World Baseball Classic

Australia has competed in all four editions of the World Baseball Classic. All sixteen teams that played in the 2006 edition were invited to compete in the second in 2009.^[12] By virtue of their third-place finish in their first-round pool, Australia qualified compete at the 2013 edition of the WBC.;^[13] however, they were eliminated with an 0–3 record and finished in last place overall.

Australia, which has not progressed beyond the first round of competition, achieved its highest finish, 9th, in the 2017 tournament. Unusual for international competition in baseball, the squads selected in the World Baseball Classic tournaments featured players active in Major League Baseball in addition to Minor League, Nippon Professional Baseball and local players. Generally players in the Major Leagues are unavailable for international representative teams due to their contracts with the respective clubs.^[14]

World Baseball Classic record								Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	W	L	RS	RA		W	L	RS	RA
2006	Round 1	13th	0	3	4	18		No qualifiers held
2009	Round 1	12th	1	2	22	28		No qualifiers held
2013	Round 1	16th	0	3	2	14		Automatically qualified
2017	Round 1	9th	1	2	15	8		3	0	27	7
2023	Quarterfinals	7th	3	2	32	23		Automatically qualified
Total	Quarterfinals	5/5	5	12	75	91		3	0	27	7

Australian World Baseball Classic Record by opponent
Opponent	Tournaments met	W-L record	Largest victory		Largest defeat		Current streak
			Score	Tournament	Score	Tournament
China	2	2–0	11–0 (F/8)	Japan 2017	–		W2
Chinese Taipei	1	0–1	–		4–1	Taiwan 2013	L1
Cuba	3	0–3	–		4–3	Japan 2017 & 2023	L3
Czech Republic	1	1–0	8–3	Japan 2023	–		W1
Dominican Republic	1	0–1	–		6–4	United States 2006	L1
Italy	1	0–1	–		10–0 (F/7)	United States 2006	L1
Japan	2	0–2	–		7–1	Japan 2023	L2
Mexico	1	1–1	17–7 (F/8)	Mexico 2009	16–1 (F/6)	Mexico 2009	L1
Netherlands	1	0–1	–		4–1	Taiwan 2013	L1
South Korea	2	1–1	8–7	Japan 2023	6–0	Taiwan 2013	W1
Venezuela	1	0–1	–		2–0	United States 2006	L1
Overall	5	5–12	Against  CHN		Against  MEX		L1
			11–0 (F/8)	Japan 2017	16–1 (F/6)	Mexico 2009

United States, 2006

See also: 2006 World Baseball Classic and 2006 WBC Australian roster

Prior to formally starting their campaign, Australia played an exhibition game, which they lost, against a Boston Red Sox squad at City of Palms Park in Fort Myers, Florida.^[15] This was also the site of their training camp.^[16]

Australia competed in Pool D—along with Dominican Republic, Italy and Venezuela—in the first round at Cracker Jack Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The other three teams were able to field a large number of Major League players. Of players born outside the United States on 2006 Major League Opening Day rosters, the Dominican Republic (85) and Venezuela (43) had more than all other countries and between them accounted for more than 57% of foreign-born players in the leagues.^[17] Italy is among the top nations in Europe and had access to Italian-American players under the eligibility rules for the tournament. Thus, Australia was considered the underdog in the pool.^[18]

Having failed to win any of their round-robin pool games, they finished last in their pool, and were eliminated with Canada, China, Chinese Taipei, Italy, Netherlands, Panama and South Africa. The eventual champions were Japan.^[19]

2006 WBC Results

7 March 1st Round, Pool D – Game 2	Italy	10–0 (F/7)	Australia Australia	United States Cracker Jack Stadium Attendance: 8,099
		Boxscore

9 March 1st Round, Pool D – Game 5	Australia Australia	0–2	Venezuela	United States Cracker Jack Stadium Attendance: 10,111
		Boxscore

10 March 1st Round, Pool D – Game 6	Dominican Republic	6–4	Australia Australia	United States Cracker Jack Stadium Attendance: 11,083
		Boxscore

Mexico, 2009

See also: 2009 World Baseball Classic and 2009 WBC Australian roster

Australia was based in Peoria, Arizona—the site of the Seattle Mariners spring training camp—for their preparation for the formal start of their 2009 campaign. Unlike 2006, in which they had one exhibition game, they competed against three different Major League clubs: the Seattle Mariners, the Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago White Sox.^[20] Their game against Seattle was Ken Griffey Jr.'s first game playing for the Mariners since October 1999,^[21] and was also their first victory as part of a World Baseball Classic tour.

