Tag Futebol

Preity Zinta takes over from previous owner Brimstone, an investment corporation that pulled out of their deal last month

Firdose Moonda08-Sep-2017Preity Zinta, the Bollywood actor and co-owner of Kings XI Punjab, has taken over the Stellenbosch franchise in South Africa’s T20 Global League, bringing the number of IPL owners in the tournament to three. Cape Town Knight Riders are owned by Shah Rukh Khan, who also owns Kolkata Knight Riders, while the Jo’burg Giants were bought by the GMR group, which owns Delhi Daredevils.Stellenbosch was the only franchise that did not have a private owner after South African investment corporation Brimstone pulled out of the deal last month. The Stellenbosch franchise had been taken over by Cricket South Africa before being acquired by Zinta. The T20 Global League has only one locally-owned team now, in Pretoria, bought by Osman Osman, who owns events company Blu Blood.The lack of local interest in the league was cited as a concern by CSA CEO Haroon Lorgat, when he addressed Brimstone’s withdrawal. “It is a fact that we have struggled to convince South Africans to become owners in the Global League,” Lorgat said.Brimstone’s reasons for withdrawal hinted at general uncertainty over the profitability of ownership in the T20 Global League. “We found it quite difficult to get to actual numbers because it’s the first year of the tournament and we knew we were going to have to use some modelling as to what to expect going forward,” Mushtaq Brey, Brimstone’s CEO said. “When we did all the numbers, we decided not to go ahead with the investment.”So far, the T20 Global League has cost CSA millions. In their latest annual report, CSA tabled a loss of 3.3 million Rand (US$ 257,294) having only generated a revenue of R 1 million (US$ 93,561) and incurred expenses of R 4.5 million (US$ 350,555).Expenses on the T20 Global League so far included the costs of the launch, which was held on June 19 in London for which several guests were flown in business class from South Africa, and stadium upgrades around the country.Lorgat had informed owners to expect it to take time to see returns on their investment but that did not deter foreign interest, especially from India. The Benoni and Durban franchises are owned by corporations, who also have interest in the Pakistan Super League, while the Port Elizabeth and Bloemfontein teams are owned by businessmen from the UAE and Hong Kong respectively.With the tournament – scheduled to start on November 3 – less than two months away, all eight squads are finalised. The Stellenbosch franchise will be coached by Stephen Fleming, with Eric Simons as assistant coach, and Faf du Plessis as the marquee player. Lasith Malinga and Alex Hales are the big international names, with several home-grown players from the Paarl area such as Henry Davids and Justin Ontong in the squad. None of the players from Kings XI Punjab are in the Stellenbosch side but du Plessis had been in touch with some national team-mates who have worked with Zinta before.”I’m very excited to see that Preity Zinta has come on board,” du Plessis said. “I have heard from my team-mates that she is very good to work with, so I’m looking forward to working with her and seeing how she impacts our team space. She is also very passionate about the sport and I am sure local fans will have an awesome time at Boland Park.”The Paarl stadium, situated 63 kilometres away from Cape Town, will benefit from CSA’s financial upgrades, which should improve facilities, including stands and floodlights. Like the other seven venues, it will host seven league matches in the T20 Global League, with the final scheduled for Johannesburg on December 16.

Hampshire and England batsman Michael Carberry is to undergo tests this week amid concerns over the condition that six years ago caused potentially life-threatening blood clots to form in one of his lungs

Jon Culley10-Jul-2016Hampshire and England batsman Michael Carberry is to undergo tests this week amid concerns over the condition that six years ago caused potentially life-threatening blood clots to form in one of his lungs.Carberry had felt unwell last week and has been left out of Hampshire’s current County Championship match against Warwickshire so that he can see a specialist as promptly as possible, with his county unwilling to take any chances with his health.”He has had a problem that has not cleared up in the way we had hoped so his going to have some tests done,” the Hampshire first-team coach Dale Benkenstein said.”We are hoping to have him back for the T20 matches later in the week but in view of what has happened to him in the past we do not want to take any risks with him.”It is a little bit worrying but hopefully the tests will show that everything is fine.”Carberry has to take medication to control the condition, which emerged after he had suffered attacks of breathlessness while fielding and batting. He was diagnosed with two blood clots on a lung in November 2010 and did not play again until July of the following year.

