Blockbuster five-match series against India revealed
Perth will host the first Test between Australia and India in November, replacing Brisbane’s Gabba stadium as the traditional opening venue for the international cricket season Down Under.
Cricket Australia officials announced the 2024-25 schedule on Tuesday, confirming the Western Australian capital will kick off the five-Test series against India on November 22.
Adelaide will host the second Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test from December 6 before the series moves to Brisbane on December 14 and to Melbourne and Sydney for the traditional Boxing Day and New Year’s Tests.
Australia is undefeated in 31 season-opening Tests at the Gabba since 1989.
The side’s only two Test defeats at the ground in that time have come when it closed out the summer schedule, including a series-deciding loss to India in 2021.
Organisers of the Brisbane Olympics had originally planned to redevelop the Gabba as the centrepiece of the 2032 Games but scrapped the contentious proposal earlier this month.
Cricket Australia operations chief Peter Roach said the hard and fast Optus Stadium pitch in Perth, where Australia has won all four Tests it has played at the relatively new venue, was now more than comparable to the one traditionally used at the Gabba.
“The clear advice from our national team is there is a preference to start series strongly at venues where they’re really comfortable,” he said.
