toss and elected to field.
* 29 November was taken as a rest day.
* There was no play on the second day.
* BC Francis made his first-class debut for Australia.

### Second match

* 10–12 December 1971 (5–day match) Scorecard
* Australia won by an innings and 11 runs WACA Ground, Perth Umpires: LP Rowan and NE Townsend
* Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
* The match was scheduled for five days but completed in three.

### Third match

* 1–6 January 1972 (5–day match) Scorecard
* World XI won by 96 runs Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Umpires: JR Collins and MG O'Connell
* World XI won the toss and elected to bat.
* 4 January was taken as a rest day.
* J Benaud and RAL Massie made their first-class debuts for Australia.

### Fourth match

* 8–13 January 1972 (5–day match) Scorecard
* Match drawn Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney Umpires: TF Brooks and PR Enright
* Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
* 11 January was taken as a rest day.
* There was no play on the final day.

### Fifth match

* 28 January–1 February 1972 (5–day match) Scorecard
* World XI won by 9 wickets Adelaide Oval, Adelaide Umpires: TF Brooks and LP Rowan
* Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
* 30 January was taken as a rest day.
* The match was scheduled for five days but completed in four.
* AJ Woodcock made his first-class debut for Australia.

## Matches

| No. | Date | Opponents | Fixture | Venue | City | Result |
| 1 | 5–8 November | Victoria | Tour match | MCG | Melbourne | Drawn |
| 2 | 12–15 November | New South Wales | Tour match | SCG | Sydney | Drawn |
| 3 | 19–22 November | Queensland | Tour match | The Gabba | Brisbane | Won by 38 runs |
| 4 | 26 November–1 December | Australia | 1st "Test match" | The Gabba | Brisbane | Drawn |
| 5 | 4–7 December | Western Australia | Tour Match | WACA Ground | Perth | Won by 72 runs |
| 6 | 10–12 December | Australia | 2nd "Test match" | WACA Ground | Perth | Lost by an innings and 11 runs |
| | 12 December | Australia | Fill-up match | WACA Ground | Perth | Won by 14 runs |
| | 14 December | Australia | 1st "ODI" | WACA Ground | Perth | Won by 44 runs |
| 7 | 17–18 December | South Australia | Tour match | Adelaide Oval | Adelaide | Lost by an innings and 1 run |
| 8 | 22–24 December | Tasmania | Tour match | NTCA Ground | Launceston | Won by 8 wickets |
| 9 | 26–28 December | Tasmania Combined XI | Tour match | TCA Ground | Hobart | Drawn |
| 10 | 1–6 January | Australia | 3rd "Test match" | MCG | Melbourne | Won by 96 runs |
| 11 | 8–13 January | Australia | 4th "Test match" | SCG | Sydney | Drawn |
| | 15 January | Australia | 2nd "ODI" | SCG | Sydney | Abandoned due to rain |
| | 16 January | Australia | 3rd "ODI" | MCG | Melbourne | Lost by ten wickets |
| | 16 January | Australia | Fill-up match | MCG | [[Melbourne | Lost by 6 runs |
| | 18–19 January | Southern New South Wales | Tour match | Manuka Oval | Canberra | Drawn |
| | 22–24 January | Northern New South Wales | Tour match | No. 1 Sports Ground | Newcastle | Drawn |
| 12 | 28 January–1 February | Australia | 5th "Test" | Adelaide Oval | Adelaide | Won by nine wickets |