Australia open to playing Test against England in India
England and Australia should be open to the idea of playing a Test match in India to help generate interest in the format, says the
England and Australia should be open to the idea of playing a Test match in India to help generate interest in the format, says the chief executive of Cricket Australia. The two sides traditionally only meet in Test cricket as part of an Ashes series, which is played on a home-and-away basis, with each country hosting it roughly every four years. Australia and England are, though, poised to play a one-off Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in March 2027 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the first meeting between the sides.
And Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg told BBC Sport the prospect of taking international cricket's most storied - and marketable - Test rivalry to India should be on the table. A non-Ashes fixture of this nature would need buy-in from both the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). "It's not something that we are planning, but it's open for consideration. We'd have to be open to considering all options," Greenberg said. "Our relationship with the ECB and the BCCI is very strong and clearly there are opportunities in India to put more content in certain areas." Cricket Australia is already looking to expand its footprint in India by taking the Big Bash League overseas for the first time, with Melbourne Renegades due to face Perth Scorchers in Chennai in December.
The governing body says the move is designed to grow the competition's global appeal by tapping into cricket's biggest market. The popularity of Test matches in India have declined in the modern era amid a diet of T20 and the dominance of the Indian Premier League. Greenberg said there was "no doubt" a one-off England v Australia Test played on Indian soil would capture the imagination. "I think Test cricket between us, India and England is very strong and probably bucking the trend in some other parts of the world.
We want to make sure we grow and strengthen it," he said.
The BriefWire