Marara Oval emerged as a Test venue with the Bangladesh match. Test cricket is returning to this Darwin ground with Bangladesh after 22 years.
It was already certain that Bangladesh’s two Tests on next year’s tour of Australia will be held in the Northern Territory. Cricket Australia’s chief executive has now confirmed that the two matches will be held in Mackay and Darwin.
The series will be held next August. The date will be finalized next month.
The tour was supposed to take place in March 2027. In that case, Bangladesh might have had the opportunity to play in Australia’s main venues. But to mark the 150th anniversary of Test cricket, Australia will play a special Test against England in March. Therefore, Bangladesh’s tour has been brought forward to August next year.
Since the Australian summer does not fully begin in July-August-September, matches are usually organized in the Northern Territory during this time. Darwin’s journey in Test cricket began with the Bangladesh-Australia match in July 2003. Australia played another Test here against Sri Lanka in July the following year. That was the last Test at this ground so far.
Four ODIs have been played at this ground. In each of them, Australia’s opponent was Bangladesh. The first was in 2003, the next in 2008. The last international cricket was played here last August. Australia played a T20 series against South Africa.
Cairns was another main venue in the Northern Territory along with Darwin. Bangladesh has also played Tests there. However, in the last few years, that venue has fallen behind, with the rise of the Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay. Although there was a match at this ground in the 1992 World Cup, there has been no international cricket there for a long time.
Later, after renovation, this ground was rebuilt in a modern form. Women’s international cricket is regularly played here. Last August, the journey of boys’ cricket also began here with the South Africa-Australia ODI series match. This stadium, which has a capacity of 10,000 spectators, will make its Test debut with a match against Bangladesh.
