Australia wicketkeeper-batter Beth Mooney has called on Cricket Australia to return women’s home games to peak summer, warning that the current scheduling approach risks leaving the sport behind. Mooney, who won the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Player of the Tournament award at the 2026 T20 World Cup held in England, made her concerns public on October 6, 2026.
Australia begin their home summer against Bangladesh on October 9, 2026, with three ODIs in Brisbane. They then host New Zealand for three T20s in Sydney on October 18, 20, and 22, all on school nights. After that, Australia will not play on home soil again until hosting New Zealand for ODIs in March 2027, with the first match scheduled for March 6, 2027, in Canberra.
Under the current ICC schedule, there will be no WBBL or international women’s cricket during Australian school holidays for at least the next three years. The ICC’s decision to move the inaugural Women’s Champions Trophy from June-July to February has also affected this summer’s programme. Australia are set to tour Sri Lanka through December 2026, further reducing their home window. Mooney further argued that women’s cricket does not need to compete directly with the men’s game for space in the calendar.
“We don’t want to be the sport that falls behind because we’re just getting it wrong. We’re just pushing it uphill, because we’re in a bad timeslot and it’s a bad time of year for parents. They’re not dragging their kid out to watch a 7pm T20 on a Tuesday night or whatever it is. That’s going to stop girls getting into the game, because parents aren’t going to take them,” said Mooney as quoted by Cricinfo.
“We’re not getting crowds, it’s not marketed well. There is no big-ticket item where people go ‘the Australian women’s team play here [at this time] every year’. We want to be relatable athletes. And if we’re not front and centre of the summer it makes it pretty difficult when it’s meant to be a summer sport. We don’t need to compete with the men. They play the day-night Test at some point. We can have T20s before that. Or we can play night T20s when there is a men’s Test on,” she added.
Games in December would be really special: Molineux
Coach Shelley Nitschke described the absence of home fixtures in December and January as ‘obviously disappointing’. llyse Perry, Australia’s most-capped player, had raised similar scheduling concerns earlier in September 2026. The Women’s Premier League in India, which runs from January 14 to February 7, has also added pressure on the international calendar, with players concerned it could expand into a larger window.
Several Australia players and team management have been vocal about wanting home fixtures moved to the December and January window, which coincides with school holidays and the height of the Australian summer. Captain Sophie Molineux argued that home games in December would be ‘really special’ for the team.
“It would also help see fans come through. I completely understand that the schedules are getting bigger and busier,” Molineux said.
