Aussies poised to face opponent they haven’t seen in a decade, after two cancelled series

With Australia pulling out of facing Afghanistan, and Ireland seeming to do the same to the Aussies, an unlikely saviour has arisen with the national team set to face a rare opponent.

The Australian men’s team is poised to return to Scotland for the first time in more than a decade with the Scots shaping to fill the breach left by Cricket Ireland’s impending postponement of its series against the Aussies.

As first flagged at the start of the month by this masthead, Australia’s tour of Ireland – scheduled under the future tours program for August and September this year – will almost certainly be called off because of budgetary constraints within Cricket Ireland.

The Aussies were due to play three one-day internationals and a Twenty20 international against Ireland in what would have been the first-ever bilateral series between the teams, who have previously squared off only in one-off matches and at ICC tournaments.

The Ireland series would also have served as a lead-in to Australia’s white-ball series in England in September.

But while the Ireland matches have fallen over, it’s understood Cricket Australia is in talks with Cricket Scotland about scheduling cricket that would effectively replace the Ireland series.

The specifics of the tour remain unclear, however cricket sources are expecting Scotland to host Australia for the first time since 2013.

The teams are also due to meet in this year’s Twenty20 World Cup where they are pitted in the same group alongside England, Oman and Namibia.

Australia seems to be on its way to Scotland. Picture: AFP

The Scotland development comes after Cricket Australia earlier this week postponed another series against Afghanistan, citing human rights concerns.

Many of the top Aussie men have arrived in India for the upcoming Indian Premier League season, which will be followed by the T20 World Cup in the US and the Caribbean.

With the Afghanistan series off and the Ireland tour headed the same way, Scotland would be Australia’s first men’s opponents in the back half of the year.

Australia is also due to host Pakistan in white-ball cricket later this year before the marquee five-Test home series against India, likely to start in late November and wrap up by early January.

Cricket Scotland and Cricket Australia both declined to comment when contacted by this masthead.

Cricket Ireland is still yet to make a formal announcement on the Australian series but has publicly indicated is unlikely to go ahead.

“What we had in the FTP as a whole … it’s a real challenge to deliver all of it. We’ve got almost too much cricket for the amount of venues that we’ve got,” Cricket Ireland high performance director Richard Holdsworth told ESPNcricinfo earlier in the month.

“Costs of putting on games in Ireland have gone up considerably since Covid. Hotel prices, putting up temporary infrastructure for grounds have gone up astronomically.”