Australia, England to play 150th Anniversary Test under lights

MELBOURNE: Fierce rivals Australia and England will play a day-night Test match here in 2027 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the first international red-ball fixture, Cricket Australia (CA) announced on Tuesday.

According to the CA, the historic Test match will be played from March 11 to 15, 2027 at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), which will host its first day-night men’s Test.

The venue, however hosted its first ever day-night Test earlier this year as Australia took on England in the women’s Ashes.

“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,” Todd Greenberg, Cricket Australia CEO stated.

“It will also help ensure more people are able to attend and watch what will be a fantastic occasion.

“The Centenary Test created many iconic performances including David Hookes’ five consecutive boundaries off Tony Greig, Rick McCosker batting with a broken jaw and Derek Randall’s defiant century, and I’m sure the 150th Test will create its own lifelong memories.”

For the unversed, the MCG also hosted the Centenary Test in 1977 between Australia and England, which the hosts won by 45 runs.

The two teams played another Centenary Test in 1880 at the Lord’s Cricket Ground to commemorate the first match played between them in England in 1880.