Batsman Ed Joyce and fast bowler Tim Murtagh have announced their retirement from Twenty20 cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff27-May-2015Ireland’s Ed Joyce and Tim Murtagh have announced their retirement from Twenty20 cricket. Both men’s decision took into account their country’s prospects of more 50-over cricket and a long-format debut.”With potentially more ODIs in the next few years and the possibility of Test cricket in the near future as well, I feel like I’d be able to contribute more in these formats if I stop playing T20,” the 36-year old Joyce said.He had made his T20 international debut in June 2006, in England colours. His first game for Ireland came six years later against Kenya in February 2012. He tallied 404 runs from 16 matches at an average of 36.72 for Ireland, the country’s best, and was part of two World T20s. And although its next edition is due in 2016, Joyce was confident Ireland have enough resources to pose a threat.”Added to this is the emergence of exciting young batsman Andy Balbirnie, so I know the T20 team should be in good hands going forward,” he said. Balbirnie, 24, is yet to make his 20-overs debut for Ireland but was part of their impressive World Cup campaign, with back-to-back half-centuries.Murtagh, the 33-year old fast bowler, cited the increase in the amount to cricket and hoped the decision would help him be at his best for his county Middlesex and Ireland.”I haven’t played much T20 cricket for Middlesex recently,” he said. “There’s such a busy schedule these days, and with a lot of cricket coming up for Ireland and Middlesex, I’m now maybe at an age as a bowler where some formats of the game are having to take priority.”Murtagh played seven T20 internationals and picked up as many wickets. His first appearance was in June 2012 against Australia and his last was against Netherlands in the World T20 in March 2014.Ireland’s chairman of selectors Alan Lewis expressed no surprise at this development. “Wise men make the right decisions at the right time and this is no different. I can’t speak highly enough of both,” he said, “Both players are the wrong side of 30 ,but the heartening piece for us is their total commitment to the longer formats and ultimately our desire to play Test cricket in the future.”

Michael Hussey has said he’d have liked an earlier crack at international cricket, but the long spell at the domestic level honed his game to perfection

Daniel Brettig30-Dec-2012No-one made more runs before being handed a baggy green cap than Michael Hussey, and it is highly likely that no-one ever will have to again. In addition to leaving an enormous hole in Australia’s batting order, Hussey’s exit from the game at 37 also poses a major question about the development of players capable of filling it.Was Hussey robbed of an even more illustrious career by a selection panel that scorned his talents until he was 30, or was the wonderfully dextrous and adaptable player he became a direct result of all those years spent honing his game for the opportunity? As he looked forward to more time at home, though he will continue to play for Western Australia and Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, Hussey said he wished he had been given an earlier chance, but reasoned that the completeness of his game and the maturity of his approach stemmed from the extra time he was left to shape it.”I would’ve loved to get an opportunity earlier, there’s no question about that,” Hussey said. “I would’ve maybe liked to go through what young players go through at international level where you come in, you’re so excited to be there, probably go through some hard times and then come out the other side a batter player.”But in a lot of ways it probably did help me to be able to perform consistently at international level, to have so much first-class cricket behind me. To learn about the game and learn about batting and learn about myself as a person, I think held me in very good stead when I came to the international game when there’s so many distractions externally, to be able to put them aside and concentration my game. Knowing what worked for me helped me definitely.”With Hussey soon to be gone from the team, Australia’s selectors are left to pick from the meagre batting options they have left. Usman Khawaja is part of the current squad and has worked at rounding out his game in the manner of Hussey, while the Twenty20 captain George Bailey has a fighter’s instinct and a leader’s brain and attitude, if not quite the record of batting achievement that suggests he will make as instant an impression at 30 as Hussey did after he debuted in 2005.

