Adelaide, 17 December 2025:
Cricket Australia said Tuesday it has been assured that Pakistan players signed to the Big Bash League will be available for the entire tournament, despite a scheduled Pakistan T20 international tour of Sri Lanka in January.
CA chief executive Todd Greenberg said concerns that leading Pakistan players including Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan, Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf and Hasan Ali could be recalled early have been addressed.
“We’ve been told that if they’ve been signed by the BBL, they’ll play the whole BBL,” Greenberg said after meeting reporters at Adelaide Oval ahead of the third Ashes Test.
Greenberg also confirmed Cricket Australia has sent a delegation to Pakistan to finalise arrangements for Australia’s T20 international tour there ahead of the T20 World Cup. Dates for the series are yet to be announced, but Greenberg said the tour will go ahead, with CA and the Australian Cricketers’ Association conducting a pre-tour security assessment.
“We’ve just sent a couple of people to Pakistan to do a pre-tour for the T20I games in February,” Greenberg said. “We’ll speak to the players after the Ashes and explain how it will work from a security perspective. I was there in 2022 and it was an amazing experience.”
The three-match ODI leg of that tour, part of the Future Tours Program, will be shifted to June after the Pakistan Super League and Indian Premier League conclude. Australia’s ODIs in Pakistan will align with a June tour of Bangladesh, which includes three ODIs and three T20 internationals.
Greenberg also confirmed that Mackay and Darwin will host Test matches against Bangladesh during Australia’s winter, with dates to be announced in January. Bangladesh’s August tour will mark the return of Test cricket to Australia’s Top End for the first time since 2004, with Mackay set to stage its maiden Test.
Meanwhile, Cricket Australia reiterated its commitment to staging at least one pink-ball Test each year through 2031, citing strong broadcast and attendance figures.
“I’ve just reviewed the numbers from the Gabba, the pink-ball Test was unbelievable,” Greenberg said. “The night session, in particular, draws about double the viewers of a final daytime session. It gets more people watching and more people engaged.”
Greenberg said the format is locked into broadcast contracts until 2031, though he ruled out an expansion.
“It’s not going anywhere,” he said. “There won’t be five pink-ball Tests in a summer, but it has real benefits. I understand some people will be critical of it, but this is part of the evolution of Test cricket.”