Australia was drawn in Pool B for the 2009 tournament, along with Cuba, Mexico and South Africa, competing at Foro Sol Stadium in Mexico City.^[22] After beating Mexico in their opening game,^[23] they lost their next two games to Cuba^[24] and Mexico,^[25] and were eliminated from the tournament.^[26] The Australians set a WBC record against Mexico: 22 hits in a single game is more than any other team has achieved in either tournament.^[27]

2009 WBC Results

8 March 1st Round, Pool B – Game 2	Mexico	7–17 (F/8)	Australia Australia	Mexico Foro Sol Attendance: 20,821
		Boxscore

10 March 1st Round, Pool B – Game 4	Australia Australia	4–5	Cuba	Mexico Foro Sol Attendance: 13,396
		Boxscore

11 March 1st Round, Pool B – Game 5	Australia Australia	1–16 (F/6)	Mexico	Mexico Foro Sol Attendance: 16,718
		Boxscore

Taiwan, 2013

See also: 2013 World Baseball Classic

In June 2011, it was announced that the field for the 2013 WBC would be expanded to include an additional 12 teams and that a qualifying round would be several months prior to the main tournament. The qualifying tournament involved the 12 newly invited teams, as well as the four lowest-placed teams from the 2009 tournament; all teams who did not win a game. The qualifying tournament broke the teams into four pools of four teams each, which competed in a six-game, modified double-elimination format, similar to the first round of the 2009 tournament, with the winners of the sixth game in each pool proceeding to the main tournament. Australia, having finished 12th after beating Mexico in their first game in 2009, automatically qualified for the main tournament.^[13]

The main tournament combined elements of both previous WBC editions. The first round was split all teams into four pools, where the teams competed in a round-robin, as was the case in the 2006 tournament. The second round used the same modified double-elimination format as used in the 2009 tournament and the 2013 qualifying tournament. The final round was contested in the same manner as both previous tournaments: the top two teams from each group in the second round qualifying for the two semi-final matches, the winners of which played in the championship game.^[28]

Australia was drawn into Pool B, which was held at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in Taiwan. In their opener, they fell to host and qualifiers Chinese Taipei, 4–1. They followed up with a 6–0 loss to South Korea before finishing with a 4–1 defeat to the Netherlands.

2013 WBC Results

Pool B Game 1

2 March 12:30 (UTC+08:00) at Taiwan Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Australia Australia	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	5	0
Chinese Taipei	1	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	X	4	10	0
WP: Wang Chien-Ming (1–0)   LP: Chris Oxspring (0–1)   Sv: Chen Hung-Wen (1) Home runs: Australia: Stefan Welch (1) TPE: Peng Cheng-Min (1) Attendance: 20,035

Game 4

4 March 18:30 (UTC+08:00) at Taiwan Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
South Korea										–	–	–
Australia Australia										–	–	–

Game 5

5 March 12:30 (UTC+08:00) at Taiwan Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Australia Australia										–	–	–
Netherlands										–	–	–