Hussey’s most cherished moments

“The 2007 World Cup was just an amazing experience – the way the team played throughout that tournament was just incredible cricket,. So to be a part of that was absolutely fantastic and a huge highlight for me. Being part of an Ashes series where we won 5-0 here in Australia and to play with some of the true legends and greats of the game I’m really thrilled to play with these guys and to play in such a fantastic Ashes series like that. They’re the two that standout most to me over my career.
“From a personal point of view my favourite moment would be hitting the winning runs in the second Test in Adelaide in that Ashes series [in 2006]. I’m not sure how many I made that day, but that feeling I got, to win that amazing Test match and to be out there to hit the winning runs, was a fantastic honour.”

Hussey himself believes his 35-year-old brother David deserves a chance, while Chris Rogers is of the same age and the possessor of endless first-class experience in England. Other young batsmen like Joe Burns in Queensland, Kurtis Patterson in New South Wales, Alex Doolan in Tasmania and Peter Handscomb in Victoria will in time press their claims, but their readiness for international cricket and all its myriad challenges will depend on how – and for how long – they are groomed.A major reason for Hussey’s exit is that he is no longer prepared to separate himself from his family for the long tracts of time required by international tours, but another is the wearing down effect of Test match pressure, be it from opponents, media, supporters, team-mates and the man himself. The support Hussey has been given from the likes of his first-grade batting coach Ian Keevan, the former Northants coach Bob Carter, and his wife Amy allowed him to push through much of it, and those relationships were also built up over the years he spent waiting for his chance.”There’s so much pressure, stress and tension around international cricket, on all the guys,” Hussey said. “I’m amazed how the guys handle it at times. But I think it’s very important to have a good support network around you, people who keep believing in you all the time, and keep you in a positive frame of mind when sometimes it’s quite easy to get yourself down and put more pressure on yourself. I’m very lucky to have that network around me that’ve remained really positive and confident and believed in me.”It’s a little bit sad and I will miss certain parts of it. But there’s so much more to life than just playing cricket, and I have those fantastic memories, but there’s going to be a lot of things I certainly won’t miss, like the really sick feeling in the stomach when you have to go out and bat in a Test match, the constant time away from home, training, travel, hotels and airports. It does wear you down after a while.”It’s taken me a long time to learn how I play my best cricket. It’s going to be different for everyone, but for me personally when I do relax, when I do enjoy the game I just stick to my very good preparation, and I just know and believe I will perform.”Hussey’s final summer has been played without the self-imposed expectations he had previously lived with, for he knew that retirement at the end of the season was always his most likely path. That allowed him to relax and play his best, just as he did not gain a start for Australia until after he had virtually given up hope of earning one.”I do feel like the pressure’s been off a little bit,” he said. “I was very keen to do well in this particular summer. Like every summer I guess. But I felt like I could go out there with nothing to lose a little bit because I knew in my own mind that it was probably going to come to an end at the end of the Australian summer.”So I could play with a bit more freedom and just go out there and relax. Maybe there is a lesson in there to be learnt – I have always been someone that has put a lot of pressure on myself and tried sometimes too hard and when you just relax and play and enjoy the game, that’s when I’ve played my best cricket.”There is a lesson in that for all those who will follow Hussey into Australia’s Test team, one of many that can be learned from observing the career and achievements of a cricketer who tried to – and usually did – do everything right.

Tasmania surged to a 48-run victory over South Australia in a rain-shortened domestic one-day match in Burnie

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Nov-2011Tasmania
ScorecardTasmania surged to a 48-run victory over South Australia in a rain-shortened domestic one-day match in Burnie, as Ed Cowan and Ben Hilfenhaus made striking contributions.Cowan’s 91 at No. 3 allowed the Tigers to set a decent target despite the loss of regular wickets, and the total was bolstered a little more by Duckworth-Lewis calculations.SA’s reply was unsettled the moment the visitors lost the captain Michael Klinger to Hilfenhaus, and regular wicket ensured they would never mount a serious chase despite 66 for the in-form Tom Cooper.Hilfenhaus finished with four wickets while Xavier Doherty managed two.

