Details of 2027 Ashes, WTC final announced as Edgbaston, the site of Australia’s series-opening wins in 2019 and 2023, moved to third Test
Australia’s taxing Test schedule could become even more demanding with just four days between next year’s World Test Championship final and the beginning of the Ashes, leaving open the possibility of the same six-Tests-in-two-months scenario they faced in 2023.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) also today revealed it has moved the 2027 Ashes series opener away from their twice-toppled fortress, Edgbaston, to the site of Australia’s infamous 60 all-out in 2015, Trent Bridge.
But Pat Cummins’ men should have few complaints over their preparation for the final marquee series in their packed 2026-27 run of matches. If they do not qualify for the WTC final, the Aussies will play a warm-up match against the England Lions at Old Trafford.
2027 World Test Championship final
TBC v TBC: The Oval, June 9-13
2027 Men’s Ashes Tour
Warm-up match: Australia v England Lions, Old Trafford, June 7-10*
First Test: Australia v England, Trent Bridge, June 18-22
Second Test: Australia v England, Lord’s, June 30-July 4
Third Test: Australia v England, Edgbaston, July 8-12
Fourth Test: Australia v England, The Rose Bowl, July 21-25
Fifth Test: Australia v England, The Oval, July 29-August 2
* subject to review if Australia qualify for the WTC final
The multi-format women’s Ashes series will run in parallel to the men’s, and both will be televised by the Nine Network for Australian audiences.
Australia’s men, currently top of the WTC standings, will play six Tests in 54 days if they qualify for a third consecutive WTC final – exactly what they faced on their 2023 United Kingdom tour.
Fighting fatigue could then again be a major factor. Three years ago, Australia beat India in the WTC decider at The Oval and then won the first two Ashes Tests but ran out of steam and could have lost the final three Tests against England had rain not intervened at Old Trafford. In 2027, the tour marks the culmination of a run of 21 or 20 Tests in less than 12 months.
The 2027 WTC final will meanwhile be played at The Oval, the ECB confirmed. Lord’s, which hosted the 2025 decider that saw South Africa beat Australia, has lost the showpiece game following a substandard pitch for its most recent men’s Test, last month’s England-New Zealand match.
The finalists of the WTC’s fourth edition may not be known until as late as March next year.
The Oval was a sellout for the India-Australia clash in 2023. It is the first venue to host two WTC finals; Southampton hosted the Covid-impacted inaugural event in 2021. England have a deal with the ICC to also host the 2029 and 2031 finals.
“The 2027 World Test Championship final will hold special significance as cricket celebrates 150 years of Test cricket,” said the ICC’s events and operations manager Gaurav Saxena. “The Oval has played a proud role in the history of our sport and has hosted some of its most memorable moments.”
England will fancy their chances of a better start to their 2027 home series against Australia having moved the series opener from Birmingham, where the visitors won in 2019 and 2023, to Nottingham, which has not hosted an Ashes match since the Michael Clarke-led side saw their 2015 series hopes vanish in 94 minutes of carnage.
The addition of the possible warm-up game in Manchester to kick-off Australia’s tour comes after England copped criticism for their poor preparation for last summer’s Ashes Down Under.
The ECB insisted it would be a “full strength” England Lions side that the Aussies face, with an expectation the calibre of opposition and venue would be reciprocated for their 2029-30 tour of Australia.
A mooted Australia A tour of the UK in 2027 could further assist some of the Ashes touring party prepare for the series.
England also have a tour match against the Prime Minister’s XI scheduled for the Junction Oval ahead of the 150th anniversary Test at the MCG next March.
By the time Cummins’ side arrive at Trent Bridge next year, almost 12 years will have elapsed since Stuart Broad delivered his stunning haul of 8-15 to see the Aussies rolled inside the first session of the fourth Test and effectively surrender the 2015 Ashes to their opponents.
Australia are hoping to bring as many as five 2015 tourists over to the UK next year; Cummins, Smith, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon, the latter four having all played in that traumatic defeat in Nottingham.
Next year’s two London Tests are in their regular spots – Lord’s has the second Test, while The Oval hosts the series finale – with the Rose Bowl handed the fourth Test as the southern England venue makes its debut as a men’s Ashes venue.
Southampton is familiar to 2019 Ashes tourists who played in a drawn-out intra-squad game before the series proper, serving as a high-stakes audition for squad spots under then coach Justin Langer.
“We saw last summer how the Ashes continues to engross and entertain fans across the world and that will be no different when we travel to England next year,” said Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg.
Trent Bridge has, curiously, not seen Ashes cricket since 2015 despite hosting Tests in every other non-Covid-affected northern summer over the past decade.
The midlands ground also hosted a memorable match during the 2005 series, when Shane Warne nearly dragged Australia back to victory after England enforced the follow-on, while Steve Waugh’s side retained the Ashes there in 2001.
It wins back a coveted Ashes fixture after northern venues Old Trafford and Headingley, the latter marking the site for famous England wins in both 2019 and 2023, were controversially not given men’s Ashes Tests in 2027.
When first outlining venues for this series in 2023, the ECB announced Headingley would host the women’s Ashes Test in 2027, and today it has been confirmed as the venue for the multi-format series opener from June 24-27.
The Cricket Australia Travel Office is curating a range of travel options for the series with fans able to register their interest now when packages go on sale later this year.
