India tour to test Australia as CA unveil gruelling 2026-27 schedule

Melbourne: Cricket Australia on Sunday unveiled its 2026-27 international calendar with a packed itinerary leaving little turnaround time ahead of the marquee Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India, expected to begin in mid or late-January.

The five-Test away series against India next year is set to be a decisive phase in an unprecedented and taxing schedule for Pat Cummins’ ageing side.

Australia are slated to play 10 Tests in a 14-week window between December and March, making it one of the most demanding stretches in their history.

The home season will commence in August 2026, with two Tests against Bangladesh and conclude in March 2027 with a day-night spectacle at the MCG — the 150th anniversary Test against England.

The home series against New Zealand has been squeezed into a window of just over four weeks, while Australia’s tour of South Africa later this year runs until the end of October, followed by an eight-match white-ball series against England in November.

“That Border-Gavaskar Trophy tour, a final frontier for the likes of Cummins, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon, who have never won a series in India, will also be a quick-fire campaign given CA’s anniversary Test begins back in Melbourne on March 11,” CA said in a statement.

“The call to hold back all three of Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood from at least the first few rounds of the soon-to-begin IPL shows CA is wary of getting their trio to the finishing line of the intense 2026-27 run," it added.

Australia’s Test schedule, August: Two Tests vs Bangladesh (home) October: Three Tests vs South Africa (away) December-January: Four Tests vs New Zealand (home) January-March: Five Tests vs India (away) March 11-15: 150th anniversary Test vs England (home) June: WTC final (if qualified, England) June-August: Five Tests vs England (away).