Cricket Australia Releases Dates Of Hectic Summer International Schedule

Two years of COVID delays and the World Twenty20 Championship gave Australian cricketers their busiest summer in Australian history, as Cricket Australia revealed a record-breaking 27 mens fixtures — including an Adelaide Oval Test with the West Indies playing Pink Ball. Cricket Australia decided to break tradition and awarded Optus Stadium in Perth with the first Test of the Home Summer, Adelaide Oval would then host the second and final Test against West Indies, which would form part of the World Test Championship. Australia would then play the West Indies and England in a White-Ball Series both sides of a Twenty20 World Cup, with England set to be managed by Australias former Women’s mentor Matthew Mott.

Australia will also head to India for a T20 series: cricket Australia play three matches in September, with the women’s team travelling to play five matches in December. While the exact dates for the overseas tours of India are still being worked out, Australia will play two matches against West Indies at Gold Coast and three matches against England at Brisbane and Canberra before a Twenty20 exhibition begins. Cricket South Africa has asked the Australians to move their tri-match One-Day International Series schedule, which is scheduled for 12-17 January next year.

The mens and womens schedule released by Cricket Australia today includes 28 Tests and limited-overs internationals against Zimbabwe, New Zealand, West Indies, England, South Africa and Pakistan, stretching from the end of August until the end of January. Early-season cricket is played at Townsville and Cairns against Zimbabwe and New Zealand, then Australia leaves for a three-match Twenty20 series in India.

The Men’s National Team then turns its attentions to Limited Overs Cricket, taking on New Zealand over the course of late January and early February over three ODIs in the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy, as well as a T20I. The mens team then returns to red-ball cricket for one-off Tests against Afghanistan at Hobart, with Tim Paine set to captain the team in Tasmania, their home state, for the first time.

Meanwhile, the womens national team played three ODIs and T20s against Pakistan in January, without any Tests on the schedule. The final of these matches will potentially see Perth Stadium booked for the back of the mens international schedule, the city having missed out on high-level cricket for two summers because of strict Western Australian border closures. The Australians have also taken over the traditional Brisbane role of hosting the seasons first Test. The packed summer 2022-23 schedule also includes ODI series against Zimbabwe (28-Sept 3) and New Zealand (6-Sept 11), followed by a T20I series against West Indies before Australias meeting with England. A heavy fixture list at home in August would see Australias mens national team play a minimum of 27 matches in front of their home supporters, rising to 29 should they qualify for the T20 World Cup Final at Melbourne on November 13.

Cricket Australia said the reduced domestic schedule for women was because of a number of factors including the Commonwealth Games in England in July-August and keeping players fresh ahead of the T20 World Cup defense in South Africa in February. In addition to the Ashes series, the Australian men’s team will play Afghanistan in Tests for the first time before finishing the year with nine Dettol ODIs and T20s against New Zealand and Sri Lanka, and the Australian women’s team will play India early in the 2021-22 season.

As things stand, resources for hosting high-level international and domestic cricket over such a jam-packed summer will be stretched to their limits, though Hobart has again secured one international match, the January 12 mens ODI between Australia and South Africa.

2022-23 Australian home international schedule

Men’s Dettol ODI Series v Zimbabwe

Sunday Aug 28: Riverway Stadium, Townsville

Wednesday Aug 31: Riverway Stadium, Townsville

Saturday Sep 3: Riverway Stadium, Townsville

Men’s Dettol ODI Series v New Zealand

Tuesday, Sep 6: Cazaly Stadium, Cairns

Thursday, Sep 8: Cazaly Stadium, Cairns

Sunday Sep 11: Cazaly Stadium, Cairns

Men’s Dettol T20I Series v West Indies

Wednesday Oct 5: Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast

Friday Oct 7: Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast

Men’s Dettol T20I Series v England

Sunday Oct 9: The Gabba

Wednesday Oct 12: Manuka Oval, Canberra

Friday Oct 14: Manuka Oval, Canberra

ICC Men’s T20 World Cup

Oct 16-21: Group stage

Oct 22-Nov 6: Super 12 stage

Wed-Thurs Nov 9-10: Semi-finals, SCG & Adelaide Oval

Sunday Nov 13: final, MCG

Men’s Dettol ODI Series v England

Thursday Nov 17: Adelaide Oval

Saturday Nov 19: Sydney Cricket Ground

Tuesday Nov 22: Melbourne Cricket Ground

Men’s Vodafone Test Series v West Indies

Nov 30 – Dec 4: First Test, Perth Stadium

Dec 8-12: Second Test, Adelaide Oval

Men’s Vodafone Test Series v South Africa

Dec 17-21: First Test, the Gabba

Dec 26-30: Second Test, MCG

Jan 4-8: Third Test, SCG

Men’s Dettol ODI Series v South Africa

Thursday Jan 12: Blundstone Arena, Hobart

Saturday Jan 14: Sydney Cricket Ground

Tuesday Jan 17: Perth Stadium

Women’s CommBank ODI Series v Pakistan

Monday Jan 16: Allan Border Field, Brisbane

Wednesday Jan 18: Allan Border Field, Brisbane

Saturday Jan 21: North Sydney Oval

Women’s CommBank T20I Series v Pakistan

Tuesday Jan 24: North Sydney Oval

Friday Jan 27: Manuka Oval, Canberra

Sunday Jan 29: Manuka Oval, Canberra