Australia-India five-Test blockbuster to start in Perth in late November

The Gabba has been replaced by Perth Stadium as the preferred first Test venue for Australia, with the Border-Gavazkar Trophy kicking off in Perth on November 22nd this Year before the series heads to Adelaide for the night-time Test, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney for the Boxing Day and New year’s Tests.

Cricket Australia unveiled their international schedule for next summer with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as the summer’s showpiece event. After Perth, the second Test will be a day-night pink-ball encounter played at Adelaide Oval from December 6-10. From December 14-18, Brisbane will host the third Test. The 4th Test is going to be at the MCG in the traditional Boxing Day slot on December 26 as well as the 5th Test will be at the SCG starting January 3.

Australia has a perfect record at Perth’s newest venue, having won four of four Tests there, including the first against India in December 2018, but India won the series. Perth didn’t host a Test between Australia as well as India in the 2020-21 series that India also won when the last Test was held in Brisbane.

The CA head of scheduling Peter Roach stated that Perth was awarded the first Test over Brisbane based on several factors, with the friendly broadcast time zone for both Australian east coast viewers and India viewers being the ultimate tipping point.

“The clear advice from our national team is that there is a preference to start series strongly at venues where they’re really comfortable and Perth and Brisbane they believe are somewhat comparable in terms of the advantage they get out of that,” Roach said. “They’re the hardest and bounciest pitches in Australia. They also believe that playing day-night Tests in Adelaide is a significant advantage and the stats there are pretty conclusive too.

“So they will look at this schedule and some will say Gabba first would have been better than Perth. Others will say Perth then Gabba. I think that gap has really closed in recent times and the way our players think about that, and having Adelaide as the day-night Test, they’ll be really buoyed about that again. We believe that this gives us an excellent opportunity to challenge a very formidable Indian team. ”

Outgoing WA Cricket CEO Christina Matthews is hopeful of a big crowd in Perth after disappointing attendances in recent years, although her preference was to host the pre-Christmas Test.

Matthews stated to ESPNcricinfo that he anticipated a crowd of 30 to 35,000 on day one for India in a forthcoming interview. A space in the calendar is crucial. The last Test before Christmas is our choice. It’s easier for everyone to plan in case it is the 1st Test, as we have in the past two years. The crucial aspect is the ability to determine whether it’s the 1st or the third Test each summer.

While Australia hope to maximise their advantage by starting with Perth and Adelaide, a nine-day gap has been scheduled between the first two Tests. It is understood the BCCI are keen to use that period for India’s players to get some specific pink-ball practice and options are being explored as to whether some form of match practice will be scheduled. The scheduling of a Prime Minister XI match in Canberra continues to be uncertain – if it is going to take place before or after the very first Test.