Cricket Australia announces change in women's schedule due to Champions Trophy 2027

Cricket Australia (CA) has made a change to its women’s calendar for the 2026-2027 season after the International Cricket Council (ICC) recently rescheduled the maiden edition of the Women’s Champions Trophy 2027. The mega event was previously scheduled for June-July but has now been shifted to February.

As a result, CA has been forced to scrap a three-match home T20I series against Bangladesh in October 2026, who were set to play three ODIs and as many T20Is against Australia in Brisbane and Sydney from October 9 to October 22.  The three ODIs have remained on the schedule, but the T20I leg has now been cancelled.

In their place, New Zealand will now play three T20Is against Australia in October, 2027 before returning to play the ODI series in Canberra and Melbourne in March 2027. The White Ferns were originally scheduled to tour for three T20Is and three ODIs from February 21 to March 7. 

Australia will now host New Zealand in three T20Is in Sydney on October 18, 20, 22, which were the dates for Bangladesh series. They will then return for three ODIs on March 6 in Canberra and March 8 and 10 in Melbourne. The March 8 fixture will be the first day-night international at the Junction Oval after lights were installed recently and will also fall on a public holiday in Melbourne, which is also International Women's Day. 

The women's ODIs have been pushed back from their original dates of March 1, 5 and 7 to allow the teams time to travel back from Sri Lanka after the Champions Trophy. The latter two were originally set to be played in Adelaide, while the March 1 game was originally to be in Melbourne.

Cricket Australia thanks Bangladesh and New Zealand

CA head of scheduling and cricket operations, Peter Roach, explained the reasoning behind the sudden change in schedule and also thanked Bangladesh and New Zealand for their cooperation.

“After the recent notification by the ICC about the change to the Champions Trophy dates, we've produced a revised schedule that provides the best possible outcomes for the teams and fans. We're particularly excited that women's cricket will feature prominently in the lead up to the 150th Anniversary Test with the historic first international match under lights at Junction Oval. We are thankful to Bangladesh and NZ for their cooperation and understanding - particularly NZ for agreeing to travel to Australia twice,” Roach was quoted as saying by Cricket Australia.

With the WBBL now scheduled from late October to early December and the WPL in India taking up most of January and February each year, Australia's women increasingly play the bulk of their home international fixtures at the beginning and end of the domestic summer.