The summer of cricket has barely started winding down, but after the let-down of Australia’s historic home Test loss to India, it’s time to consider what the 2019-20 summer could look like.
Cricket is a massive part of the Australian summer and sporting calendar. The fixtures are yet to be released for the 2019-20 summer, but I have ideas to make it the biggest and best ever.
More day-night Test matches need to be played – they’re the future of Test cricket. More one-day and T20 internationals need to be played around the country to keep the game front and centre. More women’s internationals need to be played to give the game greater exposure.
In the ICC Men’s Future Tours Programme says Australia will play New Zealand in three Tests and Pakistan in two. I’d have three Tests and three T20s against each instead. I’d also have a five-match ODI series against New Zealand and a three-match ODI series against Pakistan. There should also be the same number of women’s ODIs and T20s played.
Last year I created a similar system, but I have improved my ideas for 2019-20.
Australia vs Pakistan
Test: Thursday 24 – Monday 28 October at Manuka Oval, Canberra
Test: Friday 1 – Tuesday 5 November at Optus Stadium, Perth (D/N)
Test: Saturday 9 – Wednesday 13 Novemberat Adelaide Oval
ODI – Sunday, 17 November 2019, at the MCG, Melbourne
ODI – Wednesday, 20 November 2019, at Blundstone Arena, Hobart
ODI – Saturday, 23 November 2019, at the SCG, Sydney
T20 – Wednesday, 27 December 2019, at The Gabba, Brisbane
T20 – Friday, 29 December 2019, at the SCG, Sydney
T20 – Sunday, 1 December 2019, at the MCG, Melbourne
Australia vs New Zealand
ODI – Wednesday, 2 October 2019, at The Gabba, Brisbane
ODI – Saturday, 5 October 2019, at Optus Stadium, Perth
ODI – Tuesday, 8 October 2019, at Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
ODI – Friday, 11 November 2019, at the SCG, Sydney
ODI – Sunday, 13 October 2019, at the MCG, Melbourne
T20 – Wednesday, 4 December 2019, at Manuka Oval, Canberra
T20 – Friday, 6 December 2019, at Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
T20 – Sunday, 8 December 2019, at Optus Stadium, Perth
Test – Wednesday, 18, to Sunday, 22 December 2019, at Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast (day-night)
Test – Thursday, 26, to Monday, 30 December 2019, at the MCG, Melbourne (day-night)
Test – Friday, 3, to Tuesday, 7 January 2020, at the SCG, Sydney (day-night)
(Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Australia vs Pakistan
T20 – Tuesday, 26 November 2019, at Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast
T20 – Thursday, 28 November 2019, at Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
T20 – Sunday, 1 December 2019, at the MCG, Melbourne (double-geader with the men’s T20)
ODI – Wednesday 25 March 2020, at Junction Oval, Melbourne
ODI – Friday 27 March 2020, at Spotless Stadium, Sydney
ODI – Sunday 29 March 2020, at Blundstone Arena, Hobart
Australia vs South Africa
T20 – Tuesday 3 December 2019, at Manuka Oval, Canberra
T20 – Thursday 5 December 2019, at Spotless Stadium, Sydney
T20 – Sunday 8 December 2019, at Optus Stadium, Perth (Double Header with Men’s T20)
ODI – Wednesday 11 March 2020, at Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
ODI – Saturday 14 March 2020, at WACA, Perth
ODI – Tuesday 17 March 2020, at Kardinia Park, Geelong
ODI – Friday 20 March 2020, at Spotless Stadium, Sydney
ODI – Sunday 22 March 2020, at Allan Border Field, Brisbane
(Jan Kruger-IDI/IDI via Getty Images)
Women’s Big Bash League
Cricket Australia confirmed the WBBL will move to October-November as a standalone tournament from 2019-20. The tournament should run between Thursday, 3 October and Sunday, 24 November.
Televised games should be played on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. The finals format should be a four-game finals series, just like in the IPL. The major and minor semi-finals shoudl be played on Tuesday, 19 November, the preliminary final should be played on Friday, 22 November, and the grand final should be played on the night of Sunday, 24 November.
Men’s Big Bash League
The men’s BBL should run between Tuesday, 10 December, and Saturday, 15 February. Under my plan during the day-night Test matches games would be played only on Day 4 and Day 5 of the Tests.
A Christmas Day game is also a must for the 2019-20 season. Every team should take at least one home match to a regional venue. The final should be played on the weekend before the women’s World T20 begins after the same finals series format as the WBBL, as mentioned above.
The major semi-final should be played on Saturday, 8 February, the minor semi-final should be played on Sunday, 9 February, the preliminary final should be played on Wednesday, 12 February, and the grand final should be played on Saturday, 15 February.
(Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
In my fixture there are four day-night Tests. New Zealand would be the perfect opponent to play in the first ever day-night Test series. The Gabba misses out on a Test because the Gold Coast should get a run at Test Cricket. The traditional Boxing Day and New Year Tests would also be day-night fixtures for the first time in history.
One day-night Test is scheduled against Pakistan in Perth, with Adelaide and Canberra hosting the only two red-ball fixtures of the summer. Eight ODIs and six T20s should be played. Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane have one ODI match and one T20 match each. Sydney and Melbourne have two ODIs and one T20s each. Canberra has the remaining T20 and Hobart has the remaining ODI.
The Australian women’s team has more matches than ever before, with matches to be played against Pakistan and South Africa. The women should play the same number of ODIs and T20s as the men. The T20s would be played in the same weeks as the men’s T20s. The ODIs would be played in March after the women’s World T20.
The men’s international season finishes on 7 January. This allows the second half of the BBL to be played with no player interruptions and the full-time Australian players like Steve Smith, Dave Warner, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood to play in the BBL.
The New Zealand ODI series is scheduled for October, meaning two stints of their 2019-20 tour. In December they come out for another month to play Tests and T20s. This is the first time New Zealand will play a bilateral T20 series in Australia and the first time they will play in a Test match at the MCG and SCG since the 1980s.
This is an awesome proposed schedule for international cricket in Australia. It is something Cricket Australia should seriously have a look at.
What are your thoughts, Roarers?
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