(Cricket News) Australia A will be hosting the India A side from the last week of October, just ahead of the Border-Gavaskar trophy. Both the list A sides will be involved in couple of four-day games before the all important marquee series between the two nations.
Australia have lost to India in the previous two series at home and would be looking to bounce back and reverse the fortunes. They have been playing some exceptional cricket for the last year or so and have bagged in two ICC titles (World Test Championships and ICC Men’s CWC) under the leadership of Pat Cummins. Cummins would now be eager to dominate the Indian side when the visit to Australia later this year.
The list A series will provide the hosts with an ideal preparation leading up to the big event of the cricketing calendar. Some of Australia’s test regulars might feature in the series by skipping the Pakistan ODIs and T20Is with the dates clashing. Some of India’s test regular might also be there in order to prepare well for the Australian challenge.
The first game will be played from October 31 to November 3 at the Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay before the teams move to Melbourne to play at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground, which will also host the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar series.
The Indian senior side is scheduled to play an intra squad game just after the conclusion of the ‘A’ series. The Intra Squad match is scheduled to played at the WACA in Perth from November 15-17. Indian men’s side has tests scheduled against New Zealand and Bangladesh before the Aussie challenge and they would be raring to make it a hattrick of series wins in the Australian soil.
“Hosting those A matches at the upgraded Great Barrier Reef Arena and the MCG give these ‘A’ matches significant status and will provide great opportunities to players from both sides to put up their hand for selection,” Peter Roach, CA Head of Cricket Operations and Scheduling said.
