Cricket 2022: Summer revamp to make Perth Test a permanent launching pad instead of Gabba

Standby for cricket to be beamed into loungerooms after dark with back-to-back Tests in a major reshuffle to open the summer as Perth emerges as a key player. All the major dates.

Perth could permanently replace the Gabba as the new launching pad of the Test match summer, in a move designed to cast a net over Australia’s after-dark TV audience.

As first revealed by News Corp a month ago, Brisbane has won the race to host a Test against marquee opponents South Africa in mid-December, but there is a long-term strategy to cricket-starved Western Australia being switched to open the summer against the West Indies on November 30 at Optus Stadium.

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Australian captain Pat Cummins and his teammates will kick off their summer of Test cricket in Perth.

Cricket Australia is determined to start every Test summer on the last weekend of November to try and replicate the public familiarity the AFL feeds off with its tradition of staging the Grand Final on the last weekend of September.

But more than that, CA administrators are hoping that by regularly opening the Test season with a Test in the Perth time zone followed by a day-night Test in Adelaide, the cricket summer can be supercharged by back-to-back prime time matches beamed into living rooms on the east coast.

The strategy will be put into action this year, with Perth and Adelaide to host the two Test series against the West Indies in night time, building excitement for the school holiday period when Australia will tackle South Africa in Brisbane from December 17, and then in Melbourne and Sydney for the traditional Boxing Day and New Year’s Tests.

“It’s shaping to be an unforgettable summer of cricket, our biggest yet,” said Fox Cricket general manager Matt Weiss.

Long-term it’s hoped a consistent Test schedule starting on the last weekend of November and wrapping up by January 8 will maximise the chances of Test stars playing a large chunk of the Big Bash League in January.

The one major drawback, at least from the Australian team’s perspective is it’s always preferred starting its summer at Fortress Gabba.

Australia tried opening its Test summer in Perth against South Africa in 2016-17 and it ended in disaster, while the only Test Australia has lost at the Gabba in more than 30 years was two summers ago when Brisbane was shunted to the last Test.

David Warner will play the West Indies in Perth and Adelaide this summer.

However, another factor CA needs to consider with its long-term planning is the fact the Gabba will be shut down for its Olympics rebuild in a few years’ time, and so Perth and its world class Optus Stadium — and lively pitch — shapes as a reliable replacement as first cab off the rank.

Adelaide is unlikely to be thrilled about missing out on a South African Test given it hosts consistently the best Test match of the summer.

Western Australia may also have preferred to host South Africa than the West Indies, but could reap the benefits as Brisbane has done, from having a permanent slot in the calendar as cricket’s season opener.

With a Twenty20 World Cup starting on October 13, two Test series and multiple men’s and women’s white ball series, there has never been more matches jammed into a cricket summer than the one coming up.

It’s a blow that Australia’s all-conquering women won’t get a Test match this summer, but the reality is Pakistan isn’t interested in their team playing that format of the game and Australia is in a frustrating holding pattern where they are light-years ahead of most countries in terms of their investment in the women’s game.

Australia will be hoping Usman Khawaja can produce another big summer when the West Indies and South Africa tour.

However, there is a game-changing revolution on the horizon in women’s cricket, with Cricket Australia planning for the first ever women’s IPL to take place if not in February-March 2023, than certainly by 2024.

World cricket boards will leave windows in the international calendar for the WBBL, women’s IPL and women’s Hundred in England which will allow players to take their earning capacity to another level combining franchise cricket with representing their country.

The cricket smorgasbord will start a long time before the home summer as well, with Fox Cricket announcing it will broadcast next month’s tour of Sri Lanka.

Australia will play a lengthy white ball series before two Test matches against the Sri Lankans, who dominated the Aussies the last time they toured back in 2016.

Conquering the spinning decks in Galle will be the next challenge for Pat Cummins’ Test team, while the T20 and ODI matches will be crucial in shaping Australia’s respective World Cup campaigns later this year and next.

The Test matches will be beamed live into lounge rooms in prime time, as will the preceding white ball matches now they’ve been moved to day-time affairs.

