The Gabba is set to lose the first Test of next summer under a Cricket Australia (CA) revamp of home international scheduling, with pink-ball matches to be played against South Africa and Pakistan.
CA is finalising international, domestic and Big Bash League schedules for the 2016-17 season, with an announcement expected this month.
According to Fairfax Media, the Gabba will miss out on hosting the season's opening Test, but will feature as the venue for the first Test of the Australia-Pakistan series, set to be a day-night match in December.
The Test summer will start in November with Australia against South Africa at the WACA, with the ability for the match to be beamed into lounge rooms on the east coast at prime time weighing heavily in Perth's favour.
The series against the Proteas will head to Hobart, which has been retained as a Test venue amid competition from Canberra, before wrapping up under lights at Adelaide Oval, the scene of last year's historic first pink-ball Test against New Zealand.
Australia will then meet Pakistan in a day-night match at the Gabba and complete that series with marquee Tests in Melbourne and Sydney.
Brisbane has struggled to attract decent Test crowds outside Ashes years but, by beginning the summer in Perth, there is a belief that numbers should be boosted by the city's strong expatriate South African population.
There will be little change to the BBL season, with no extra games in the draft schedule and a push for a match to be held on Christmas Day not getting over the line.
Share
