Australia conclude ODI World Cup preparations with two fixtures against the Netherlands and Pakistan
Aussies to face Dutch, Pakistan in World Cup warm-ups
Australia will play the Netherlands for the first time in 16 years after the International Cricket Council announced the official warm-up fixtures for this year's ODI World Cup.
Pat Cummins' side will play two warm-up matches ahead of the global showpiece in India beginning on October 5, the first against the Dutch at Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram on September 30.
Australia will then play Pakistan at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on October 3 before opening their World Cup campaign five days later against hosts India in Chennai.
The two fixtures conclude a busy lead-in to the tournament for the five-time ODI World Cup champions who will play 10 50-over matches in 26 days across a five-match tour of South Africa and a three-match series again India in September.
The warm-up fixtures will be 50 overs per side but will not carry ODI status as teams will be allowed to field all members of their 15-player World Cup squad.
While not an official one-day international, it will be the first time Australia has played the Netherlands in any format since the group stage of the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean when Brad Hodge smacked an 89-ball 123 to lead the eventual champions to a 229-run.
Netherlands – a rising force in men's international cricket having already secured their place at next year's T20 World Cup following appearances at the past two tournaments in 2021 and 2022 – booked their ticket to India via a qualifying tournament in July after finishing above Test-playing nations Zimbabwe, West Indies and Ireland.
The warm-up fixture will mark the first time Melbourne-raised Dutch captain Scott Edwards will come up against Australia, with the two sides then set to do battle again in the tournament proper on October 25 in Delhi.
The second match will then give the Aussies a look at one of the tournament favourites in Pakistan, the world's second-ranked ODI side who also played off in last year's T20 World Cup final at the MCG.
Australia and Pakistan – the current top-two ranked ODI teams – will then face off again in Bengaluru on October 20.
The World Cup's 10 participating nations will play two warm-up games each across three cities – Guwahati, Hyderabad and Thiruvananthapuram – with all matches to be played under lights starting at 2pm local time.
Australia's ODI squad will assemble in Bloemfontein early next month ahead of the first of five one-dayers against the Proteas beginning on September 7.
Australia named an 18-player squad for that tour and the subsequent series against India, which will be trimmed to 15 for the World Cup.
Mitch Marsh will captain the ODI side during the South Africa series with Cummins sidelined as he recovers from a fractured wrist, while Steve Smith and Mitchell Starc will miss the tour as they recover from wrist and groin injuries respectively.
While Cummins will join the squad in South Africa, he is unlikely to play in the series. Smith, Starc – and Glenn Maxwell, who will return home after the three-match T20I series in South Africa for the birth of his first child – are expected to join the ODI squad in India for the three-match series against the host nation and their availability for the World Cup isn't in doubt.
"There's a number of guys who have had busy schedules and will have a really important part to play in the one-day World Cup," men's national selection chair George Bailey said earlier this month.
"One of our focuses is just making sure those senior multi-format players are fresh and firing (at) the appropriate time."
Australia's tour of South Africa gets underway in Durban on August 30 with the first of three T20 internationals.
Australia's run to the ODI World Cup
2023 Qantas Tour of South Africa
September 7: First ODI, Bloemfontein (D/N), 9pm AEST
September 9: Second ODI, Bloemfontein (D/N), 9pm AEST
September 12: Third ODI, Potchefstroom (D/N), 9pm AEST
September 15: Fourth ODI, Centurion (D/N), 9pm AEST
September 17: Fifth ODI, Johannesburg, 6pm AEST
2023 Qantas Tour of India
September 22: First ODI, Mohali (D/N), 6pm AEST
September 24: Second ODI, Indore (D/N), 6pm AEST
September 27: Third ODI, Rajkot (D/N), 6pm AEST
Australia's 2023 ODI World Cup fixtures
Warm-up match: September 30: v Netherlands, Thiruvananthapuram (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT
Warm-up match: October 3: v Pakistan, Hyderabad (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT
October 8: v India, Chennai (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT
October 12: v South Africa, Lucknow (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT
October 16: v Sri Lanka, Lucknow (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT
October 20: v Pakistan, Bengaluru (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT
October 25: v Netherlands, Delhi (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT
October 28: v New Zealand, Dharamsala, 4pm AEDT
November 4: v England, Ahmedabad (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT
November 7: v Afghanistan, Mumbai (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT
November 11: v Bangladesh, Pune, 4pm AEDT
November 15: First semi-final, Mumbai (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT
November 16: Second semi-final, Kolkata (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT
November 19: Final, Ahmedabad (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa
* To be trimmed to 15 by September 28