Five Tri-Series which you might have forgotten about

5 - Triangular Test series, 1912 ( England, South Africa, Australia)

The idea of Triangular Test Series was shelved after the 1912 experiment

In the same year that the Titanic sunk to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, the idea of triangular Test series suffered a similar ordeal. Poor weather conditions in England and a weakened Australian team did no favour to the novel idea of triangular Test series. The experiment was not repeated until the year 1999.

In the 1909 meeting of the Imperial Cricket Council, the idea of a tri-series involving all the three Test-playing nations was floated. In 1912, England invited Australia and South Africa in a series containing six Test matches.

The notable absence of Australian heroes like Victor Trumper and Clem Hill made the team unpopular. The crowd displayed a very little interest in turning up for the neutral matches between Australia and South Africa.

The series was won by the hosts England, who won four out of the six Test matches while Australia finished second. The most memorable incident from the tournament was Australian bowler Jimmy Matthews taking two hat-tricks in two innings of the same match on the same day. The record still stands.

A similar tournament was played between India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka in 1999 and 2001-02 known as the ‘Asian Test Championship’ but it also failed to get the desired viewership.