The MCG will host one Australia-England Test in 2027 to mark 150 years of Test cricket

Australia and England will play just one Test at the MCG in March 2027 to mark 150 years of the format. Confirmation of the anniversary match in Melbourne has come from Cricket Australia [CA] and state governments have announced that the MCG, SCG and Adelaide Oval are locked into seven-year contracts for their regular testing.

The annual Boxing Day (Melbourne) and New Year’s (Sydney) tests have been confirmed until 2030-31 and Adelaide secured a seven-year commitment to a pre-Christmas slot for their test after the South Australian government made the stadium. New Year Test.

Although the current Future Tours Program (FTP) is inked until early 2027, England and India have confirmed tours four years after that.

Meanwhile, Optus Stadium in Perth will host the season-opening test for the next three seasons. Mike Baird, the chairman of Cricket Australia, said it was the Western Australian government’s decision not to seek a long-term deal. That means next year’s Ashes will start further west than the traditional Gabba in Brisbane. They will then host New Zealand at the start of the 2026-27 season.

The Gabba’s future has been left in limbo due to uncertainty over development plans for the stadium ahead of the 2032 Olympics and only the next two seasons – the games against India and England – are guaranteed with the chance of the Gabba not hosting a Test. long after that. The 2026-27 season will be the first time in 50 years that the Gabba will not host a Test.

“In Brisbane it’s very difficult [to plan] because of infrastructure,” Baird said. “There’s uncertainty, so we’re not sure of a long-term solution. What we do know is that the Gabba has a life cycle that ends in 2030. We need a solution, and we are working with the AFL and a long-term solution.

“We want a great venue in Brisbane, which can support Queensland cricket and Australian cricket for many years to come.”

Adelaide is the home of day-night Test cricket as it hosts seven of the 12 matches held in Australia although the new agreement does not guarantee that all future Tests will have a pink-ball encounter and the 2025-26 Ashes Test will be red. -a ball game with Brisbane hosting the day night. Adelaide Oval will also host the BBL’s New Year’s Eve match for the next seven years.

England will tour for a five-match Ashes series in 2025-26 and New Zealand will be the visitors in 2026-27. The latest series will be expanded to four Tests from the first three in FTP and will be played in Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney. Australia will tour India for five Tests in January and February 2027.

With another type of test anniversary date, there is a possible squeeze on the calendar in March 2027 when Australia will host Bangladesh in two matches that are part of the World Test Championship. There is a chance that those matches will be moved although under the current structure of the WTC they will need to be played before the June 2027 final.

Although rival states made attempts to take the marquee over the Christmas and New Year Tests in Melbourne and Sydney it was always a possible outcome. Outside of 2026-27 there may be the possibility of other Test venues if the Gabba is unavailable which would bring Hobart and Canberra into the conversation. Tasmania has ambitions to host Indoor Test cricket at a proposed new multipurpose stadium although that will not be available until at least 2028.

The future schedule of women’s international matches will be confirmed in the coming months when the next FTP is completed but Adelaide is confirmed for an ODI or T20I every season.

Cricket Australia match allocations

New South Wales

Seven seasons (2024/25 to 2030/31)
Guaranteed match: New year test for men every summer

Queensland

Two seasons (2024/25 & 2025/26)
Confirmed matches: 1 Men’s Test to be played before 30 December every summer and 1 Men’s ODI/T20I every summer.

South Australia

Seven seasons (2024/25 to 2030/31)
Confirmed matches: Men’s Day/Night Test vs India (2024/25), Men’s Christmas Test (2025/26 to 2030/31), 1 Men’s ODI/T20I each summer, 1 Women’s T20/ODI each summer and a match BBL on New Years Before each summer

Victoria

Seven seasons (2024/25 to 2030/31)
Confirmed fixtures: Men’s Boxing Day Test every summer, Women’s 90th/Night Test vs England in 2024/25 and Men’s 150th Test vs England in 2026/27

Western Australia

Three seasons (2024/25 to 2026/27)
Guaranteed matches: Men’s First Test every summer and 1 Men’s ODI/T20I every summer