Sri Lanka, perhaps for the first time, will find themselves in alien territory despite the fact that they are the home side when they meet West Indies in the second Test starting at the R Premadasa Stadium on Tuesday

Sa'adi Thawfeeq22-Nov-2010Sri Lanka, perhaps for the first time, will find themselves in alien territory despite the fact that they are the home side when they meet West Indies in the second Test starting at the R Premadasa Stadium on Tuesday.There’s a new laid pitch and construction work going all round the area to get the stadium ready for the 2011 World Cup and playing a Test match amidst such a set up is not the ideal scenario. But the Sri Lankans are keen to test the pitch ahead of their World Cup so there was little choice but to play this Test match here.”As long as play doesn’t get disrupted and the match referees and teams are happy with the situation when we start the game that should be okay,” said captain Kumar Sangakkara. “We have to keep our focus mainly on what’s happening out there in the middle and the best of what we have here. This venue was picked most probably because it is a World Cup venue to try and see whether the pitches and everything was upto scratch. We’ll have to come tomorrow and see how the wicket behaves and then take it from there.”You’ve got trust the curator to give us the best wicket possible,” he added. “It was a bit damp today and hopefully the sun will dry it out and have it Test match ready by the time play is due to start tomorrow.”Being in Sri Lanka usually the wickets are nice and dry and they turn. This might be different from that, we don’t know yet. The final proof of what the pitch is doing is to actually play on it. It would have been a nice reference to have if a domestic game was played here before the Test. But that’s the beauty of playing international cricket. Sometimes you have to take things on the chin and just get on with the job.”Sangakkara felt that where his team fell behind West Indies in the drawn first Test at Galle was their failure to focus on the game plans and executing them. “We expect to play a lot better from ball one of the game, to make sure we are focused on our game plans and executing them,” he said. “That’s where we fell behind West Indies in the last game. They outplayed us on those little details. Those are the things we have to tighten.”Sri Lanka are likely to go with their usual combination of two seamers and two spinners despite the attack failing to trouble West Indies for a long periods last week. “It is sometimes tempting to go with fast bowlers but we should not get carried away by what we see,” said Sangakkara. “We need to plan out a team that can handle situations for all five days and not just one innings but four quality innings of batting and bowling.
“Our best combination is two seamers and two spinnners. Angelo Mathews might just be able to bowl a bit more in this Test match. We really need to know what the pitch is like when we leave and if there is rain tonight and how it turns up tomorrow.”West Indies are also planning on using two spinners for this Test and Sangakkara believes it is good for the game that the slow men are having such a key role to play. “It’s great, for all the talk of Twenty20, that we are finally seeing a new era for spinners. They are really dominating cricket in every format of the game.”In the shorter versions they have been more dominating than ever. It’s encouraging for sides and for countries where there are youngsters who are good spinners who haven’t had much of a go. It’s good for Sri Lanka, West Indies and other countries we see some great spinners now playing Test cricket.”West Indies’ preparations have been overshadowed by Shane Shillingford, the offspinner, being reported for a suspect bowling action but Sangakkara preferred to focus on the bowler’s skills rather than controversy. “He is an interesting bowler the lines he bowls and the little bit of variation that he has in pace. He is a bowler who can probably change direction at the very last minute the way he bowls. We had a good chat about him. We got a few plans in a few different areas to try and defend and then attack him as well.”With left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn expected to return to the team after serving a one-Test suspension, Sangakkara added: “Benn is also quite a good bowler when the conditions suit him. He is coming back after a long break so whatever combination they play it will be a tough challenge. We have also to think about their fast bowlers who bowled exceptionally well and how to combat that. They’ve got a very good bowling attack and we got stay a step ahead as far as we can.”

Will be available for the first four matches of the four-day competition ahead of the 50-over and Twenty20 events

Cricinfo staff02-Nov-2009Ravi Bopara, the England batsman, has been signed up by Auckland for the domestic cricket season. Bopara, 24, will be available for the first four matches of the four-day competition, starting next week, ahead of the 50-over and Twenty20 events.”We had only been looking for someone for the Twenty20 but he’s very keen to come out for a longer period,” Auckland chief executive Andrew Eade told the .After being left out of the final Ashes Test following a dreadful run of form, Bopara recently lost his one-day spot for the tour to South Africa. He has vowed to return to the England Test side a better player after being dropped following a torrid series against Australia. At the start of the home season he was promoted to No. 3 and responded with consecutive centuries against West Indies, but found life much harder against Australia. His technique was exposed outside the off stump and he was also trapped leg before on three occasions.Eade said it was Bopara’s idea to land in New Zealand as soon as possible. “He is keen to come and contribute over a longer period for us, which is great. He has exactly the right skill set we want, a hard-hitting batsman with a bit of bowling to back that up.”

