Australia are taking a short break following the recent tour of Sri Lanka but the schedule is about to get busy, with the T20 World Cup, which starts in October, the highlight.
The tour of Sri Lanka was a disappointing one for the Aussies and now it is time to regroup and get ready to go again with a busy six months on the cards.
Australia would have been hoping for more from the trip to Sri Lanka. They were outplayed in the One Day International series and trailed 3-1 before winning the final match to give the scoreline a bit of respectability.
The two-match Test series started well with Australia winning the first clash by 10 wickets but it all went horribly wrong in the second match.
They collapsed in their second innings as Sri Lanka went on to win the match by an innings and 39 runs.
Australia were ravaged through injury throughout the tour and they will be hoping that is the end of their bad luck as they approach the rest of 2022.
So let’s take a closer look at what is in store for Pat Cummins side for the rest of the year.
ICC Men’s T20 World Cup
Australia are of course the defending champions and are priced at 10/3 to go on and retain their crown in front of their own supporters.
The tournament will run throughout October and November and the matches will be played at all the top cricket venues throughout Australia – Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide and Hobart.
The final is set to be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 13th November and the pressure will be on the Aussies to get there at the very least.
Australia are in Group 1 along with England, New Zealand, Afghanistan and the two qualifiers from the first round.
They will begin their campaign against New Zealand at the SCG on 22nd October, with the highlight of the group stage being the showdown with the old enemy England at the MCG on 28th October.
The Aussies wrap up the group stage against Afghanistan at the Adelaide Oval on 4th November.
Sandwiched in between will be the games against the qualifiers. One will be played in Perth and the other in Brisbane.
The competition will of course be fierce but the Australian supporters will be expecting nothing less than a victory from skipper Aaron Finch and the rest of the players.
Zimbabwe and New Zealand ODI series
Australia return to action for the first time since the Sri Lanka tour when they entertain Zimbabwe in a three-match ODI series.
All three matches will take place at the Riverway Stadium in Townsville, North Queensland. The first match will take place on 28th August, with the second game on 31st August.
The series will be concluded on 3rd September and the Aussies will be the hot fancies for the whitewash.
The Aussies then jump straight into another thee-match ODI series against New Zealand. They are on the road again, this time to Cairns with all three matches taking place at the Cazalys Stadium.
The matches will be played on 6th, 8th and 11th September and a close, exciting series is anticipated.
T20 World Cup preparation
Australia start to get warmed up for the defence of their T20 World Cup title with two games against the West Indies and then three against England.
First up is two games against the West Indies. The first will be played on 5th October at Metricon Stadium on the Gold Coast with the second being played at the Gabba, Brisbane, on 7th October.
Then there are three games against England. The first will be played at Perth’s Optus Stadium on 9th October before they switch to Canberra for the other two games to be played on 12th and 14th October.
The rest of 2022 and into 2023
Once the T20 World Cup is done and dusted, the Aussies jump into a three-match ODI series against England with the games taking place on 17th, 19th and 22nd November in Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne respectively.
Then it is on to a summer of Test cricket on home soil. First up is a two-match Test series against the West Indies to be played in Perth and then Adelaide.
South Africa then arrive in Australia for a three-match Test series. The first Test will be at the Gabba starting on the 17th December.
The traditional Boxing Day Test will of course be at the MCG, before everyone heads to Sydney for the third Test which begins on 4th January.
