Archive · 12 Aug 2026
Australia host Bangladesh in historic tropical winter Tests
Cricket is a sport played with a bat and ball between two teams.
Australia, a country with some of the best cricket players in the world, is playing a special two-game series against Bangladesh.
The games will happen in two hot cities in the north of Australia called Darwin and Mackay.
It is very rare for Australia to play home cricket games in winter, so this is exciting and unusual.
The last time Bangladesh visited Australia for a series like this was in 2003.
Bangladesh beat Australia once before, in 2017, in a place called Mirpur.
Some of Australia's best players, like Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon, are playing together for the first time in a long while.
The government is helping to pay for the games so more Australians in faraway places can watch top-level cricket.
Fans from big Bangladeshi communities in Sydney and Melbourne are expected to travel north to cheer for their team.
Australia hosts Bangladesh in a two-match Test series in Darwin and Mackay, its first home series against Bangladesh since 2003.
The series marks Australia's first home winter Tests in more than two decades, brought forward from March 2027 to fit the MCG's 150th anniversary Test against England.
Bangladesh's only Test win over Australia remains their 20-run 'Miracle of Mirpur' victory in 2017.
Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon are all fit and available together for the first time in over a year.
The Northern Territory and Queensland governments are funding the series as Cricket Australia seeks to grow the game in regional Australia despite an A$11 million deficit.
- Who
- Australia, with the pace quartet of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and spin bowler Nathan Lyon, and Bangladesh.
- What
- A two-match Test cricket series hosted by Australia in its tropical north.
- When
- The first Test starts in Darwin on Thursday, August 13, 2026, and the second Test begins in Mackay on August 22, 2026.
- Where
- Marrara Oval in Darwin and the Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay, Australia.
- Why
- Commercial factors and a crowded international calendar brought the series forward from March 2027 to accommodate Australia's 150th anniversary Test against England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, with public funding supporting Cricket Australia's goal of growing the game in regional Australia.
- Series
- Australia vs Bangladesh, two-match Test series
- First Test
- Marrara Oval, Darwin, Thursday August 13, 2026
- Second Test
- Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay, from August 22
- Stadium capacities
- Marrara Oval about 15,000; Great Barrier Reef Arena about 10,000
- Last Bangladesh Test tour of Australia
- 2003
- Bangladesh's only Test win vs Australia
- Mirpur, 2017, by 20 runs
- Queensland government investment
- More than A$20 million (US$14 million) on Mackay facilities
- Cricket Australia 2024-25 result
- A$11 million deficit (US$7.77 million)