150th Anniversary Test: Ashes rivals to play day-night Test
England’s one-off match against Australia in 2027 to mark 150 years of Test cricket will be a day-night fixture, organisers have announced.
The match in Melbourne, dubbed the 150th Anniversary Test, is scheduled to take place on 11-15 March 2027 – exactly two years from now – and be the first men’s pink-ball clash at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
It is set to serve as an appetiser for England’s next home men’s Ashes series later that year. They head to Australia this winter in a bid to win the urn for the first time in a decade.
“The 150th Anniversary Test at the MCG will be one of the great cricket events and playing under lights will be a fantastic way to celebrate both our game’s rich heritage and Test cricket’s modern evolution,” said Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg.
“This season’s Ashes Series will whet the appetite for this clash in exactly two years, and we look forward to celebrating this historic occasion further as it draws nearer.”
Australia’s women beat England in the first day-night Test match played at the MCG earlier this year during the Ashes.
Their men, meanwhile, have won 12 out of their 13 previous pink-ball Tests on home soil.
The first ever Test match was played between Australia and England at the MCG in 1877, with the hosts winning by 45 runs. A Centenary Test, also in Melbourne, finished with the same result and winning margin in 1977.
England have won just four of their last 20 Ashes Tests against their oldest foes since reclaiming the Ashes with a 3-2 series victory in the summer of 2015.
Their record is even worse when touring, having failed to win a Test Down Under since 2010-11, the middle of a run of three consecutive Ashes series wins for England.