Expanded India series, more tours for Aussies in new FTP

The reinstatement of five-Test men's series against India, increased touring obligations and a squeeze on Australia's peak international season are among headline elements in the new global playing schedule released today.

The International Cricket Council's men's Future Tours Program (FTP) covers the playing period up until March 2027, with the women's version announced yesterday, and reveals a matrix in which an ever-increasing number of series and tournaments are crammed into the annual window.

According to today's document, Australia's men's team will play 49 Tests, 52 ODIs and 63 T20Is, as well as matches at ICC showpiece events, between now and the end of the next playing cycle.

However, Indian authorities' push to grow each men's IPL season by an additional two weeks (from mid-March to late-May) coupled with the ICC's expansion of its range of global tournaments to one per year in the new FTP cycle has placed even greater pressure on bilateral fixturing.

With six Test-playing nations (Australia, India, Pakistan, New Zealand, South Africa and Zimbabwe) historically playing international cricket between October and March, and three others (West Indies, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka) also preferring that window, there is little room to manoeuvre.

And with the ICC scheduling its global events – the ODI World Cup, revived ODI Champions Trophy (both every four years) and biennial T20 World Cups – into that crammed period for the next FTP, around 15 extra weeks have been stripped from the available international programs over four years.

Australia have successfully managed to maintain a significant slice of their historical favoured window for international men's cricket of November-January.

"The sustained success of our men’s and women’s teams has played a key role throughout negotiations and has ultimately secured Australian cricket fans consistently high-quality international cricket over the coming years," said CA's Head of Cricket Operations and Scheduling, Peter Roach.

But the national men's team will find themselves occasionally playing in non-traditional timeslots, notably a five-Test Border-Gavaskar series in India at the height of the home summer in 2027, and more mid-year international cricket at venues in Far North Queensland and the Northern Territory.

Australia host Zimbabwe and New Zealand in Townsville and Cairns respectively for three-match ODI series, starting later this month.

CA's preferred model for men's international seasons will be white-ball matches preceding five Tests (held in December-early January) with the remainder of the school holiday period providing 'clear air' for the BBL and women's internationals.

The reinstatement of five-match men's Test series against India elevates competition for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to the same level as the Ashes, with the first of those contests to be staged in Australia in the 2024-25 summer followed by a return bout in India in January-February 2027.

Australia's maiden Test series against India in 1947-48 was a five-match affair and in 1979 India hosted a six-Test contest but since the most recent five-game campaign here (1991-92) battles between the great rivals have varied from one (1996) to four matches.

While around three quarters of Cricket Australia's revenue is derived from men's international matches, a large proportion of that emanates from the contests staged with India and England.

Consequently, CA has successfully pushed for increased content with those long-standing rivals throughout the current FTP and the subsequent iteration (covering 2027-31) with five-Test series to be complemented by expanded white-ball campaigns (mostly five T20Is and three ODIs).

CA has also recognised the importance of more regular fixturing against Pakistan and Bangladesh – both significant cricket-loving populations and potentially commercial growth markets – and has secured white-ball tours to both nations in the next two FTPs, as well as a home white-ball campaign against Pakistan in November 2024.

The inclusion of away men's Test tours during the traditional height of Australia summer – to Sri Lanka (two Tests) in January-February 2025, as well as the India sojourn – marks one of several breaks with tradition in the new FTP.

Another is the return of early autumn men's Test matches in Australia, last seen in the schedule during the late 1970s.

Under the new FTP, Australia will host Bangladesh for two Tests in March 2027 immediately following the five-Test campaign in India.

It will be Bangladesh's first Test visit to Australia since 2003 when they were involved in the historic maiden matches staged in Darwin and Cairns, and the first time men's Tests have been programmed so late in the Australia season since New Zealand were hosted in Melbourne and Perth in March, 1979.

The need to create new windows in the crowded schedule will also likely see the return of Test cricket to the Top End, which has not hosted men's Tests since the Sri Lanka series of 2004 and most recently staged white-ball cricket when Bangladesh played three ODIs in Darwin in 2008.

Visits by South Africa (three ODIs, three T20Is in 2025) and the maiden tour by Afghanistan (one Test, three T20Is in 2026) are listed for August in those respective years.

"Darwin, Cairns, Townsville and Mackay are the logical venues to be looking to host some of that content," said Roach.

Following the success of recent tours to Pakistan and Sri Lanka against challenging geo-political backdrops, as well as to England, West Indies and Bangladesh at the height of the pandemic, CA is also committed to further rehabilitating its reputation as a 'good global citizen' by ensuring regular matches against developing international opponents.

For the men's team, that includes an inaugural tour to Ireland and reciprocal series against Afghanistan in the current FTP as well as series in Zimbabwe and Netherlands during the 2027-31 program.

"We understand and recognise there have been times when we haven't been seen as a good touring opponent," said Roach.

"We are really trying to improve that reputation. The important point is, playing them away is when they benefit most.

"They retain all the revenue and all the opportunities that flow from hosting us in their backyard."

Among the other notable elements of the new FTP, which was signed-off by ICC member nations at their recent meeting ahead of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham are:

• Men's matches (across all three formats) against both England and India scheduled every playing year between now and 2026-27

• First men's bilateral series between Australia and Ireland (three ODIs, one T20I) scheduled for Ireland in August-September 2024

• Men's Test tour to South Africa in September-October 2026 reflects the Proteas' preference to no longer travel during December-January (when their domestic T20 competition will be held) and loss of their traditional March window to IPL

• After West Indies men's team play consecutive Test series in Australia (2022-23 and 2023-24), Australia return to Caribbean in June-July 2025 for first Tests there since 2015

While most of the bilateral competitions are the result of negotiations between participating boards, the ICC mandates Test fixtures in line with its World Test Championship protocols with Australia drawn to play Pakistan, West Indies and India (home) and England, New Zealand and Sri Lanka (away) in the 2023-25 version of the WTC.

In the 2025-27 Championship, Australia must play England, New Zealand and Bangladesh (home) and West Indies, South Africa and India (away), with the dissolution of the ICC's Super League (ODI format) from next year ensuring there is no such mandate dictating opponents in ODI or T20 cricket.

Click here to see the Australian FTP in full