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Crowds will be allowed at the MCG for this year’s Boxing Day Test match against India. Photograph: Scott Barbour/AAP
Crowds will be allowed at the MCG for this year’s Boxing Day Test match against India. Photograph: Scott Barbour/AAP

Melbourne to host Boxing Day Test as Cricket Australia confirms summer schedule

This article is more than 3 years old
  • Details of India’s tour dates finally released
  • Three-Test tour of South Africa also confirmed

Cricket Australia will aim to have 25,000 fans attend each day of the Boxing Day Test at the MCG after details for India’s summer tour were finally released on Wednesday. Officials confirmed the Adelaide Oval day-night Test would open the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on 17 December, before the Boxing Day match follows.

Sydney’s Test has been pushed back to 7 January, with the Gabba to wrap up the red-ball summer from 15 January. CA is hopeful all state borders will be open by the end of December, allowing for ease of movement for the final two Tests.

But the jewel in the crown will go ahead at its traditional home of the MCG, allaying fears the summer’s showpiece event would have to be moved. The governing body is working off the likelihood of a 25 per cent capacity in Melbourne, although that could increase or decrease dependent on Covid-19 case numbers.

Officials have promised there will be no price gouging and distribution will be allocated between members and general public, with a maximum of 125,000 to attend over five days. CA also confirmed on Wednesday the deal with the MCG to host the high-profile Test had been extended for another three years, after the agreement expired last summer.

“The number that has been talked about so far is 25,000,” CA interim boss Nick Hockley said. “It would be absolutely fantastic to have as many as we can get in as possible. After the year that has been ... What a moment that will be for Victorians who have had such a tough time of late.”

CA insisted Wednesday’s announcement showed it was delivering its side of the broadcast bargain, as the dispute with free-to-air partner the Seven Network awaits arbitration.

Virat Kohli’s side will kick off the men’s international summer – worth around $300m to CA – with the first two of three ODI matches on 27 and 29 November at the SCG. Canberra’s Manuka Oval will host the final 50-over game on 2 December.

A three-match T20 international series then follows at Manuka Oval (4 December) and the SCG (6 and 8 December) before Adelaide Oval hosts the first Test – a day-night match starting on 17 December – to precede the Boxing Day Test. The third Test will go ahead in Sydney from 7 January – slightly later than the SCG’s usual start date – before the fourth Test in Brisbane commences on 15 January.

India’s squad will arrive in Sydney on 12 November subject to Australian Border Force travel authorisation and the appropriate departure-approvals. The tourists will then quarantine in Sydney prior to the first ODI.

“Across all three formats, Australia and India represents one of the great rivalries in world sport and we are delighted to welcome Virat Kohli’s outstanding squad to Australian shores this summer,” Hockley said.

“We have worked closely with the BCCI for many months to bring this tour to life, and I cannot speak more highly of the professional, thorough and collaborative manner with which they have approached this tour in these extraordinary and complex times.”

CA had initially planned for India to quarantine in Queensland before starting the tour there. However, after waiting in vain for weeks for Queensland authorities to endorse their tour proposal, CA switched focus to New South Wales and secured a quick approval from the state.

Once the home summer has concluded, Australia will return to South Africa for the first time since the infamous ball-tampering scandal tour of 2018 when they arrive in February for a three-Test series.

Exact dates and venues are yet to be confirmed, although the series will conclude in March.

Australia won the opening Test in 2018 but ultimately lost the four-match series 3-1. The Proteas will also host England from late November in limited overs matches, Sri Lanka for a two-Test showdown around the turn of the year and close out their home campaign against Pakistan in three ODIs and three T20s during a busy summer of cricket in South Africa.

“We are delighted to announce the schedule of men’s international cricket for the home season,” CSA acting CEO Kugandrie Govender said. “It is an absolute pleasure to deliver more good news for our cricket-loving fans to consume... The Covid-19 pandemic predictably forced many changes to... the traditional sequencing of scheduling matches in South Africa this season.”

It came as CA was forced to apologise to Christina Matthews after failing to notify the WACA chief executive about Wednesday’s announcement. West Australian cricket was dealt a huge blow when it was confirmed that Perth would miss out completely on international cricket this summer.

Matthews said CA later apologised for the breakdown in communication.

“It was all a bit of a shock to us because we didn’t know there was going to be an announcement today,” Matthews said. “We were notified effectively when we were still in bed. I woke up and saw the media release. As we know on the east coast they forget there’s a three-hour time difference and that we actually exist.”

Perth was originally scheduled to host a one-off Test against Afghanistan in November but that was cancelled due to the numerous financial and quarantine hurdles that were involved.

“It was all about the hard border. We couldn’t get permission for the players to train while they were in quarantine,” Matthews said. “And that then meant that coming out of quarantine, there would have to be an additional two weeks added onto the tour, and India was never going to agree to that. So that was the end of it.”

India’s tour of Australia schedule

ODI series

Friday, 27 November: Sydney Cricket Ground

Sunday, 29 November: Sydney Cricket Ground

Wednesday, 2 December: Manuka Oval, Canberra

T20 series

Friday, 4 December: Manuka Oval

Sunday, 6 December: Sydney Cricket Ground

Tuesday, 8 December: Sydney Cricket Ground

Test series

First Test, 17-21 December: Adelaide Oval (day-night)

Second Test, 26-30 December: Melbourne Cricket Ground

Third Test, 7-11 January: Sydney Cricket Ground

Fourth Test, 15-19 January: The Gabba, Brisbane

Tour matches

India A v Australia A, 6-8 December: Drummoyne Oval, Sydney

India v Australia A, 11-13 December: Sydney Cricket Ground

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