Tour games heed ICC call for better hosts

The scheduling of tour matches at Australia Test venues as part of the coming summer program accords with an edict from the International Cricket Council that visiting teams be afforded better preparations and greater courtesy.

As detailed in the 2018-19 domestic schedule released today, the world’s top-ranked Test team, India, will begin their attempt at an historic first series win on Australian soil with a three-day warm-up game against a Cricket Australia XI at the SCG starting November 29.

And Sri Lanka’s two-Test campaign in the new year will also be preceded by a tour game against a CA XI, at Hobart’s Blundstone Arena from January 17-19.

The fact that both visiting teams will be able to utilise Test standard practice facilities and centre-wicket conditions for their sole warm-up fixture of their respective tours recognises the call from the ICC for all member nations to do more to uphold the spirit of cricket.

In the wake of the ball-tampering incident in Cape Town last March, and a number of other unedifying flash points on and off the field of play before then, the ICC board stated its commitment to improve player behavior and foster a greater culture of respect throughout the game.

That was, in turn, followed by recommendations from the ICC’s influential cricket committee following its meeting in Mumbai last month to not only foster better relations between teams, but also ensure a fairer on-field contest.

The committee, chaired by former India Test bowler and coach Anil Kumble, therefore identified “clear expectations for the treatment of visiting teams particularly around practice facilities, warm-up matches and logistical arrangements” among items it claimed needed to be addressed.

While details as to where warm-up matches and practice sessions are staged, and the calibre of opposition that touring teams face in preparation remain the domain of host administrations, there is a feeling that visitors are not being afforded the best opportunities to acclimatise and compete.

A number of touring teams around the world in recent years have been faced with sub-standard practice facilities or those that bear little resemblance to the conditions that await them come the start of international matches.

As a result, the ICC has appealed to all member nations to show greater generosity in the belief that better preparation might help address the imbalance that has seen the winning ratio for Test teams away from home slump to just over 25 per cent in the past five years.

Prior to last summer’s Ashes series, England played warm-up games against a Western Australia XI at the WACA Ground and a CA XI in a day-night fixture at Adelaide Oval (as preparation for the subsequent pink ball Test).

“I think all countries have probably been guilty in the past of not scheduling really good preparation, and it’s not so much the amount of time before international matches but the quality of preparation that’s provided,” CA’s Head of Cricket Operations, Peter Roach, told cricket.com.au.

“So there’s a push from the ICC to ensure member boards treat teams more like guests, with good warm-up games, suitable conditions and standard of opposition so that when do hit first Test match of a series, they’re as ready as they best can be.

“Our position is that we want to play a real part in helping international teams prepare as best they can when they’re out here, in the time that they’ve got available.

“If we can be the frontrunners that set an example for everyone else to follow, it has to be better for the game.”

“And we hope and expect that to be reciprocated when we go overseas.”

A CA XI will also feature in limited-overs warm-up matches next summer, with a men’s outfit taking on South Africa in a T20 fixture at Allan Border Field in Brisbane on November 14 prior to the three-game Gillette ODI Series.

While a women’s CA XI team will provide 20-over match practice for both New Zealand and Australia in back-to-back clashes on September 27 ahead of the trans-Tasman rivals’ three-match Commonwealth Bank T20 series in September-October.