were first introduced, Australia was listed at 10th position. The high-water mark was after the 2009 World Baseball Classic when they were in 9th. The lowest position they have been in the ranking since its inception is 11th. At the end of 2010, Australia had returned to their original position of 10th. International competition In January 2009 the IBAF, in releasing the first edition of the world rankings, announced the classifications of various tournaments that contributed to the rankings themselves. In doing so, they identified that of the "world" tournaments, there were different levels with differing levels of weighting towards the ranks: major world championships, minor world championships, world qualifying tournaments and continental championships/qualifying tournaments. Major world championships There are currently three recognised tournaments that are considered "major" by the IBAF: the World Baseball Classic, the Summer Olympic Games and the Baseball World Cup. Of those, the Summer Olympics will be phased out of the rankings structure, as baseball will no longer be contested as an Olympic event. 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. By virtue of their third-place finish in their first-round pool, Australia qualified compete at the 2013 edition of the WBC.; 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. United States, 2006 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. This was also the site of their training camp. 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