Black Caps return to the MCG
BOXING DAY SPECIAL
Captain Kane Williamson wasn’t even born the last time New Zealand played a Boxing Day test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Finally the wait is over for the Black Caps and Williamson who will lead them out in Australia’s flagship match, 32 years on from their last MCG test.
New Zealand Cricket confirmed its team will face Australia at the MCG on Boxing Day next year as part of a three-test, three-ODI series.
It forms part of a bumper 2019-20 season also featuring inbound tours by England (two tests, five Twenty20s) preChristmas, and India (two tests, three one-day internationals, five T20s) in February-March. The International Cricket Council released the schedule for the new test championship and ODI qualification league yesterday.
‘‘There’s a lot to look forward to, but it’s hard to go past the three-match test series in Australia next year as a highlight,’’ Williamson said.
Not since the great Sir Richard Hadlee was defied by Australian No 11 Mike Whitney in the epic draw of 1987 has New Zealand played an MCG test.
England (eight times), India (six), West Indies (five), South Africa (five), Pakistan (four) and Sri Lanka (two) have all featured since then. India are Australia’s Boxing Day opponents this year.
Australia will likely be back to full strength, by which time bans for Steve Smith and David Warner for the South African ball tampering saga will have ended.
New Zealand will need to overcome a poor recent record across the Tasman, too. Since their 2-1 Hadlee-inspired series win in 1985, they won just one of their next 22 tests in Australia, in Hobart in 2011. On their last big occasion at the MCG, New Zealand suffered a heavy 2015 World Cup final defeat to Australia before a packed house of 93,000.
Melbourne aside, venues are yet to be confirmed for the Australian tour but, given it’s a threetest series the Black Caps will likely grace the Sydney Cricket Ground for the traditional New Year test.
The Future Tours Programme, covering all men’s international cricket until 2023, is the first to incorporate the new test and ODI structures. The nine top-ranked sides will play six test series in a two-year cycle, with the two topranked sides progressing to the June 2021 final for the World Test Championship.