Melbourne: Cricket Australia on Thursday announced their fixtures for the summer of 2020-21. The elaborate schedule, including fixtures for men and women, consists of the much-anticipated Border-Gavaskar series between India and Australia.
Kevin Roberts, Cricket Australia CEO, however, has warned that the schedule will be subject to change, and remains flexible depending on the constantly evolving coronavirus situation and the government regulations at the time.
“While acknowledging the difficulty in navigating a global pandemic, we are nonetheless encouraged by the progress Australia is making in combatting the coronavirus and the positive impact that is having on our ability to host an exciting summer of cricket in 2020-21,” Roberts said in an official media release.
“We know that circumstances or events beyond our control could mean that the final schedule potentially may look different to the one released today, but we’ll be doing everything we can to get as much international cricket in as possible this summer. We will communicate any changes to the schedule if or when they are required.
“We are engaged in ongoing discussions with federal and state governments, our venues and the touring nations to continually understand and monitor the situation in front of us, which is evolving every day. We’ll continue to act in accordance with public health advice and government protocols to ensure the safety of the public, players and support staff,” he added.
India’s tour of Australia begins with three T20Is to be played on October 11, 14 and 17. Sandwiched between India’s T20I series in October and Test series in December, is a one-off day-night Test between Afghanistan and Australia in Perth from November 21-25.
After that, India will begin the defence of the Border-Gavaskar trophy in Brisbane which will host the first Test at the Gabba from December 3-7, followed by second in Adelaide (December 11-15), third in Melbourne (December 26-30) and fourth — a day/night affair — in Sydney from January 3-7.
The Test series will be followed by three-match ODI series from January 12 to 17.
India women will also travel to Australia to play a three-ODI series from January 22 to 28.
The Australian summer will start with the three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe from August 9 to 14. After that, Australia women will play three T20Is and as many ODIs against New Zealand from September 27 to October 10.
Then, the Australian men’s team will play a three-match T20I series against the West Indies from October 4 to 9.
Later towards January end and early February, Australia and New Zealand will play three ODIs and a T20I against each other from January 26 to February 2.
“We will not rush any decisions however it’s crucial for us all to have a blueprint to work from to deliver cricket safely,” said Roberts. (IANS)
