Historic 150th anniversary Test between Australia and England to be day-night match at MCG

To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the first Test cricket match, a historic Test between Australia and England will be held under lights at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). This match will be a day-night affair, carrying special commemorative significance for both teams and fans alike.

Cricket Australia announced on Tuesday that the match will be held on the same date two years from now. Australia won the inaugural Test match in 1877 by 45 runs, and then replicated that exact margin of victory against England in the Centenary Test in 1977, adding another layer of historical resonance to the upcoming event.

Scheduled for March 11-15, 2027, the 150th-anniversary Test will mark the first time the Australian men's Test team has played a day-night match at the MCG. The MCG previously hosted its first day-night Test during last summer's Women's Ashes series, where Australia won by an innings and 122 runs, setting the stage for another potentially thrilling encounter.

Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg stated that scheduling this one-off Test as a day-night match is intended to attract a larger audience. "The 150th-anniversary Test at the MCG is set to be one of the great cricket events, and playing it under lights will be a fantastic way to celebrate our sport's rich heritage and the modern evolution of Test cricket," he said. "This will also help ensure more people can attend and watch what promises to be a wonderful contest."

This will be the latest a men's Test match has been held in the summer since Australia hosted Pakistan in 1978-79. Cricket Australia still holds contractual rights to the MCG until the end of each summer in late March, although the Australian Football League (AFL) has recently started holding matches at the ground much earlier than the end of the month. Australia will host England in a five-Test series next summer, seeking to retain the Ashes urn they have held since 2017-18.