Boxing Day Test pegged for MCG

Celebration for Melbourne

THE MCG has overcome all odds to be officially locked in for an emotion- charged Boxing Day Test that will double as a celebration for the people of Melbourne.

Cricket Australia has finally been able to announce its longawaited $ 300m summer schedule, after receiving official sign- off from the almighty Indian cricket board.

Virat Kohli’s superstars will play four Test matches, the first a historic day- nighter at Adelaide Oval starting on December 17, before heading to Melbourne for Boxing Day — with Cricket Australia rewarded for showing faith in the COVID- 19- ravaged city to come out the other side.

The third Test will be a later- than- usual New Year’s Test in Sydney starting on January 7, before wrapping up in Brisbane on January 15 — after the Gabba was shunted from first Test to last due to a forced reshuffle prompted by pandemic complications.

As expected, the West Australian government has completely wiped Perth off the map, with the wild west not hosting a single international this summer due to strict quarantining laws.

Sydney has come out a massive winner, after the NSW government came to the rescue with an offer to quarantine the Indian cricket team — and allow its players to train — which Queensland was not willing to do.

It means Sydney and Canberra will host the lucrative six- match limited- overs series to start the summer, which will start on November 27 at the SCG and finish at the same venue on December 8, with the two middle matches in the ACT. The shock Queensland government knock- back put an 11th hour spanner in the works, but CA scrambled quickly to have a new quarantining deal rubber- stamped by NSW within 72 hours.

The announcement is a major relief for Cricket Australia, which was under pressure from broadcasters and stakeholders to lock in details of the schedule.

A revised Big Bash League schedule is also expected soon.

India has already named its three squads for the white- ball series to start the summer, and it’s expected Australian selectors will soon announce a squad for three one- dayers and three Twenty20s.

Australia is desperate to exact Border Gavaskar series revenge on India, after Kohli’s men beat them on Australian soil for the first time two summers ago when Steve Smith, pictured, and David Warner were suspended.

India is still the team to beat in Test cricket, but since then Australia has welcomed back its two superstars and seen the emergence of Marnus Labuschagne to claim the No 1 ranking.

Nick Hockley, CA’s interim chief executive officer, thanked the Board of Control for Cricket in India for confirming the tour despite the substantial challenges of the pandemic.

India’s squad will arrive in Sydney on November 12 subject to Australian Border Force travel authorisation and the appropriate departure approvals.

The team will quarantine in Sydney before the first match of the series on November 27.