Ashes tour details announced
England will begin their 2006-2007 Ashes tour with a one-day fixture against the Australian Prime Minister's XI in Canberra on Friday November 10, 2006.
The full itinerary for the Ashes tour has been released in Perth by Cricket Australia chief executive officer James Sutherland and includes, for the first time in Australia, a Twenty20 international between England and Australia - to be staged in Sydney on January 9, 2007.
England will have two warm-up matches - as well as the match against the Prime Minister's XI - before the first Test, which will begin in Brisbane on Thursday, November 23, 2006.
The warm-up matches will be a three-day practice game against New South Wales in Sydney starting Sunday, November 12, 2006 followed by a first class fixture against South Australia in Adelaide starting on Friday November 17, 2006.
The Test matches will be in Brisbane from November 23, 2006; the second Test will be in Adelaide starting on December 1, 2006 with the third in Perth starting on Thursday December 14, 2006.
The series will conclude with the traditional Boxing Day start in Melbourne and the final Test in Sydney will begin on Tuesday, January 2, 2007.
England, Australia and New Zealand will then take part in the VB Trophy series which will begin on Friday January 12, 2007 when England take on Australia in Melbourne.
John Carr, ECB Director of Cricket Operations, said: "It has been a challenge for the two boards to agree a schedule for the much anticipated Ashes Tour which falls in a relatively tight window between the ICC Champions Trophy and the 2007 ICC World Cup in the Caribbean.
"It has been agreed that the opening three-day match of the tour against New South Wales will allow participation from our full squad of players to help ensure that all players in the Tour Party participate in a three-day match prior to the first Test and that the team for the first Test will have had the opportunity of playing two three-day matches by way of preparation for the Test series.
"The schedule is unusual in not providing a one-day warm-up match between the Test and ODI series. This step has been taken as it is in the interests of all three teams participating in the VB series to ensure that there is a minimum of a two-week break between the end of the series and the report date for World Cup 2007 in the Caribbean.
"ECB will be putting measures in place to ensure that any one-day specialist players are fully acclimatised and prepared for the Australian conditions before joining the tour."
There will also be an invitational match between Cricket Australia's Chairman's XI and an Invitational XI at Lilac Hill on December 8, which the ECB have agreed may involve some members of the England tour party who have not appeared in the first two 3-mobile Test matches.
Ticketing
Ticketing details for all the matches will be announced by Cricket Australia as soon as possible.
Ashes Tour 2006-2007 itinerary
Nov 10 v Australian Prime Minister’s XI, Canberra
Nov 12-14 v New South Wales (practice match), Sydney
Nov 17-19 v South Australia, Adelaide
Nov 23-27 v AUSTRALIA (first 3-mobile Test), Brisbane
Dec 1-5 v AUSTRALIA (second 3-mobile Test), Adelaide
Dec 9-10 v Western Australia, Perth
Dec 14-18 v AUSTRALIA (third 3-mobile Test), Perth
Dec 26-30 v AUSTRALIA (fourth 3-mobile Test), Melbourne
Jan 2-6 v AUSTRALIA (fifth 3-mobile Test), Sydney
Jan 9 v AUSTRALIA (T20), Sydney
Jan 12 v AUSTRALIA (VB Series), Melbourne
Jan 14 v Australia v NZ (VB Series), Hobart
Jan 16 v NEW ZEALAND (VB Series), Hobart
Jan 19 v AUSTRALIA (VB Series), Brisbane
Jan 21 - Australia v NZ (VB Series), Sydney
Jan 23 v NEW ZEALAND (VB Series), Adelaide
Jan 26 v AUSTRALIA (VB Series), Adelaide
Jan 28 - Australia v NZ (VB Series), Perth
Jan 30 v NEW ZEALAND (VB Series), Perth
Feb 2 v AUSTRALIA (VB Series), Sydney
Feb 4 - Australia v NZ (VB Series), Melbourne
Feb 6 v NEW ZEALAND (VB Series), Brisbane
Feb 9 - First VB Series final, Melbourne
Feb 11 - Second VB Series Final, Sydney
Feb 13 - Third VB Series final (if needed), Brisbane
