Australia's dominant women's team taking the solo spotlight at the start of the summer before the men's Test team breaks more than a century of tradition by staging their entire program during the school holiday break are features of the 2023-24 Australian international schedule.

The men's and women's international fixtures released by Cricket Australia today feature six Tests (against Pakistan, West Indies and South Africa), as well as nine ODIs and nine T20Is (South Africa and West Indies) at 11 venues across seven cities.

The schedule stretches from October 1, when Australia's all-conquering women's outfit kick off the season with an afternoon T20 clash against 2016 World Cup champions West Indies at North Sydney Oval, to the final men's ODI (also against West Indies in Perth) on February 13.

Among the noteworthy elements within those four and a half months are:

• First home matches of the new World Test Championship cycle for Australia men's team, with Tests against Pakistan (three) and West Indies (two) all staged within the December-January school holidays
• The inaugural Test between Australia and South Africa's women's teams, with the historic encounter to be held at the WACA Ground in Perth which last hosted a women's Test in 2014
• Perth to also stage the opening match of the men's summer when Pakistan make their first Test appearance in the Western Australian capital since 2004, and their maiden five-day outing at Perth Stadium
• Reigning ODI and T20 Women's World Cup champions Australia to feature in a multi-format series against South Africa having defeated the Proteas in the 20-over Cup final at Cape Town earlier this year.
• Meg Lanning's line-up will also have the international stage to themselves for the first 10 weeks of the home summer, with Pat Cummins' team in India for the ICC ODI World Cup that is scheduled to finish on November 19.

Australia women's team begin with a three-match CommBank T20I series against West Indies at North Sydney Oval and Brisbane, before a further three CommBank ODIs against the same opponent at Allan Border Field and in Melbourne.

The CommBank multi-format series against South Africa begins late January with T20 and ODI matches in Canberra, Hobart, Adelaide and Sydney before culminating in the historic inaugural Test meeting between the teams in Perth.

The summer of cricket for the Australian women's side will also feature a highly-anticipated multi-format tour of India over December and January that follows that ninth season of the WBBL.

Immediately after the ICC World Cup, Australia's men's team will remain in India for a bilateral white-ball series before returning home to begin their NRMA Insurance Test campaign (against Pakistan in Perth) from December 14, ensuring a different look to the Test schedule.

It will be the latest start to a men's Test summer of five or more matches since the 1924-25 Ashes battle that kicked off at the SCG on December 19, 1924.

After Australia and Pakistan fought out a gruelling three-Test battle on flat pitches in Pakistan last year, where Cummins' team emerged triumphant 1-0, both sides' renowned pace attacks will doubtless relish the chance to unleash on the traditionally pacy Perth track.

Pakistan’s only previous first-class outing at Perth Stadium saw then 16-year-old quick Naseem Shah unleash a brutal spell against Australia A in 2019, after fellow quick Imran Khan had scythed through the home team’s top order to capture 5-32.

 

Due to a quirk of the ICC's latest Future Tours Program – the recently released matrix that dictates each team's home and away opponents across all formats for the next four years – Australia host the West Indies men's team for the second time in as many summers.

With Pakistan scheduled to tour during the December-January period, and given the delayed start to the men's Test summer due to proximity of the 50-over World Cup in India, Cricket Australia's conundrum was which venue of Perth and Adelaide hosted the West Indies twice in succession for Tests.

Given the disappointing attendance for last year's Australia-West Indies Test at Perth Stadium and CA's hopes to grow the market in Western Australia, it opted to stage the first Pakistan Test in WA with Adelaide's mid-January fixture reverting to day status rather than its recent tradition of day-night.

The summer's only pink-ball Test match will be the second match between Australia and West Indies at the Gabba where the Caribbean visitors last played in 2009.

With a bulk of men's Tests being played at the height of summer in January, CA opted for a day-night fixture in Brisbane to avoid the heat and humidity of earlier in the day.

The men's Test scheduling also means those players who specialise in white-ball formats will be available for much of the KFC BBL season, which confirmed a reduction in total matches for BBL|13 on Friday.

Another key factor in formulating the men's schedule was the West Indies' requirement to depart Australia by mid-February to meet their FTP commitments with Pakistan.

As a consequence, the three Dettol ODIs and three Dettol T20Is between Australia and West Indies have been scheduled for Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, Hobart, Adelaide and Perth from February 2-13 to round out the summer's international schedule.

Australia's men's team then travel to New Zealand for a series of two Tests and three T20Is, as per the FTP. 

The domestic men's and women's schedules for 2023-24 are expected to be released in the coming weeks.

CA also announced today that entry level ticket prices have been frozen for an eighth consecutive year, with prices for men's international matches starting at $30 for adults, $10 for children and $65 for families.

Fans are able to access early bird ticket prices by joining the Australian Cricket Family pre-sale that begins on 17 May, with ACF members eligible for a 15 per cent discount on tickets for select seating categories before tickets go on sale to the public on 6 June.

"Cricket provides the sights and sounds of the summer and brings Australians together like no other sport and we can’t wait to welcome fans to watch world class cricket next season," Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley said.

"We look forward to West Indies, Pakistan and South Africa visiting our shores this summer and we thank them along with all our partners, including broadcasters, venues and local governments for their support in bringing world-class cricket to fans around the country.

"We are delighted to be offering our most loyal fans the opportunity to secure the best seats at the best prices in our Australian Cricket Family pre-sale. We’re also proud to be able to keep our entry level ticket prices flat for the eighth consecutive season to ensure as many people as possible can experience and enjoy women's and men’s international cricket."

2023-24 Australian home international schedule

(All times local)

Women's CommBank T20I Series v West Indies

October 1: North Sydney Oval, 12.30pm

October 2: North Sydney Oval, 7.05pm

October 5: Allan Border Field, Brisbane 6.05pm

Women's CommBank ODI Series v West Indies

October 8: Allan Border Field, Brisbane 9.35am

October 12: Junction Oval, Melbourne 10.05am

October 14: Junction Oval, Melbourne 10.05am

Women's CommBank T20I Series v South Africa

January 27: Manuka Oval, Canberra 10.45am

January 28: Manuka Oval, Canberra 10.45am

January 30: Blundstone Arena, Hobart 7.05pm

Women's CommBank ODI Series v South Africa

February 3: Adelaide Oval, 2.10pm

February 7: North Sydney Oval, 2.40pm

February 10: North Sydney Oval, 2.40pm

Women's CommBank Test Match v South Africa

February 15-18: Only Test, WACA Ground, Perth 11.00am

Men's NRMA Insurance Test Series v Pakistan

December 14-18: First Test, Perth Stadium, 10.20am

December 26-30: Second Test, MCG, 10.30am

January 3-7: Third Test, SCG, 10.30am

Men's NRMA Insurance Test Series v West Indies

January 17-21: First Test, Adelaide Oval, 10.00am

January 25-29: Second Test, Gabba, 2.00pm

Men's Dettol ODI Series v West Indies

February 2: MCG, 2.30pm

February 4: SCG, 2.30pm

February 6: Manuka Oval, Canberra 2.30pm

Men's Dettol T20I Series v West Indies

February 9: Blundstone Arena, Hobart 7.00pm

February 11: Adelaide Oval, 6.30pm

February 13: Perth Stadium, 4.00pm