Australia to tour Scotland for first-ever Men's bilateral T20I series in September
Australia will embark on a tour of Scotland to play a three-match T20I series, starting September 4. It will be Australia's first bilateral T20I series against Scotland, with the matches set to be played on September 4, 6 and 7.
The series will be a precursor to Australia's five-match ODI series against England, starting September 19. The Aussies were originally slated to play three ODIs and a T20I against Ireland in August and September. However, Ireland withdrew from hosting the same due to financial issues.
It led to Cricket Australia requesting Scotland as an alternative in the same time frame. Cricket Scotland CEO Trudy Lindblade spoke about Australia's tour to the nation to ESPNCricinfo and said:
"Cricket Australia came to us and said we would like to partner with you and we said we would absolutely like to partner with you. We just needed to find a way to make it happen. So, for us, it was a no-brainer to have Australia coming to Scotland before they play in England and it was just finding a way to make it happen. And thanks to the support of [CA chief executive] Nick Hockley and his team at Cricket Australia, we've been able to find a way."
Australia and Scotland have played each other only five times, with all of them coming in the ODI format. The Aussies have emerged victorious on all five occasions, thrice in the 50-over World Cup.
"It will be a celebration of cricket in Scotland" - Trudy Lindblade
Trudy Lindblade further stated that the Australian tour to Scotland will be a celebration of cricket nationwide. He also wished for this to result in other full-member nations touring the Associate countries.
"It will be a celebration of cricket in Scotland and we hope that everybody gets behind us and when tickets go on sale, that we have The Grange filled on three days and we can show everybody that cricket in Scotland is well and truly on its path forward and how much that it is a sport for everybody to enjoy. We need to play high-quality cricket more often. The top Associate members will say the same as us and this will demonstrate, not just our on-the-field performance but also the people in Scotland get to see the best possible cricket," said Lindblade.
Meanwhile, Australia and Scotland are part of Group B in the ongoing 2024 T20 World Cup in the West Indies and USA.
They are set to face each other for the first time in the shortest format in their respective final group stage encounters in St.Lucia on June 16.