Australia's FTP includes a Test match against Afghanistan

The matches will be played under the new Test Championship and One-Day league structure.

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Tim Paine
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Australia team (Photo Source: Getty Images)

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has released the Future Tour Program (FTP) of the Australian cricket team. It includes a Test match against Afghanistan in 2020 as they will also witness the return of New Zealand cricket team to the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) for the Boxing Day Test for the first time in 30 years. The new schedule marks a stringent involvement of the Governing body as the new concept of nine-team Test Championship and One-Day league structure has also been taken into consideration.

According to the reports in cricket.com.au, Australia will face Afghanistan at home during their summer of 2020-21 before the four-Test series against India. The Kiwis are also set to visit down under for the Christmas -New Year period in 2019-20 to play Tests. It will be their first appearance in Boxing Day Tests since 1987 in Melbourne.

Also, the five-Test Ashes series will be preserved under the new Championship structure with Australia to tour the UK in 2019 and England to reciprocate in 2021-22. According to the new Test Championship/ ODI League Table guidelines, the international summer in Australia has to feature a maximum of five Test matches and six ODIs per season.

CA chief confirms the development

The Chief Executive of Cricket Australia (CA), James Sutherland, confirmed that the ICC will be strict on scheduling the Test series as part of the Championship proposal. “For both Test cricket and one-day cricket going forward, we won’t have a choice about who we play – that will be determined by the cycle and will be done by the ICC. Notwithstanding that, we obviously want – and the ICC understands the importance of – the regular cycle of Ashes cricket,” he said.

As far as the Ashes is concerned, the marquee Test series in Australia and England would be retained within each four-year cycle. The new schedule has also confirmed that the team from down under will not travel to India for a Test series until October-November 2022.

Here’s Australia’s FTP schedule as per cricket.com.au:

*Afghanistan to play one Test in Australia prior to India’s four-Test tour in the summer of 2020-21

* New Zealand to play Tests in Australia over the Christmas-New Year period of 2019-20, meaning their first Boxing Day Test appearance in Melbourne since 1987

* Five-Test Ashes series to be preserved under the new Championship structure, with Australia to tour the UK in 2019 and England to reciprocate in 2021-22

* Reshaping of the international summer in Australia to feature a maximum of five Test matches and six ODIs per season under the new Test Championship/ODI League Table guidelines

* Australia to return to South Africa in February-March 2020, for first Tests against the Proteas since the seismic events in Durban, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town earlier this year

* South Africa scheduled for Test tour to Australia in 2022-23 when they will feature in Boxing Day-New Year Test window for the first time since 2008

* Australia to play Tests in Bangladesh in February 2020, and will also host Tests against Pakistan in the first part of the 2019-20 home summer

* The next Test tour for Australia to India will not be until October-November 2022

* Australia have no Test cricket scheduled between the conclusion of the home summer in January 2020 and the next Australian season starting in November that year

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