He ripped through Tasmania on the second day in Hobart as the home side were forced to follow-on

AAP07-Mar-2025Michael Neser, the forgotten man of the Australian Test pace attack, reminded everyone of his capabilities at Tasmania’s expense.He ripped through the home team’s top order in their Sheffield Shield match on Friday, taking the first six wickets of the Tasmania first innings in a devastating nine-over spell after lunch – all the wickets coming in the space of 39 balls.Related

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Replying to Queensland’s first innings of 425 for 9 declared, Tasmania collapsed after lunch from 86 without loss and were dismissed for 161 at Bellerive Oval. Tasmania followed on and were still 194 runs behind with two days left.While Queensland and Tasmania started this penultimate round as the bottom two teams, a big win would keep one of them in the hunt to make the final against SA.Following Usman Khawaja’s century on Thursday, Neser’s command performance confirmed Queensland have the game by the throat.He snared 6 for 37 from 15 overs. It is his third Shield game back after a hamstring injury in November while playing for Australia A cruelled his hopes of a Test return this summer.The 34-year-old has played only two Tests, most recently against the West Indies in late 2022. Neser has had to bide his time, stuck in Australia’s pace-bowling queue behind Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Scott Boland.He was faultless on Friday, always looking dangerous even when Tasmanian openers Nivethan Radhakrishnan and Jake Weatherald built their solid stand.Neser bowled Weatherald for a top score of 55 and took a wicket in each of his next three overs. When he trapped Radhakrishnan lbw for 39 and bowled Beau Webster, Tasmania were 122 for 6 and Queensland were in the box seat.Mark Steketee had Radhakrishnan caught behind for 24 late on day two, with Weatherald unbeaten on 39.Gabe Bell and Webster took three wickets apiece in Queensland’s first innings.

“There’s something within the team that is definitely unsettled,” former captain says

Matt Roller28-Oct-20232:27

Trescothik: ‘England haven’t lost faith in 50-over format’

Eoin Morgan has suggested that England’s underperformance at the World Cup in India is unparalleled across sport and that their players are “definitely unsettled” after heavy defeats in four out of their five group games.England have not been mathematically eliminated from the tournament – even defeat in Lucknow on Sunday will not officially knock them out – but they are unlikely to qualify for the semi-finals even if they put together an improbable run of form and win all four of their remaining fixtures.Morgan, who captained them to the 2019 title, said it had been “unsettling” to watch England’s plight over the last three weeks and that their confidence had taken a beating. He also hinted at wider issues than simply form, saying: “I think there’s something else going on – there has to be.”Related

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And Morgan went as far as to suggest that England’s campaign has been among the worst in sporting history, in the context of the widespread expectation that they would reach the semi-finals. “I’ve never come across a sports team that has underperformed like this England team, given the level of expectation that is on their shoulders,” he said on Sky Sports.”There’s something within the team that is definitely unsettled. The method which they’re trying to use and given the substantial nature in which they’ve lost the game[s], it is definitely called into question, the morale within the changing room and the confidence. It must be at its lowest that it’s been for a considerable period of time now.”Morgan said that it was “an unacceptable excuse” to simply say that players were all out of form at the same time. “I think there’s something else going on – there has to be,” he said. “When you look at the strength in depth, particularly with the bat, England are as good on paper as any other side in this tournament, but they haven’t yet fired.”They’ve made mistakes with selection: they’ve really struggled to find a balanced side and one that’s effective enough to compete, never mind win this tournament. It’s been unbelievably challenging for Jos and his team… they have to regain the confidence in the method that they’ve used for so long that has made them double world champions.”Marcus Trescothick, England’s assistant coach, said that the squad are “feeling the heat” and “gutted” about their results to date, and admitted that he has been unable to get his head around their collective failures with the bat. England have lost 47 out of a possible 49 wickets (Reece Topley was absent hurt against South Africa) and no batter has made an individual 50 in their last two matches.”The thing that’s baffled me the most is that it’s been consistent across the board,” Trescothick said. “Bar the game at Dharamsala, where we played Bangladesh, where one got a big score [Dawid Malan’s 140] and we got a few other big scores around it, there’s just never been the consistency of people getting the runs.”I think they’re trying to understand it… it [their form] has not gone, it’s just hiding in a funny place at the moment. It’s not suddenly disappeared and they’re never going to score runs again. They’ll rebound from this and rebound back into form at some point. But it might be, unfortunately, disappointing that it’s going to be too late for this competition.”Dawid Malan is bowled for 140•Getty Images

