Far North to host one-day matches

CAIRNS is likely to host Zimbabwe and/or New Zealand in white ball matches in August and Brisbane is the frontrunner to win the race to host the first Australia and South Africa Test match since Sandpapergate this summer.

News Corp understands that the first cricket in Australia this season will kick off well before the NRL and AFL has even reached finals time, with Zimbabwe and New Zealand coming out to play white ball matches in Townsville and Cairns in August and September.

Perth – which hasn’t hosted a Test in two summers due to the pandemic – appears poised to open the summer by hosting the first Test against the West Indies, with Adelaide in line to host the second match against the reinvigorated Windies.

The Gabba is then expected to lead off a three-Test showdown against Australia’s great rivals the Proteas which will culminate with the marquee Tests in Melbourne and Sydney.

It would be a huge boost for Brisbane as it braces for the Gabba to be taken out of play later this decade ahead of a complete reconstruction for the 2032 Olympic Games.

Meanwhile, selectors are set to name the touring squad for the June and July tour of Sri Lanka in the coming days, with Australia’s big guns likely to turn out for the white ball matches as well as the two Tests.

Cricket Australia is yet to finalise its schedule but if the Gabba lands the South African first Test, it would confirm Australian players still very much consider Brisbane to be its Fortress – despite the chastening loss to India there two summers ago.

South Africa has not toured Australia since 2016, when Cricket Australia scheduled the first Test in Perth.