Scotland could take on Australia on home soil later this year with negotiations underway for a T20I series to be played in Edinburgh.
The two nations are already set to face each other in St Lucia in June having been drawn in the same group for the forthcoming T20 World Cup.
They could now follow that contest with a first meeting in Scotland since 2013 when the tourists won the solitary one-day international played by 200 runs.
A planned T20I at the Grange was called off in 2020 due to the pandemic but now Scottish cricket fans could get to watch the likes of Steve Smith, Pat Cummins, Travis Head and Mitch Marsh in Edinburgh this autumn.
The Australians were scheduled to be heading to Ireland for a bilateral series prior to taking on England in September but with Cricket Ireland expected to postpone that tour due to financial concerns, Cricket Scotland have moved to open discussions about the possibility of providing an alternative warm-up slot.
If successful, it would see the one-day world champions come to Edinburgh for three T20 internationals to be played in the first week of September.
Cricket Scotland’s recently appointed chief executive, Trudy Lindblade, is an Australian national who previously worked for Cricket Australia and it is hoped that connection could help seal a series that would hold huge appeal for supporters of Scottish cricket
Those fixtures would follow on from the inaugural Scottish Super 10 franchise tournament taking place in Aberdeen in the final fortnight in August.
Six men’s franchises – representing Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Inverness, Perth, and Dundee – will play 34 matches across 16 days.
Afghan stars Rashid Khan and Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Zimbabwean all-rounder Sikander Raza, Pakistani pace bowler Naseem Shah, English batsman Alex Hales, and Kiwi talent Finn Allen are among those players committed to appearing in the first international franchise league to be played in Europe outside of England.
The women’s competition will see two squads of 15 players, made up of current Scotland internationals and a selection of overseas names
The Scotland women’s team yesterday discovered their opponents in next month’s T20 global qualifier.
The ten-team tournament gets underway in the UAE on April 25, with the Wildcats seeded fifth and drawn to play Uganda, Sri Lanka, USA, and Thailand in Group A.
The two finalists will qualify for the T20 World Cup set to take place in Bangladesh later this year.
Interim head coach Craig Wallace hoped the team could handle both the challenge and the warm conditions.
He said: “The draw being announced really makes it clear in our minds what lies ahead of us.
“We’ve been preparing for this for a while, but now the fixtures are confirmed, it definitely builds the excitement, and by the time we get to April we will be raring to go.
“The fixture schedule is great, but every squad in the competition is really strong. It will come down to how we want to play during each match, and how we can impose our brand and style of cricket on each game.
“I think we’ve done well in the fixtures we’ve played in the last few months, and I’m looking forward to us showing what we can do on the big stage in UAE.
“Handling the conditions during the tournament will be really important. It’s obviously going to be challenging in the heat, but it will ultimately come down to believing that our way of playing can beat any team.
“So, hopefully we can do that and work out the best way to play in the conditions that we face and who we are up against. It’s so exciting and we can’t wait to get out there.
“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time with the squad so far, and we had a great trip to Desert Springs a few weeks ago for the training camp to get everyone together.
“We worked on a couple of specific things looking ahead to the qualifier that I hope will make a difference in UAE. There’s obviously been a lot of players away over the winter overseas and based in England, so it was good to get them back together with those based here in Scotland.
“We have a way that we want to play and act on the pitch and off it, and so when we get everyone together, we really enjoy each other’s company and reinforce those values and everything that goes about playing for Scotland.”
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