Centurion to host Boxing Day Test in mega summer

CENTURION: England and Australia will feature in a blockbuster home summer for South Africa after Cricket South Africa (CSA) released the 2019-20 international schedule on Friday (May 24).

England will be the first visitors and will start their tour with a couple of warm-up fixtures - a two-day game against an Invitational XI and followed by a three-day game against South Africa ‘A’.

Centurion will host the Boxing Day Test which will kick-start the four-match Test series while Cape Town will host the annual New Year’s Test. The last two matches will be played in Port Elizabeth and Johannesburg respectively. The five-day matches will be followed by a couple of warm-up one-day games, against a South African Invitational XI, before the two teams feature in a three-match one-day series to be played in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg. The tour will conclude with three Twenty20 games, to be played at East London, Durban and Johannesburg.

Five days after the end of the England series, Australia are due to arrive in South Africa, for a short series consisting of three Twenty20 Internationals and an equal number of ODIs. Johannesburg will host the first Twenty20 International on February 21 with Port Elizabeth and Cape Town hosting the next two games. Paarl, Bloemfontein and Potchefstroom will host the 50-over contests, with the third and final ODI set to be played on March 7.

“This will be a huge summer both for our Standard Bank Proteas, who are currently ranked in the top three in all three formats, and for our fans who can look forward to action-packed and top-quality entertainment against two of the powerhouses of world cricket,” commented CSA Chief Executive Thabang Moroe.