Australia roster - 2013 World Baseball Classic
Final roster[29]				Provisional roster[30]		Coaching staff
Pitchers Right-handed pitchers 23 Timothy Kennelly    Shane Lindsay 35 Chris Oxspring  6 Andrew Russell † 38 Dushan Ruzic † 30 Warwick Saupold * 33 Ryan Searle 19 Matthew Williams † 28 Brendan Wise Left-handed pitchers 10 Adam Bright 25 Steven Kent † 18 Ryan Rowland-Smith † 44 Clayton Tanner † 36 Brad Thomas		Catchers 11 Allan de San Miguel †  7 Matthew Kennelly Infielders  9 James Beresford 12 Brad Harman 20 Luke Hughes  3 Mike Walker * 22 Stefan Welch Outfielders  5 Corey Adamson * 17 Mitch Dening † 26 Justin Huber 34 David Kandilas †    Josh Roberts * 14 Chris Snelling Utility players  4 Josh Davies †		58 Peter Moylan		Manager Jon Deeble Coaches Philip Dale (Pitching coach) Glenn Williams (Hitting coach) Michael Collins (Assistant coach) Tony Harris (Assistant coach) Graeme Lloyd (Assistant coach) Greg Jelks (Assistant coach)

* – Player has not played for Australia in international competition prior to 2013 WBC

† – Player did not play for Australia in WBC prior to 2013

Olympic Games

Australia was the third nation, after the United States and Sweden,^[31] to participate in baseball at the Summer Olympics, making their first appearance at the 1956 Games in Melbourne, and again as part of its demonstration at the 1988 Games in Seoul. Though the sport has applied for re-admission for 2016, baseball is no longer contested as a medal event at the Olympics.^[32]

Since baseball was first included as a medal sport at the 1992 Games in Barcelona,^[33] Australia has participated in three of the five tournaments. The best result achieved was in the 2004 Games in Athens, where Australia lost the gold medal match to Cuba to receive silver.^[34] Their medal tally puts them at 5th, equal to Chinese Taipei.^{[Oly 1]}

Australia did not send a team to the 2021 Olympic qualifiers.

Summer Olympics record								Qualification
Year	Round	Position	W	L	RS	RA
1988	Preliminary	5th (tie)	1	2	10	20
1992	did not qualify
1996	Preliminary	7th	2	5	47	86		Winner a playoff between the African Champion and Oceania Champion
2000	Preliminary	7th	2	5	30	41		Host
2004	Finals	2nd	5	4	52	36		Winner of Oceania Champion versus Africa Champion qualifying match
2008	did not qualify							Finished 5th out of 3 possible spots at the Final qualifying tournament
2020	did not qualify							Withdrew from the Final qualifying tournament
Total [lower-alpha 1]	Finals	3/6	9	14	129	163

World Cup

Australia has participated in ten of the IBAF World Cup tournaments. To date its best result has been 5th, which Australia has achieved twice in both of the most recent tournaments held—2009^[36] and 2011.^[37] At the 2007 tournament, Trent Oeltjen became the first Australian player to be named in a World Cup All Star team,^[38] in recognition of his tournament-leading hitting and base-running statistics. Australia is currently participating in the 2011 tournament in Panama.^[39][40]

Until 1986, the World Cup was actually referred to as the "Amateur World Series". The Amateur World Series only made use of round-robin fixtures, with teams ranked at the end of the tournament. Australia's first appearance was in Italy in 1978. Out of the ten teams to compete, Australia finished 9th ahead of the other debuting team, Belgium.^[41]

Since the 1988 tournament, it has held the "World Cup" name, with the IBAF recognising the past Amateur World Series winners as World Cup winners. With the change of name came a change in format for the tournament: a round-robin phase, followed by a knockout phase for the top four teams. (Later tournaments would see two pools used in the first phase, and an expanded knockout phase including the top four teams from each pool.) In the "World Cup Era", Australia has reached the final phase four times, finishing 7th in 1998,^[42] 6th in 2007^[43] and most recently 5th in 2009 and 2011.^[36][37]

