MCG to host Australia v England 150th anniversary Test

The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) played host to a single-innings match from 15 to 19 March 1877, with Australia winning by 45 runs, before England won the second match at the same venue to tie the series 1-1.

The 100-year anniversary of the inaugural Test was also marked with a Test between Australia and England at the MCG in 1977, with Australia again winning by 45 runs.

Cricket Australia (CA) also revealed the MCG will continue to host the traditional Boxing Day Test while the New Year's Test will remain at the Sydney Cricket Ground - both through to 2030-31.

CA confirmed that the Adelaide Oval will host the December 'Christmas Test' in either day-night or day format and the 'West Test' in Perth, Western Australia, will be Australia's opener for the next three years.

That means the next men's Ashes in 2025-26 will begin at a venue other than the Gabba in Brisbane for the first time since 1982-83, and it will be the first Ashes Test played at Perth's Optus Stadium.

Later in the series, Brisbane is set to host a day-nighter rather than Adelaide, which has hosted seven of the 12 pink-ball Tests in Australia.

"The 150th anniversary Test match at the MCG in March 2027 will be a wonderful celebration of the pinnacle format of the game at one of the world's great sporting arenas and we can't wait to host England on that occasion," said CA's chief executive Nick Hockley.

It could be the latest date in a home summer that a men's Test has been staged in Australia since the 1978-79 series against Pakistan.

The 2026-27 season will be the first in 50 years that the Gabba will not host a Test.

The Queensland venue has been guaranteed games against India and England during the next two seasons but there is uncertainty over its redevelopment before Brisbane hosts the 2032 Olympics.

Perth's Optus Stadium holds 60,000 and has replaced the Waca as the Western Australian capital city's premier cricket venue.

It was due to host its first Ashes Test during the 2021-22 series but Covid-19 restrictions meant it had to be moved to Hobart, Tasmania.

'Excitement already growing' for next Ashes challenge

The switching of the first Ashes Test to Perth has been an open secret for some time.

Even if Australia's Brisbane fortress has been breached by India and West Indies in recent times, England will be pleased not to start at the Gabbatoir. They have not won there since 1986 and have some pretty awful memories - Rory Burns' golden duck, Steve Harmison's wide and Simon Jones' injury to name just a few.

Then again, their record in Perth is worse. They have not won on the west coast since 1978, albeit if all of those games were at the Waca, not the shiny new Optus Stadium.

Perhaps most intriguing is the Adelaide Test, usually second and most recently a day-nighter, shifts to number three in the series and will be a traditional red-ball Test. Brisbane will have a day-night match as the second contest.

Realistically, the order of matches, the venues and balls do little to alter the size of England's task. Bar the memorable series win in 2010-11, their record down under since 1987 is absolutely abysmal.

Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum have started putting their plans into place, there remains some needle from last summer's series in the UK and the next contest down under will be a last Ashes for some stalwarts on both sides.

It is still more than a year away, but the anticipation and excitement is already growing.

Pakistan shift second Bangladesh Test

Meanwhile, Pakistan have shifted their second Test against Bangladesh later this month from Karachi to Rawalpindi.

Rawalpindi was already scheduled to host the first Test, which begins on 21 August.

The stadium in Karachi, which is due to host the second Test of England's three-Test tour in October, is undergoing works in preparation for next year's Champions Trophy.

The Pakistan Cricket Board said: “At this stage, we will not like to speculate on the hosting of the second Test in Karachi from 15-19 October and will continue to work closely with the architects and construction experts on the safe and secure hosting of the match, while keeping the England and Wales Cricket Board updated.”

-BBC