ST JOHN’S, Antigua (CMC):
West Indies men’s and women’s teams will be part of a packed home international summer of matches for Australia between October this year and February next year.
According to a Cricket West Indies news release yesterday, West Indies Women will tour in October for three One-Day and three Twenty20 Internationals, while West Indies Men will tour between January and February next year for two Tests, three ODIs and three T20Is.
The women’s ODI series carries additional significance for West Indies and Australia as they seek to earn crucial points in the ongoing ICC Women’s Championship campaign (2022-25), which forms part of the qualification pathway for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 to be held in India.
“We are looking forward to this opportunity to play against Australia as part of the ICC Women’s Championship cycle,” West Indies Women’s captain Hayley Matthews said.
“We look forward to putting up a strong fight, as we’ve been working hard to refine our skills and strategies. I’m sure the fans are going to see some entertaining cricket.”
West Indies Men will feature in the only pink-ball Test of the Australia summer, which will be the second Test from January 25 to 29 at the Gabba, where the visitors last played 14 years ago, with the first Test to be played from January 17-21 at the Adelaide Oval.
The Tests will be part of the 2023-25 ICC Men’s World Test Championship.
Another important factor for Cricket Australia in formulating the men’s schedule was the requirement for West Indies to depart Australia by mid-February to meet their tour commitments to Pakistan.
Consequently, the three ODIs and three T20Is between the two sides have been scheduled from February 2 to 13 for Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, Hobart, Adelaide, and Perth to round out the schedule.