Johannesburg, Oct 6 (IANS): Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Thursday announced the men's international fixtures for the 2022/23 home season, with South Africa set to play against England, West Indies and Netherlands.
The men's side will get their summer underway with a three-match One-Day International (ODI) series against England. The Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein will host the first two ODIs on January 27 and 29, with international cricket making its return to The Kimberley Oval in Kimberley on February 1.
All three matches are a part of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Super League standings worth 30 points. South Africa had played a three-match ODI series in England in July this year, which ended in a 1-1 draw.
The Proteas will then welcome the West Indies for a multi-format tour. The two-match Test Series will commence at SuperSport Park from February 28 to March 4 followed by the second Test at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg from March 8-12.
The Test series against the West Indies will be South Africa's final round of matches in the second cycle of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) for Dean Elgar's team, who are currently second on the points table.
The three-match ODI series between South Africa and West Indies will begin at Buffalo Park Cricket Stadium in East London (March 16 and 18) before the series wraps up at JB Marks Oval in Potchefstroom (March 21). The three T20Is against the West Indies will then happen at SuperSport Park (March 25 and 26) and Wanderers Stadium (March 28) to complete the tour.
South Africa's home summer will end with two remaining ODIs against the Netherlands at Willowmoore Park in Benoni on March 31and the highly anticipated Pink Day ODI at Wanderers Stadium on April 2. These two matches are carried over from the three-match series which is a part of the ODI Super League and was originally scheduled for December 2021 but were curtailed due to the outbreak of Omicron variant of Covid-19.
"South Africa is fast becoming the home-soul for international cricket. We are a proud cricketing nation, with abundance of talent, grit, and temperament for the game. CSA is thrilled to be hosting England, West Indies and the Netherlands, all worthy opponents, in what is billed to be an exciting summer of international cricket."
"This is principally good news to our fans who have been starved of the blend of cricket on offer at stadiums since 2020 pandemic. These bumper fixtures confirm that cricket in South Africa is indeed open for business."
"As we look forward to hosting these cricketing powerhouses, we invite our fans to swell the stadiums in numbers to support the Proteas as they lock horns with the best in the world," said Pholetsi Moseki, CSA CEO.