Australia and England will play a one-off Test at the MCG in March 2027 to mark 150 years of the format. The confirmation of the anniversary fixture in Melbourne came as Cricket Australia [CA] and state governments announced that the MCG, SCG and Adelaide Oval had locked in seven-year staging agreements for their regular Tests.
The extra Test in 2027 will replicate the Centenary Test of 1977 which Australia won by 45 runs, matching the margin of the first Test played in 1877. The annual Boxing Day (Melbourne) and New Year's Tests (Sydney) have been locked in until 2030-31 while Adelaide has secured a seven-year commitment to a pre-Christmas slot for their Test after the South Australia government made a pitch for the New Year's Test.
Although the current Future Tours Programme (FTP) is only inked up to early 2027, England and India have confirmed tours in the four years after that.
Meanwhile, Optus Stadium in Perth will host the opening Test of the season for the next three seasons. Mike Baird, the Cricket Australia chair, said that it was the Western Australian government's decision not to seek a longer deal. That means next year's Ashes will start in the west rather than the traditional Gabba in Brisbane. They will then host New Zealand at the start of the 2026-27 season.
The future of Gabba has been left clouded amid uncertainty over the redevelopment plans for the stadium ahead of the 2032 Olympics and only the next two seasons - matches against India and England - have been confirmed with a chance the Gabba doesn't host a Test for a considerable time after that.
Adelaide is the traditional home of day-night Test cricket having hosted seven of the 12 matches held in Australia although the new agreement does not guarantee that all future Tests there will be pink-ball encounters and the 2025-26 Ashes Test will be a red-ball game with Brisbane hosting the day-nighter. Adelaide Oval will also host a New Year's Eve BBL game for the next seven years.
England will tour for a five-match Ashes series in 2025-26 and New Zealand will be the visitors in 2026-27. The latter series will be extended to four Tests from the original three on the FTP and be played in Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney. Australia are then due to tour India for five Tests in January and February 2027.
With the additional anniversary Test, there is a potential squeeze on the calendar in March 2027 with Australia due to host Bangladesh in two matches which are part of the World Test Championship.
Although rival states made attempts to take the marquee Christmas and New Year Tests off Melbourne and Sydney it was always an unlikely outcome. Beyond 2026-27 there could be an opportunity for other venues to compete for a Test should the Gabba be unavailable which would bring Hobart and Canberra into the mix. Tasmania has ambitions to host indoor Test cricket at their proposed new multipurpose stadium although that won't be available until at least 2028.
The staging agreements confirmed on Sunday are one of the final big projects completed by outgoing CA CEO Nick Hockley who announced earlier this month that he would be stepping down next March.
A future schedule for women's internationals will be confirmed in the coming months when the next FTP is complete but Adelaide has been guaranteed an ODI or T20I every season.
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