Sunday’s match in Lucknow will be played on a used pitch, the same one that was used for South Africa’s win over Australia two weeks ago.”The timing actually couldn’t be any worse,” Morgan said. “Given India are still out and out favourites to win this tournament on home soil, that challenge just becomes far bigger now than it probably would be if you were playing on a fresh pitch.”England just have to play what’s in front of them,” he added. “For a lot of this tournament, I believe that they’ve been carrying other things or looking outside of the camp, as opposed to their own performance. They need to stay in the present for as long as they can tomorrow and turn India over.”

There is a bigger squeeze than ever to fit in all the bilateral cricket alongside global events and the expanding domestic leagues

Alex Malcolm17-Aug-2022Mind the BBL gap
Cricket Australia have made the BBL a top priority under new chairman Lachlan Henderson with a fresh broadcast deal looming in 2024. It has faced numerous hurdles recently with the proliferation of rival leagues in the UAE and South Africa even as it tries to recover from the impacts of Covid-19. CA had previously said it would like a free window in January, which now has a crunch of leagues, to allow Australia’s international stars to play in the BBL. The plan has been partially successful.Australia don’t have any white-ball commitments in January over the next four years, but there will be Test cricket that will take the multi-format players away. They are scheduled to host West Indies in two Tests in mid-January 2024 as the ODI World Cup in October-November 2023 creates a squeeze on Australia’s home summer. Meanwhile, in January-February 2025, there is a two-Test tour of Sri Lanka. That series will need to be played before the Champions Trophy, which does not leave CA much room to keep the Test players at home for the BBL. Then, in early 2027, Australia will make another unusual summer away trip to India to play five Tests in January and February.CA’s head of scheduling, Peter Roach, confirmed that CA had tried to create a January window. “That was the priority to try and free the white-ball players so they can compete in the whole BBL,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “But we understand Test cricket works in that window as well. So it’s trying to find that balance between the opportunity for everyone to play versus making sure that our Test product is still really strong.”Related

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Homeward March
There is another significant knock-on effect of the five-Test tour of India in 2027. Australia have not hosted a Test in March since 1979 with their home matches played almost exclusively between November and January each year, with the exception of the rare winter series. But, in the new FTP, there will be two Tests against Bangladesh in March 2027 with the home summer essentially split in half by a trip to India. Australia begin that home summer with limited-overs matches against England in November 2026 before hosting Tests against New Zealand over Boxing Day and New Year. Then, after heading to India, they will return to host Bangladesh at a time when traditionally only Sheffield Shield cricket has been played in Australia. It will also be just the second time Bangladesh have played a Test series in Australia, with the first coming way back in 2003. It will also complete a run of ten Tests in four months for Australia to finish their 2025-2027 WTC cycle.Back-to-back West Indies
One of the vagaries of Australia’s new FTP is that they will host West Indies for Test matches in consecutive home summers because of the new World Test Championship starting next year. They visit for two Tests in December this year during the final stages of the current WTC cycle, but the new one starts afresh thereafter and Australia are drawn to host them again the following summer for two more Tests. It’s understood CA did try to change the order of the series to avoid the back-to-back visits but it was unable to find a solution. Australia will also travel to the Caribbean in 2025 for three Tests and three ODIs.In 2027, Bangladesh are scheduled to play their first Tests in Australia since 2003•AFP via Getty Images

