AUSTRALIA NEWS

New Perth stadium likely to host first India Test

by Tristan Lavalette • Last updated on

The new Perth Stadium could see its first Test soon © Getty

The new Perth Stadium is set to spectacularly launch the Test summer next season with a blockbuster historic match between Australia and India, according to Cricbuzz sources.

In what looms as an exhilarating start to the 2018-19 Australian Test summer, the fixture will be the first ever Test played at the 60,000-seat stadium in Burswood. The (AUD) $1billion ground will officially open on January 28 with the One Day International between Australia and England after it was not ready to host the third Ashes Test last month.

The Perth Stadium Test is likely to be scheduled in late November or early December and played on a drop-in wicket hoped to replicate the pace and bounce of the WACA's famed pitch in what shapes as a severe challenge first up for India in the four-Test series.

Adelaide will stage the second Test with Cricket Australia (CA) keen to continue the now traditional day-night spectacle although the BCCI has previously shown only lukewarm interest in the concept. India have not played a day-night Test despite flagging interest on a couple of occasions.

"I would anticipate there's not going to be too much problem there," James Sutherland, the CA chief executive, told the ABC last month over the possibility of a day-night Test against India.

The highly anticipated series will conclude with the showpiece Boxing Day and New Year's Tests in Melbourne and Sydney respectively.

Sri Lanka will follow with a two-Test series starting mid-January, which includes the historic first ever Test in Canberra with Hobart missing out. The Gabba, now deemed the fifth best cricket ground in the country, will also host Sri Lanka in a departure from the Brisbane locale traditionally staging the opening Test of the home summer. Australia has not lost a Test at their fortress since 1988 but the Gabba's demotion is a sign of its ageing infrastructure.

"We haven't seen any sort of material developments at the Gabba in terms of improving public amenity for a while," Sutherland told The Sunday Mail in November. "There is a concern there for Queensland and Queenslanders that this is probably No.5 or so in the rankings of stadiums."

Australia's 2018-19 cricket calendar is set to be officially announced next month.

Meanwhile, Australia could be in line to play a Test series against Pakistan in the UAE ahead of their 2018-19 home summer, according to Cricbuzz sources. Under the ICC's Future Tours Programme (FTP), Australia is scheduled to play limited-overs cricket against Pakistan in the UAE in October but that could be changed when the respective boards meet in due course.

Under the FTP, Australia is earmarked to play Pakistan overseas in a three-Test series in March of 2019.

© Cricbuzz