Australia’s long-awaited return to the West Indies for a Test series will feature three matches, marking their first Test tour to the Caribbean in a decade.
Cricket Australia (CA) and the West Indies Cricket Board have agreed to extend the series, moving away from the previous format of two-Test encounters that often left fans and players wanting more.
The tour, scheduled for June-July 2025, will include at least two Tests as determined by the World Test Championship.
However, with both boards keen to avoid the anti-climax of their last series, the two cricketing nations have decided to extend the series to three matches.
CA chief executive Nick Hockley, who is due to step down from his role after this summer, expressed his enthusiasm for the extended series.
Speaking to SEN radio on Saturday, Hockley said: “I’m delighted it will come to fruition.”
“We are still awaiting an official announcement from the West Indies Cricket Board on precise dates and venues, but it will be a three-Test series which is obviously a big one.
“It’s another great opportunity. The World Test Championship prescribed that we needed to play two, at least two.
“But really, for the fans and for the players, you don’t want to be stuck in the position when it’s one on one and everyone’s unhappy.”
This decision follows a series of two drawn games between the two teams in January 2024.
The series, which ended 1-1, was highlighted by Shamar Joseph’s heroic performance, leading West Indies to a historic eight-run victory at the Gabba.
This victory ended a two-decade drought of Test victories over Australia. However, the limited number of matches left fans and players dissatisfied.
Australia’s last Test series in the West Indies came in 2015, where they comfortably won both matches – by nine wickets in Roseau and by 277 runs in Kingston.
Since then, the West Indies have toured Australia for three consecutive series, with Australia winning 2-0 in the 2015-16 and 2022-23 series.
The prospect of a three-match series was warmly welcomed by West Indies’ cricketing legends.
Sir Curtly Ambrose, a vocal critic of two-match series, has long campaigned for the return of longer competitions.
“The two-Test match series, to me, is a joke, to be frank – minimum three,” Ambrose said in June this year.
“I don’t think two Tests are really appropriate for international cricket.
“If we had had a third Test in Australia (last January) that… would have been sold out.
“Everyone would have loved to see if the West Indies could do it again and if Australia could bounce back.”
