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Australia
Australia
Nation colour	Green/Yellow
SWC Wins	5 ; (1976, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2022)

The Australia national speedway team is one of the leading teams in international motorcycle speedway, with the country regarded as the birthplace of the sport in the 1920s. The team are five times champions of the world having won the sports premier team competition in 1976, 1999, 2001, 2002 and 2022.^[1]

History

The national speedway team held test matches against the England as early as 1928, although the first official test match is listed as 30 June 1930 at Wimbledon Stadium.^[2]

The team won its first Speedway World Team Cup in 1976, with captain John Boulger, Phil Crump, Billy Sanders and Phil Herne.^[3]^[4]^[5] They had to wait over 30 years before winning three tournaments out of four, between 1999 and 2002. Key riders during the period were Jason Crump, Leigh Adams, Ryan Sullivan and Todd Wiltshire, who all took part in three wins, while Jason Lyons rode in two (1999 and 2002) and Craig Boyce rode in 2001.^[6]

The fifth success came in the 2022 Speedway of Nations (the new name for the World Cup) with the squad members being Jack Holder, Max Fricke and Jason Doyle.^[7]

Four times Australian champion Jim Airey is the only Australian rider to win the World Team Cup not riding for Australia. He won the 1971 Speedway World Team Cup in Wrocław, Poland, as part of the Great Britain team.

Major tournament wins

World Team Championships

Year	Venue	Standings (Pts)	Australia Riders and Pts
1976	London White City Stadium	1. Australia (31) 2. Poland (28) 3. Sweden (26) 4. Soviet Union (11)	Phil Crump	11
			Billy Sanders	7
			Phil Herne	7
			John Boulger	6
			Garry Middleton	-
1999	Pardubice Svítkov Stadion	1. Australia (51) 2. Czech Republic (35) 3. USA (29) 4. England (29)	Leigh Adams	14
			Jason Crump	13+1
			Ryan Sullivan	12+3
			Jason Lyons	10+3
			Todd Wiltshire	2+1
2001	Wrocław Olympic Stadium	1. Australia (68) 2. Poland (65) 3. Sweden (51) 4. Denmark (44) 5. USA (30)	Jason Crump	20
			Leigh Adams	16
			Ryan Sullivan	13
			Todd Wiltshire	10
			Craig Boyce	9
2002	Peterborough East of England Showground	1. Australia (64) 2. Denmark (58) 3. Sweden (54) 4. Poland (48) 5. Czech Republic (36)	Leigh Adams	17
			Ryan Sullivan	17
			Jason Crump	14
			Todd Wiltshire	13
			Jason Lyons	3
2022	Vojens Vojens Speedway Center	1. Australia (30) 2. Great Britain (32) 3. Sweden (30) 4. Denmark (28) 5. Czech Republic (27) 6. Poland (26) 7. Finland (16)	Jack Holder	19+4+4
			Max Fricke	11+3+2
			Jason Doyle	res

International caps (as of 2022)

Since the advent of the Speedway Grand Prix era, international caps earned by riders is largely restricted to international competitions, whereas previously test matches between two teams were a regular occurrence. This means that the number of caps earned by a rider has decreased in the modern era.^[8]

