Scotland and Australia will play their first Bilateral men’s T20 series in September in Edinburgh. This will be Australia’s first tour of Scotland in 11 years. The games will be played at The Grange on September 4,6 and 7 ahead of the ODI series against England on September 19.
Scotland to Host Australia in T20I Series
The announcement was made before the T20 World Cup 2024 clash between Australia and Scotland on June 16 at Beausejour Stadium which will decide the second team to qualify for Super 8s in Group B between England and Scotland.
Australia was originally scheduled to play a three-match ODIs and a T20I match against Ireland in August and September. But Ireland withdrew from hosting the games because of financial issues. On this occasion, Cricket Australia has approached Cricket Scotland this year seeking alternatives for the Ireland tour.
See you in September, @ausmencricket 🤝🏴🇦🇺
Oh, and tomorrow of course! 😀#FollowScotland
— Cricket Scotland (@CricketScotland) June 14, 2024
“Cricket Australia came to us and said we would like to partner with you and we said we would absolutely like to partner with you,” said Cricket Scotland CEO Trudy Lindblade.
“We just needed to find a way to make it happen. So, for us, it was a no-brainer to have Australia coming to Scotland before they play in England and it was just finding a way to make it happen. And thanks to the support of [CA chief executive] Nick Hockley and his team at Cricket Australia, we’ve been able to find a way.”
“We need to play high-quality cricket more often. The top Associate members will say the same as us and this will demonstrate, not just our on-the-field performance, but also the people in Scotland get to see the best possible cricket,” said Trudy.
Scotland and Australia have played only five ODIs in these years where the Kangaroos won on all occasions. During their last bilateral series, Australia secured a 200-run win in one-off ODI.
“What a way to end the year to have Australia coming to Scotland, playing in three T20 internationals at the Grange when we have been through such incredibly difficult times,” Lindblade said.
“It will be a celebration of cricket in Scotland and we hope that everybody gets behind us and when tickets go on sale, that we have The Grange filled on three days and we can show everybody that cricket in Scotland is well and truly on its path forward and how much that it is a sport for everybody to enjoy.”
Lindblade believes that this tour will lead to other tours by full member countries. “We need to play high-quality cricket more often. The top Associate members will say the same as us and this will demonstrate, not just our on-the-field performance, but also the people in Scotland get to see the best possible cricket,” she said.
“We want to get back into discussions with the board members about coming to Scotland. It’s not just a great place to play cricket, but it’s also a great place to visit. So whilst they’re here we can also make sure that they have an enjoyable time in between the matches. It’s a whole package when you come to Scotland,” Cricket Scotland CEO, Trudy Lindblade concluded.
