MCG to host Australia v England 150th anniversary Test

Ben Stokes and Pat Cummins were the rival captains during the last Ashes series in 2023. Getty Images

Ben Collins, August 18 - Australia plan to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the first-ever Test match by playing England at the same venue in March 2027.

The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) played host to a single-innings match from 15 to 19 March 1877, with Australia winning by 45 runs, before England won the second match at the same venue to tie the series 1-1.

The 100-year anniversary of the inaugural Test was also marked with a Test between Australia and England at the MCG in 1977, with Australia again winning by 45 runs.

The MCG will continue to host the traditional Boxing Day Test while the New Year's Test will remain at the Sydney Cricket Ground - both through to 2030-31.

Cricket Australia (CA) also confirmed that the Adelaide Oval will host the December 'Christmas Test' in either day-night or day format and the 'West Test' in Perth, Western Australia, will be Australia's opener for the next three years.

That means the next men's Ashes in 2025-26 will begin at a venue other than the Gabba in Brisbane for the first time in more than four decades, and it will be the first Ashes Test played at Perth's Optus Stadium.

"The 150th anniversary Test match at the MCG in March 2027 will be a wonderful celebration of the pinnacle format of the game at one of the world's great sporting arenas and we can't wait to host England on that occasion," said CA's chief executive Nick Hockley.

It could be the latest date in a home summer that a men's Test has been staged in Australia since the 1978-79 series against Pakistan.

The 2026-27 season will be the first in 50 years that the Gabba will not host a Test.

The Queensland venue has been guaranteed games against India and England during the next two seasons but there is uncertainty over its redevelopment before Brisbane hosts the 2032 Olympics.

Perth's Optus Stadium holds 60,000 and has replaced the Waca as the Western Australian capital city's premier cricket venue.

It was due to host its first Ashes Test during the 2021-22 series but Covid-19 restrictions meant it had to be moved to Hobart, Tasmania.