Melbourne: Cricket Australia (CA) on Wednesday announced a jam-packed schedule for the 2021-22 home season for its men’s and women’s sides, who are both locked in for Ashes campaigns.
Australia’s summer of cricket will commence with a series between its world champion women’s team and India, with the details of the Asian side’s tour still to be announced.
The men’s team will then return to red-ball cricket in a one-off Test against Afghanistan at Hobart, where Tim Paine will captain the side in his home state of Tasmania for the first time.
Paine’s side will then begin their Ashes campaign on December 8 at the Gabba in the first of five Tests. Having retained the urn in 2019, Australia will be out to win it outright this summer.
The second Ashes Test of the summer will be a day-night clash at Adelaide Oval, starting December 16, before the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. This summer’s New Year’s Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground will commence at the later than usual date of January 5.
The first of two Ashes series for the summer will then wrap up at Perth Oval in the fifth and final Test, starting January 14.
The men’s team will then take on New Zealand in three ODIs for the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy and one T20I through late January and early February. They wrap up their summer with a five-T20I series against Sri Lanka from February 11 to 20.
Meanwhile, the women’s Ashes will begin on January 27 at Manuka Oval in the nation’s capital.
The multi-format series kicks off with a one-off Test in Canberra, before three T20Is and three ODIs split between North Sydney Oval, Adelaide Oval and Junction Oval in Victoria in February.
In the multi-format system, the team with the most points wins the series. An ODI or T20I win is worth two points, a loss none and a tie one. An abandoned match will earn each side a single point. Four points are up for grabs in the Test, with each team earning two for a draw.
Meg Lanning’s team will then depart for New Zealand, where they will compete for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup, looking to win back the trophy they lost in 2017.