For the first time in six years, the Australia’s men’s team will tour Sri Lanka in June for a three-format tour which will end with two Tests at the famous Galle International Stadium, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) confirmed on Friday.
The five-week tour will comprise three T20s, five one-day internationals and two Tests. While the eight white-ball matches will be held at the historic Premadasa Stadium in Colombo and the Pallekele International Stadium in Kandy between June 7 and June 24, the two Test matches, which will be part of the World Test Championship (WTC), will be played in Galle from June 29 to July 3 and July 8-12.
Commenting on the upcoming tour, Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley said: “We played some very competitive T20 internationals against Sri Lanka at home earlier this year and we are excited to tour there for the first time since 2016 in what is sure to be another terrific Test and white ball series.”
“There is no more challenging place to play cricket than on the subcontinent and this tour offers our players invaluable experience and another great opportunity to excel on the world stage,” he added.
On the other hand, SLC CEO, Ashley De Silva said: “We are in for some exciting cricket, especially considering that an Australian tour to Sri Lanka is taking place after (six) years, since last time they toured Sri Lanka (in 2016),” said SLC .
“The T20 Series will help our preparations for the T20I World Cup, whilst the Test and ODI segments are also competitions of immense value for us, as we aim to move through the ICC World Test Championship rankings and also gearing up for the ICC Men’s World Cup in 2023,” he added
Notably, Australia had last toured the island nation in 2016, when they endured a whitewash in the three-match Test series.
The tourists however, won the ODI leg of the tour beside sweeping the T20I series 2-0.
Australia’s Tour of Sri Lanka 2022 (FULL SCHEDULE)
June 7: First T20, Colombo
June 8: Second T20, Colombo
June 11: Third T20, Kandy
June 14: First ODI, Kandy
June 16: Second ODI, Kandy
June 19: Third ODI, Colombo
June 21: Fourth ODI, Colombo
June 24: Fifth ODI, Colombo
June 29 – July 3: First Test, Galle
July 8-12: Second Test, Galle