Aussies slip in Test rankings as Ashes schedule firms

Australia has slipped to fourth, behind England, on the latest ICC Test rankings amid reports of a men's summer schedule that will see Perth host the fifth Ashes Test for the first time since 1995.

While Cricket Australia is yet to officially confirm international fixtures for the 2021-22 summer, the men's season is expected to start with a Hobart Test match against Afghanistan before the five-match Vodafone Ashes series.

The ICC's annual update to its Test rankings has dropped results from the 2017-18 summer, when Australia won the Ashes 4-0.

That gave Joe Root's team a three-point boost, while simultaneously dropping Australia five points in the ICC's complex algorithm, allowing England to leapfrog the Aussies up to third place ahead of their home season that will see them play Tests against India and New Zealand, the top two ranked teams.

Australia is not scheduled to play Test cricket again until the Afghanistan Test, expected to start in late November a fortnight after the T20 World Cup, a buffer that will give Australia's multi-format players time to clear quarantine and play a red-ball match before the much-anticipated showdown with England.

Western Australia Cricket Association chief executive Christina Matthews all-but confirmed Perth would host the fifth Test on Perth radio today.

"Hopefully we come to the last Test at Perth at 2-2 and it all rides on a very bouncy Optus Stadium wicket," Matthews told SEN WA.

"There is still some work being done on finalising the schedule (but) the most important thing is we will definitely be having an Ashes Test and a white-ball game later in the season.

"It is good news for Western Australia having missed out entirely on international cricket last year."

Perth had originally been scheduled to host a Test match against Afghanistan in the 2020-21 summer before the full effects of the Covid-19 pandemic were felt, and the city has not hosted any men's international cricket since the day-night Test against New Zealand in December 2019.

An expected mid-January start date for Perth's fifth Ashes Test would mean it would be 25 months between visits for the Justin Langer coached Australian men's team.

"I think we're dealt a very harsh card by CA at times in terms of scheduling, and inconsistency in how they approach cricket in WA," Matthews added.

"Back in 2014 we didn't get an Indian Test and we were very firmly told by CA at the time our ground wasn't up to scratch and if Optus Stadium came to be we would never be in that position again.

"Well we saw what happened last year pre-Covid, we weren't allocated an Indian Test yet we had the newest stadium in the country.

"It's been very difficult but I'll always continue to fight for what I believe is right for cricket fans and the game in WA, and we deserve to be at the forefront of the allocation of major fixtures. "

Not since Craig McDermott took 6-38 at the WACA in February 1995 has an Ashes series concluded in Perth.

The Ashes series will start at the Gabba, having retained its traditional position as the host of the first Ashes Test.

Cricket Australia confirmed the Gabba as this summer's Ashes starting point back in mid-2019 along with a $35m upgrade of the corporate and media facilities at the venue ahead of the 2020 T20 World Cup that was subsequently postponed.

The Brisbane venue, which is planned to undergo a major overhaul with a $1 billion rebuild should Brisbane win hosting rights for the 2032 Olympic Games, had been an impregnable fortress until India broke Australia's 31-match unbeaten streak in January.

Australia has won six of the nine Ashes Tests at the Gabba since it was installed as host of the opening match in 1986, losing just once.

ICC Men's Test Team Rankings

1 India (121 points)

2 New Zealand (120)

3 England (109)

4 Australia (108)

5 Pakistan (94)

6 West Indies (84)

7 South Africa (80)

8 Sri Lanka (78)

9 Bangladesh (46)

10 Zimbabwe (35)