Winter cricket back in northern Australia
Australia are hosting Zimbabwe and New Zealand in the coming weeks during late winter in the north of the country and will have more internationals during that period in years to come with the climate in the Northern Territory and North Queensland perfect for cricket. Australia have experimented with winter cricket previously, starting with ODIs under the roof at Docklands in Melbourne in 2000 and 2002, to Test matches in Darwin and Cairns in 2003 and 2004, before abandoning the concept after an ODI series against Bangladesh in 2008.It wasn’t a popular offering for local broadcasters as it clashed with the football codes that dominate the winter airwaves. But they will host ODIs and T20Is with South Africa in August of 2025 and then a Test, and T20Is ODIs against Afghanistan in July and August of 2026. “We hope that [winter cricket] becomes a little bit more regular,” Roach said. “I don’t think it’ll be every year but we know those games will be really well supported by all those fans and we also know the fans around the country, whilst they’re deep into their footy season, still relish the opportunity to watch some cricket during our winter months.”The Afghanistan question
Australia were set to host Afghanistan in a one-off Test last year prior to the Ashes but it was postponed after the Taliban seized control in Afghanistan with CA taking a stance on women being prevented from taking part in the sport (the game had previously been postponed from 2020 due to Covid-19). Australia have two bilateral commitments against Afghanistan in the new FTP – an away T20I series in August 2024 and the aforementioned tour in northern Australia in 2026 – which will mean the CA board may have to make another decision on their position depending on the situation when the series are played.More broadly, CA knows it will need to pull its weight in playing the developing nations and alongside the away T20Is against Afghanistan will also tour Ireland for white-ball matches in 2024.”We want world cricket to be really strong, and it’s not going to be really strong if we restrict ourselves to a handful of opponents,” Roach said. “Having the opportunity to go and play these opponents, developing countries in some respects, is something we’re really focused on doing. Not so much to be a good citizen, it’s the right thing to do because we know what value it brings to our players and also the players in the opposing teams.”

Australia’s men’s FTP 2023-2027

(* = home series)2023-24
Jun: World Test Championship
Jun/Jul: England vs Australia (5 Tests)
Sep: South Africa vs Australia (5 ODIs, 3 T20Is)
Sep: India vs Australia (3 ODIs)
Oct/Nov: ODI World Cup – India
Nov/Dec: India vs Australia (5 T20Is)
Dec/Jan: Australia vs Pakistan (3 Tests)*
Jan/Feb: Australia vs West Indies (2 Tests, 3 ODIs, 3 T20Is)*
Feb/Mar: New Zealand vs Australia (2 Tests, 3 T20Is)2024-25
Jun: T20 World Cup – West Indies and USA
Aug: Afghanistan vs Australia (3 T20Is)
Aug/Sep: Ireland vs Australia (3 ODIs, 1 T20I)
Sep: England vs Australia (5 ODIs, 3 T20Is)
Nov: Australia vs Pakistan (3 ODIs, 3 T20Is)*
Dec/Jan: Australia vs India (5 Tests)*
Jan/Feb: Sri Lanka vs Australia (2 Tests)
Feb/Mar: ODI Champions Cup – Pakistan2025-26
Jun: World Test Championship
Jun/Jul: West Indies vs Australia (3 Tests, 3 ODIs)
Aug: Australia vs South Africa (3 ODIs, 3 T20Is)*
Oct: New Zealand vs Australia (3 T20Is)
Oct/Nov: Australia vs India (3 ODIs, 5 T20Is)*
Dec/Jan: Australia vs England (5 Tests)*
Feb: Pakistan vs Australia (3 T20Is)
Feb/Mar: T20 World Cup – India and Sri Lanka
Mar: Pakistan vs Australia (3 ODIs)2026-27
Jun: Bangladesh vs Australia (3 ODIs, 3 T20Is)
Aug: Australia vs Afghanistan (1 Test, 3 T20Is)*
Sep/Oct: South Africa vs Australia (3 Tests, 3 ODIs)
Nov/Dec: Australia vs England (3 ODIs, 5 T20Is)*
Dec/Jan: Australia vs New Zealand (3 Tests)*
Jan/Feb: India vs Australia (5 Tests)
Mar: Australia vs Bangladesh (2 Tests)*