Australia will play a day-night Test at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) against archrivals England in 2027 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Test cricket, Cricket Australia (CA) announced on Tuesday.
The 150th Anniversary Test will be played from March 11-15, 2027, and will be the first time the Australian team will play a Test under lights at the MCG, the scene of the first Test match in 1877 and the Centenary Test in 1977 – remarkably, both won by Australia by 45 runs.
This will follow the historic first day-night Test at the MCG earlier this year where Australia’s women completed an Ashes clean-sweep.
Late arrival of Australian and England players in IPL 2027?
The match, which will come after Australia’s five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in India 2027, is also likely to mean the late arrival of Australia and England players to the 2027 Indian Premier League, with IPL franchises told to expect that year’s tournament to run between March 14 and May 30.
“The 150th Anniversary Test at the MCG will be one of the great cricket events and playing under lights will be a fantastic way to celebrate both our game’s rich heritage and Test cricket’s modern evolution,” Todd Greenberg, CEO of CA said.
“It will also help ensure more people are able to attend and watch what will be a fantastic occasion. The Centenary Test created many iconic performances including David Hookes’ five consecutive boundaries off Tony Greig, Rick McCosker batting with a broken jaw and Derek Randall’s defiant century, and I’m sure the 150th Test will create its own lifelong memories,” he added.
That Test will also make it the latest in the home summer a men’s Test has been staged in Australia since the 1978-79 series against Pakistan (which ended on March 29).
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