Rider	Caps
Adams, Leigh	71
Airey, Jim	36
Allan, Gary*	1
Amundson, Kym	4
Amundson, Robin	1
Arnfield, Jack	1
Arthur, Frank	15
Bainbridge, Junior	9
Baker, Steve	13
Bartlett, Greg	1
Bass, Chris	7
Batchelor, Troy	9
Bear, Stan	4
Benson, Lionel	3
Bentzen, Les	1
Bibby, Jack	4
Biggs, Jack	39
Blackadder, Robbie	4
Blake, Bobby	1
Blight, Ernie	3
Board, Johnny	1
Boulger, John	65
Bowerman, John	1
Bowes, Shane	51
Boyce, Craig	45
Boyle, Tony	1
Bradshaw, Peter	1
Bryden, Bill	10
Butler, Troy	28
Cameron, Ken	3
Carlson, Mark	6
Case, Dick	39
Catlett, Stan	1
Chamberlain, Johnny	6
Chapman, Jack	17
Cheshire David	3
Chessell, Rod	1
Chignell, Jack	5
Clay, Norman	2
Coddington, Neil	8
Collins, Eric	9
Colquhoun, Rod	3
Cox, Keith	5
Cresp, Ray	4
Crump, Jason	51
Crump, Phil	76
Curtis, Geoff	9
Davies, Stephen	27
Day, Ricky	10
Dolan, Frank	8
Doyle, Glenn	20
Duckett, Frank	20
Duggan, Ray	14
Duggan, Vic	30
Dykes, Peter	1
Evans, Ernie	8
Farrell, Mike	12
Fenn, Eric	8
Fiora, Mike	6
Forrest, Wayne	3
Galloway, Billy	1
Gavros, Dennis	3
Geran, Jack	11
Grosskreutz, Max	57
Guasco, Gordon	10
Guglielmi, Gary	14
Gurtner, Keith	23
Hansen, Arnie	3
Harding, Merv	11
Hastings, Harold	1
Henderson, Ron	2
Herne, Phil	41
Hewitt, Les	1
Hibberd, Buzz	1
Hodgson, Craig	8
Holder, Chris	17
Humphreys, Bob	12
Hunter, Alec	3
Hunter, Rod	3
Huxley, Vic	47
Hyland, Jack	2
Hynes, Dave	1
Ingram, Peter	2
Isbel, Clayton	1
Jackson, Dave	4
Johnson, Ron	59
Johnston, Steve	16
Kennedy, Danny	10
Kentwell, Greg	18
Kingston, Bert	9
Koppe, Steve	16
Lamont, Billy	15
Landels, Bill*	8
Langdon, Tony	8
Langfield, John	50
Langton, Steve	2
Lawson, Aub	70
Lawson, Don	4
Le Breton, Ken	12
Leisk, Les	9
Lemon, Mark	8
Leverenz, Bob	10
Levy, Lionel	16
Lewis, Harry	1
Lindsay, Norman	1
Little, Wally	13
Loakes, Bryan	7
Longley, Bill	39
Lyons, Jason	35
MacDonald, Kevin	1
McCallum, Bruce	1
McDonald, Glenn	5
McGowan, Travis	2
McKean, Dudley	2
McKeown, Mick	11
McLachlan,Doug	2
Maxfield, Rob	1
Melluish, Bill	2
Menzies, Andy	6
Middleton, Garry	1
Mills, Dave	1
Mitchell, Clem	29
Mitchell, Lindsay	2
Monk, Charlie	26
Moore, Peter	22
Moore, Ronnie	13
Mountford, Stuart	3
Mudge, Geoff	10
Murphy, Mick	7
Murray, Ken	2
Norman, Scott	2
Nunan, Tim	2
O'Brien, Trevor	1
Parker, Shane	20
Payne, Arthur	18
Pearce, Frank	8
Poole, Mick	22
Prettjohn, Dave	2
Proctor, Ty	3
Quinn, Allan	1
Regeling, Steve	28
Reinke, Steve	16
Rivett, Alan*	9
Rogers, Bill	13
Ryan, Buck	6
Ryman, Jim	2
Sanders, Billy	67
Sansom, Lou	3
Sawyer, Les	1
Schlam, Sig	1
Schlein, Rory	10
Scott, Jack	7
Sedgmen, Justin	1
Seers, Dick	1
Sharp, Jack	14
Sharp, Bob	13
Sharpe, Les	8
Shields, Adam	6
Shields, Dave	1
Shirra, Mitch*	2
Smythe, Dick	10
Spencer, Bert	6
Spinks, Charlie	26
Stewart Col	1
Stewart, Len	1
Street, Neil	9
Sullivan, Ryan	33
Sulway, Dick	3
Taylor, Alby	2
Taylor, Chum	28
Taylor, Glyn	8
Taylor, Ray	4
Thompson, Peter	6
Titman, John	61
Torpie, Kevin	14
Tremmeling, Nigel	1
Tulloch, Terry	2
Underwood, Doug	2
Valentine, Bob	24
Van Praag, Lionel	54
Vandenberg, Peter	2
Walsh, Ken	3
Ward, Darcy	8
Warren, Graham	29
Watson, Cliff	14
Watson, Noel	4
Watt, Davey	18
White, Doug	7
Wilkinson, Bluey	63
Wiltshire, Todd	29
Wise, Dick	4
Woods, Len	2
Woodward, Cameron	1
Wright, Keith	1
Young, Frank	1
Young, Jack	32

Riders marked with an asterisk represented Australia but were not Australian.

References

^ "Speedway of Nations Preview". Speedway Star. 23 July 2022. p. 22.
^ "United Kingdom international matches". International Speedway. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
^ Rogers, Martin (1978). The Illustrated History of Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. p. 134. ISBN 0-904584-45-3.
^ Bott, Richard (1980). The Peter Collins Speedway Book No.4. Stanley Paul & Co Ltd. p. 99. ISBN 0-09-141751-1.
^ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 27–28. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
^ "Roll of honour". Benfield Sports International (BSI). 2008. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
^ "Awesome Aussies". Speedway Star. 6 August 2022. pp. 3–10.
^ "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 6 October 2023.