Baseball World Cup record								Qualification record
Year	Round	Position	W	L	RS	RA		W	L	RS	RA
1938 to 1976	Did not participate							Did not participate
1978	–	9th	–	–	–	–		No qualifiers held
1980	–	7th	4	7	–	–		No qualifiers held
1982	–	9th	2	7	–	–		No qualifiers held
1984 to 1990	Did not participate							Did not participate
1994	First round	9th	3	4	54	47		Oceanian qualifier
1998	Quarterfinals	7th	6	4	71	54		Oceanian qualifier
2001	First round	10th	3	4	24	32		Oceanian qualifier
2003	Did not qualify							Did not qualify
2005	First round	10th	4	4	41	26		Oceanian qualifier
2007	Quarterfinals	6th	7	3	61	29		Oceanian qualifier
2009	Third round	5th	9	6	96	64		Oceanian qualifier
2011	Third round	5th	7	5	56	57		Oceanian qualifier
Total	Quarterfinals	10/39	45	44	403	309		–	–	–	–

Premier12 Tournament

Intercontinental Cup

Australia is one of five nations to have won the Intercontinental Cup, winning the 1999 tournament by beating Cuba 4–3 in extra innings in front of a home crowd in Sydney.^[45] It was the first time Australia had won an international baseball tournament, and through 2009 the only win outside of the Oceania Baseball Championship. The team enjoyed several individual successes as well:^[46]

• Dave Nilsson named tournament MVP, to go along with leading the tournament for runs batted in (12) and being named in the tournament all-star team (as catcher)
• Shayne Bennett led the tournament pitching with the best win–loss record (3–0)
• Adam Burton led the tournament batting with the most runs scored (9)
• Michael Moyle shared the lead in the tournament with Oscar Macias (Cuba), with the most home runs (3)
• two other Australians were selected along with Dave Nilsson in the all-star team: Adrian Meagher (right-handed pitcher) and Michael Moyle (designated hitter)

It was only the third time Cuba had been beaten in the gold medal match in the tournament's history, having reached the tournament decider every time they have participated. Australia also shares another honour with Cuba: of the nine nations to have hosted the tournament, only Australia and Cuba have won as hosts, combining for five tournament wins from five times hosted. (Cuba in 1979, 1987, 1995 and 2002, Australia in 1999.)^[47]

Australia first participated in the tournament at the 1981 Intercontinental Cup, managing only one win out of their seven games, finishing 8th.^[48] Missing the 1983 Intercontinental Cup, they returned in 1985 to repeat their previous performance: 1 win, 8th-place finish.^[49] They would not reappear at the tournament until 1993 where they improved to a 5–4 record to finish in 6th position.^[50] Australia's first medal performance at the Intercontinental Cup (and their first medal at a world tournament) was at the 1997 tournament. In their best performance through the preliminary round, they put together a 6–1 record losing only to eventual silver-medalists Cuba, and beating eventual gold-medalists Japan. They lost to Japan in the semi-final, but beat the United States for the second time in the tournament to secure the bronze.^[51]

Australia also competed in the most recent tournament in 2006. There they finished in 5th position, compiling a 3–4 record. This is likely to be the last edition of the tournament for the foreseeable future.^[2]

Asian Baseball Championship

Australia is one of thirteen nations to have participated in the Asian Baseball Championship since the tournament was first held in 1954. The last time they contested the championship was in 1993, as a result of joining the newly formed Baseball Confederation of Oceania. Though their best result was a bronze medal in the 1975, the only teams to consistently finish ahead of Australia were Japan, South Korea and Chinese Taipei—the top three teams in Asia, and all in the top five in the world.^[53]

Oceania Baseball Championship

Though scheduled to participate on three separate occasions, Australia has only contested the Oceania Baseball Championship once in 2003. The two other times, Australia's scheduled opponents—Guam in 2004^[54] and New Zealand in 2007^[55]—withdrew from competition in the lead up to each series, both times scheduled to be held in Sydney. Australia was awarded the championship both times, and as a result represented Oceania at the 2004 Summer Olympics^{[OBC 1]} and at the 2007 Baseball World Cup respectively.

Held during late April 2003, Australia won its first continental championship, beating hosts Guam 12–1, 12–1 and 5–1 to win the best of five series three games to one. (Guam won the third game 8–2.)^[57]