The Gabba has been a traditional start-of-the-season fortress for Australia,who went unbeaten from 1989 to 2019 at the ground. However,Australia have lost two of their last four Tests there,against India in 2021 – which cost them the series and a place in the World Test Championship final – and most dramatically against the West Indies by eight runs in January.
Significantly,those two losses came in two of just three Tests over the past 30 years in Brisbane which were not the first of a series.
Crowds at Perth’s Optus Stadium for the Pakistan Test in December were poor.Credit:Getty
CA and the West Australian Cricket Association will again join forces in a push toimprove attendances in Perth.
Sources close to CA,who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the schedule has not yet been officially announced,confirmed enhancing Test cricket in Perth was a priority for the governing body. The new 60,000-seat Perth Stadium has been sparsely occupied during Tests in recent seasons,but much busier for Perth Scorchers matches in the BBL.
The highest attendance across the four days of the Perth Test against Pakistan last December was 17,666 on day two,while the lowest attendance of six Scorchers matches was 28,494. Two of those matches attracted crowds of over 40,000.
With cricket heavyweights India and England to tour Australia over the next two years,Perth’s Test crowd figures should increase significantly.
The day-night Test at the Adelaide Oval will be the second Test of the summer.Credit:Getty Images
The same sources confirmed that playing the series opener in Perth,with its three-hour time difference,and the day-night Test in Adelaide would give cricket a primetime lead-in to the Big Bash on Channel Seven and Fox. The Twenty20 competition could then be played without interruption from mid-December to the end of January.
The first Test,beginning in late November,would also sneak into the ratings period for Channel Seven.
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The Australian season will start with three one-day matches and three T20 internationals against Pakistan in November.
David Warner is currently negotiating a new two-year contract with the Sydney Thunder which would fit around his Fox Sports commentary commitments at the five Tests.
The veteran left-hander is one of 17 Australians named in the IPL,which begins on Saturday. IPL form will have a major bearing on fringe selections for Australia’s 15-man squad for the Twenty20 World Cup,to be played in the West Indies and the USA this June.
That makes things increasingly awkward for Steve Smith,who is attending the IPL as a commentator. He has been overlooked by IPL clubs since 2021.