NZ v Australia to open up summer?
A shot at test cricket revenge against Australia on home soil in November is one mouth-watering prospect for the Black Caps as discussions continue around a fastchanging international schedule.
Two home tests against the side who demolished New Zealand 3-0 across the Tasman in December-January are a distinct prospect for home fans to welcome in season 2020-21 which could also see England and potentially even India visit our shores.
Regular discussions continue between New Zealand Cricket (NZC) chief executive David White and his Cricket Australia (CA) counterpart Kevin Roberts amid the Covid-19 sporting shutdown, with a trans-Tasman bubble likely to hasten international sporting contact between the countries.
No dates or fixtures are locked in yet as the cricket world begins to reshuffle its major events.
The first order of business is October’s men’s Twenty20 World Cup in Australia, which will almost certainly be postponed until either February or the following October.
In its place, the Telegraph reports, is the delayed Indian Premier League which the powerful BCCI has pencilled in for September
25 until November 1, potentially in empty stadiums.
Then there’s India’s lucrative four-test tour of Australia starting in December, worth a reported A$300 million to CA’s coffers and almost certain to go ahead assuming Australia’s government plays ball.
understands CA is keen for its test side to have a warm-up series for their headline act of the summer and NZC is happy to oblige by staging two TransTasman Trophy tests in November. Australia and the Black Caps would likely play return whiteball internationals later in the summer.
Asked if Australia tests to open the home summer were being discussed, White said in a statement: ‘‘I’m in regular contact with Cricket Australia over the current situation and the potential possibilities that might arise for 2020-21 but it’s too early to be discussing specifics.’’ New Zealand’s domestic cricket season will start as usual in October, White has confirmed. The Black Caps’ scheduled tour to Bangladesh in August is almost certain to be canned. White is also understood to have held discussions with his England counterpart Tom Harrison – not to the advanced levels of those with Australia – and if England’s schedule opens up in December and New Zealand remains Covid-19 free, then a test and limited overs series concurrent with the Australia-India tests could be explored. There’s also scope for a triseries with England and Australia later in the summer, or even more mind-boggling, a quadseries involving India. No discussions with India have taken place but the fact they will be in Australia helps NZC’s position amid the trans-Tasman bubble.
Bangladesh, West Indies, Pakistan and Sri Lanka were all scheduled to tour New Zealand pre-Covid but the summer schedule is now essentially a blank canvas, pending negotiations with individual boards and governments around tours and accompanying health risks.
Inbound tours are more likely to happen later in the summer, which is also when New Zealand is set to host the Women’s World Cup in February-March.
Its status is unchanged and it could still go ahead, but it would need a rapid improvement in the world health situation, and the International Cricket Council might consider a safety first approach and postpone until later in 2021.