Worldwide cricket will be played in Geelong for the first time, with the Victorian port city set to host a Twenty20 match between Australia and Sri Lanka in February 2017.
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Kardinia Park, the 11th venue in Australia now accredited to host global cricket, played host to a Big Bash League warm-up match between the Melbourne Renegades and Stars, and a two-day warm-up match between Victoria and West Indies last summer.
Each of the three T20s will be played as double-headers with women’s internationals as the Southern Stars face New Zealand, with each of their matches also to be shown live on the Nine Network’s main channel. That game was followed a week later by West Indies playing a two-day practice match there against a Victoria XI ahead of the Boxing Day Test at the MCG.
Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland, players Ben Cutting and Meg Lanning, and tourism and major events minister John Eren announced the history-making matches on Monday.
“We’re really looking forward to the people of the Geelong region and beyond packing out the stadium and supporting the women’s and men’s national sides”.
It will be the first worldwide fixture played in Geelong, and just the second in regional Victoria after a 1992 World Cup match in Ballarat.
The venue, home of AFL club Geelong, has undergone extensive work over the past decade. Sri Lanka will also play a Prime Minister’s XI at Canberra on February 15.
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The series will then conclude in Adelaide on February 22, with CA confirming the city will also host a match on Australia Day for at least the next five years.
