Ashes schedule: Australia set for a jam-packed 2023 tour of the UK
Australia are set for a jam-packed Ashes tour of the UK in 2023, with Jimmy Anderson waiting for them aged 40 as the Test venues and dates are revealed.
Cricket
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Australia is set to play two Tests at The Oval next winter as part of a jam packed calendar which includes the World Test Championship Final and the Ashes.
Pat Cummins’ team are set to receive the details of their 2023 UK mission in the coming days, but it’s expected Australia will be asked to retrace their steps from four years ago in their bid to go one step further than they did in 2019 and not just retain the urn, but win the Ashes series on foreign soil.
The UK Guardian revealed the World Test Championship Final will begin on either June 6 or 8, most likely at The Oval in London, rather than Lord’s – due to complications with using the home of cricket.
Australia are odds on to make the final for the first time, barring a meltdown against West Indies and South Africa this summer.
If they do qualify, Australia will be asked to back up from the historic challenge of vying to be world Test champions in one-off Test, for the hype of a first Ashes Test at Edgbaston just a few days later on June 16.
The schedule then provides a breather before the second Ashes Test is expected to take place at Lord’s from June 28, where the must-watch Jofra Archer and Steve Smith rematch will take place following their unforgettable bout back in 2019.
Australia must then return to the ground where Ben Stokes broke their hearts in perhaps the most thrilling Test match ever played, and contest the third Test at Headingley in Leeds from July 6.
But after another much-needed spell in the schedule, Cummins then has the chance to lead his side back to happier memories for the fourth Test at Old Trafford in Manchester from July 19 – the site of when Australia became the first team in 20 years to retain the Ashes on UK soil in 2019.
Then on July 27, Australia returns to where it all started two months earlier and will bookend the monster tour with a final Ashes Test back at The Oval, where they failed in a golden chance to win the last Ashes.
It’s the first time an Ashes won’t primarily take place in the heart of the English summer in August, with ECB administrators preferring to prioritise its own domestic Hundred competition.
England’s claim they have reinvented Test cricket this year with ‘Baz Ball’ sets the tone for a hugely entertaining Ashes in 2023.
New England coach Brendon McCullum has already set tongues wagging by declaring Jimmy Anderson (40) and (36) will go around again for another Ashes series.
“I certainly won’t be bowling balls at 40. I’ll probably be watching at the pub with Josh (Hazlewood),” Australian spearhead Mitchell Starc said of Anderson’s age-defying feats.
“I think their records obviously speak for themselves, to have played as much cricket as they have done, to take as many wickets as they have, they’re incredible talents and incredibly skilled players.
“We know what they can do in their home conditions with the swinging, seaming ball.
“It’s so far down the track we haven’t even thought about it. Obviously they’ve just come off their Test summer and whatever might have been said by people I don’t know, but come the Ashes next year I’m sure there will be discussions about it.
“For us it’s this week in India, the World Cup and our own Test summer.”
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