Schedule for rest of Australian summer revealed

The limited overs portion of England's tour down under later this year was revealed a few weeks back with 5 ODI's and 3 T20I's to be played. It is the fewest amount of ODI's to be played in an Australian summer in around 34 years. I reckon its a good move, as the attendances to ODI's have diminished substantially over the last 5 years and they have been more of an afterthought of the summer. Hopefully reducing it back to 5 will result in it being seen as more of a showcase. In saying that, the 2014/15 summer will feature a plethora of ODI's in preparation of the World Cup to be hosted by Australia and New Zealand in March 2015.

On the flipside, there will be a 3 T20I match series which makes it the longest bilateral T20I series to be played on international soil. These matches will be held at the conclusion of the summer, which is in fact the last Australian summer in over 30 years with only one side to visit. There is only 33 days of international cricket to be played this summer which is one of the lowest tallies in years.

With Cricket Australia saying that the Big Bash League will be shortened, and won't start until mid-late December, it means that the Sheffield Shield will be played up until the third test match.

In regards to venues, the five mainland capital cities are the beneficiaries, hosting one test and an ODI each. Hobart on the other hand is the major loser as Bellerive Oval will not host a test or an ODI. Perhaps it's a warning from Cricket Australia about their poor crowds in the past few years at international matches, especially with the possibility of the renovated Manuka Oval getting more and more matches.

It should be an an exciting Ashes summer, which comes on the back of a Ashes series in England in the middle of this year.

Full Fixtures

31st  October - 2nd November: Western Australia v England XI @ WACA, Perth
6th November - 9th November: Australia A v England XI @ Bellerive Oval, Hobart
13th November - 16th November: New South Wales VS England XI @ SCG, Sydney
21st November - 25th November: 1st Test - Australia v England @ Gabba, Brisbane
29th November - 30th November: Cricket Australia Chairman's XI v England XI, Traeger Park, Alice Springs
5th December - 9th December: 2nd Test - Australia v England @ Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
13th December - 17th December: 3rd Test - Australia v England @ WACA, Perth
26th December - 30th December: 4th Test - Australia v England @ MCG, Melbourne
3rd January - 7th January: 5th Test - Australia v England @ SCG, Sydney
12th January: 1st ODI: Australia v England @ MCG, Melbourne
14th January: Prime Minister's XI v England XI @ Manuka Oval, Canberra
17th January: 2nd ODI - Australia v England @ Gabba, Brisbane
19th January: 3rd ODI - Australia v England @ SCG, Sydney
24th January: 4th ODI - Australia v England @ WACA, Perth
26th January: 5th ODI - Australia v England @ Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
29th January: 1st T20I - Australia v England @ Bellerive Oval, Hobart
31st January: 2nd T20I - Australia v England @ MCG, Melbourne
2nd February: 3rd T20I - Australia v England @ ANZ Stadium, Sydney