2022-23 SUMMER OF INTERNATIONAL CRICKET

AUSTRALIA MEN

Jun 7: 1st T20I v Sri Lanka at Colombo

Jun 8: 2nd T20I v Sri Lanka at Colombo

Jun 11: 3rd T20I v Sri Lanka at Kandy

Jun 14: 1st ODI v Sri Lanka at Kandy

Jun 16: 2nd ODI v Sri Lanka at Kandy

Jun 19: 3rd ODI v Sri Lanka at Colombo

Jun 21: 4th ODI v Sri Lanka at Colombo

Jun 24: 5th ODI v Sri Lanka at Colombo

Jun 29-Jul 3: 1st Test v Sri Lanka at Galle

Jul 8-12: 2nd Test v Sri Lanka at Galle

Aug 28: 1st ODI v Zimbabwe at Riverway Stadium, Townsville

Aug 31: 2nd ODI v Zimbabwe at Riverway Stadium, Townsville

Sep 3: 3rd ODI v Zimbabwe at Riverway Stadium, Townsville

Sep 6: 1st ODI v New Zealand at Cazalys Stadium, Cairns

Sep 8: 2nd ODI v New Zealand at Cazalys Stadium, Cairns

Sep 11: 3rd ODI v New Zealand at Cazalys Stadium, Cairns

Oct 5: 1st T20I v West Indies at Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast

Oct 7: 2nd T20I v West Indies at Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast

Oct 9: 1st T20I v England at The Gabba, Brisbane

Oct 12: 2nd T20I v England at Manuka Oval, Canberra

Oct 14: 3rd T20I v England at Manuka Oval, Canberra

Oct 22: T20 World Cup v New Zealand at SCG, Sydney

Oct 25: T20 World Cup v Group A winner at Perth Stadium, Perth

Oct 28: T20 World Cup v England at MCG, Melbourne

Oct 31: T20 World Cup v Group B runner-up at The Gabba, Brisbane

Nov 4: T20 World Cup v Afghanistan at Adelaide Oval, Adelaide

Nov 9: T20 World Cup semi-final 1 at SCG, Sydney

Nov 10: T20 World Cup semi-final 2 at Adelaide Oval, Sydney

Nov 13: T20 World Cup final at MCG, Melbourne

Nov 17: 1st ODI v England at Adelaide Oval, Adelaide

Nov 19: 2nd ODI v England at SCG, Sydney

Nov 22: 3rd ODI v England at MCG, Melbourne

Nov 30 – Dec 4: 1st Test v West Indies at Perth Stadium, Perth

Dec 8-12: 2nd Test v West Indies at Adelaide Oval, Adelaide

Dec 17-21: 1st Test v South Africa at The Gabba, Brisbane

Dec 26-30: 2nd Test v South Africa at MCG, Melbourne

Jan 4-8: 3rd Test v South Africa at SCG, Sydney

Jan 12: 1st ODI v South Africa at Blundstone Arena, Hobart

Jan 14: 2nd ODI v South Africa at SCG, Sydney

Jan 17: 3rd ODI v South Africa at Perth Stadium, Perth

TOTAL: 7 Test matches; 17 One-Day Internationals; 8 Twenty20 Internationals (not including T20 World Cup)

MEN’S DOMESTIC TOURNAMENTS

BBL: December – February

Sheffield Shield: October – March

One-Day Cup: September – March

* Dates to be confirmed

AUSTRALIA WOMEN

Jul 16-23: T20I Tri-Series (Australia, Pakistan, Ireland), Derry

Jul 29 – Aug 7: Commonwealth Games, Birmingham

Dec: Women’s Commonwealth Bank Overseas Tour (to be determined)

Jan 16: 1st ODI v Pakistan at Allan Border Field, Brisbane

Jan 18: 2nd ODI v Pakistan at Allan Border Field, Brisbane

Jan 21: 3rd ODI v Pakistan at North Sydney Oval, Sydney

Jan 24: 1st T20I v Pakistan at North Sydney Oval, Sydney

Jan 27: 2nd T20I v Pakistan at Manuka Oval, Canberra

Jan 29: 3rd T20I v Pakistan at Manuka Oval, Canberra

Feb 9-26: Women’s ICC T20 World Cup, South Africa

* All matches and travel remain subject to any relevant government restrictions or requirements. CA reserves the right to change the 22-23 international cricket schedule.

WOMEN’S DOMESTIC TOURNAMENTS

WBBL season: October – November

Women’s National Cricket League: September – February

* Dates to be confirmed.

Originally published as Cricket 2022: Summer revamp to make Perth Test a permanent launching pad instead of Gabba