South Africa is all set for the bumper International home season in 2018-19, as Cricket South Africa (CSA) has announced on Tuesday (5 July) the fixtures for the upcoming season in which the Proteas will play as many as 21 One Day Internationals before heading into the 2019 World Cup in England.
It will be certainly a great news for Faf du Plessis and his brigade that they will get more One Day opportunities to get well "fine-tune" for the mega ICC ODI event next year, especially after AB de Villiers’ retirement, as his absence will be really felt in the Protean camp in the 2019 World Cup.
The bumper International home programme will begin with hosting Zimbabwe for the White-ball series in September-October.
Then, Pakistan will tour the rainbow nation for a full-series in December-February 2019. Proteas will also host Sri Lanka in mid-February for two Test matches at Kingsmead and St. George’s Park to be followed by five ODIs and three T20 Internationals.
They will also travel Sri Lanka for two Tests, five ODIs and one T20I next month as well as Australia for the White-ball series this October.
As per reports in CSA’s official website, Board’s Acting Chief Executive, Thabang Moroe commented on the fixtures, “We are pleased to announce the complete schedule of international cricket for our home season. It is going to be a very busy period and a very big one for our Standard Bank Proteas who will be using the programme of 13 ODIs against three different opponents in addition to the away tours to fine-tune their preparations for the 2019 ICC World Cup to be played in England and Wales commencing on 30 May next year.
Following the outstanding Test match cricket played by the Proteas during the past season, we can also look forward to plenty more world-class entertainment by our acknowledged stars during the five Test matches against Pakistan and Sri Lanka.”
Mr. Moroe signed off by saying, “By taking the Zimbabwe tour to some of our smaller venues we are also creating the opportunity for our fans around the country to see the Proteas in action. Our fans now also have the opportunity to make their holiday plans in good time so that they can watch the Proteas in action in their favourite formats.”
Here is the complete Itinerary for the 2018-19 season:
Sri Lanka vs South Africa 2018 -
July 7-8: Two-day practice match, P Sara Stadium, Colombo
July 12-16: 1st Test match, Galle
July 20-24: 2nd Test match, Colombo
July 26: One-day warm-up match, venue to be confirmed
July 29: 1st ODI, Dambulla
August 1: 2nd ODI, Dambulla
August 5: 3rd ODI, Kandy
August 8: 4th ODI, Kandy
August 12: 5th ODI, Colombo
August 14: T20 International, Colombo
South Africa vs Zimbabwe 2018 -
September 30 : 1st Momentum ODI, Kimberley
October 3 : 2nd Momentum ODI, Mangaung Oval, Bloemfontein
October 6 : 3rd Momentum ODI, Eurolux Boland Park, Paarl
October 9 : 1st KFC T20 International, Buffalo Park, East London
October 12 :2nd KFC T20 International, Senwes Park, Potchefstroom
October 14 : 3rd KFC T20 International, Willowmoore Park, Benoni
Australia vs South Africa 2018 -
October 31: Prime Minister’s XI, Manuka Oval, Canberra
November 4: 1st ODI, Perth
November 9: 2nd ODI, Adelaide Oval
November 11: 3rd ODI, Hobart
November 14: T20 Tour match, Allan Border Field, Brisbane
November 17: T20 International, Gold Coast
South Africa vs Pakistan 2018-19 -
December 19-21: Three-day tour match v SA Invitation XI, Willowmoore Park, Benoni
December 26-30: 1st Sunfoil Test match, SuperSport Park, Centurion
January 3-7 : 2nd Sunfoil Test match, PPC Newlands, Cape Town
January 11-15 : 3rd Sunfoil Test match, Bidvest Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
January 19 : 1st Momentum ODI, St. George’s Park, Port Elizabeth
January 22 : 2nd Momentum ODI, Kingsmead, Durban
January 25 : 3rd Momentum ODI, SuperSport Park, Centurion
January 27 : 4th Momentum ODI, Bidvest Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
January 30 : 5th Momentum ODI, PPC Newlands, Cape Town
February 1 : 1st KFC T20 International, PPC Newlands, Cape Town
February 3 : 2nd KFC T20 International, Bidvest Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
February 6 : 3rd KFC T20 International, SuperSport Park, Centurion
South Africa vs Sri Lanka 2019 -
February 13-17 : 10h00, 1st Sunfoil Test match, Kingsmead, Durban
February 21-25 : 10h00, 2nd Sunfoil Test match, St. George’s Park, Port Elizabeth
February 28 : 10h00, One-Day tour match v SA Invitation XI, Willowmoore Park, Benoni
March 3 : 10h00, 1st Momentum ODI, Bidvest Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
March 6 : 13h00, 2nd Momentum ODI, SuperSport Park, Centurion
March 10 : 10h00, 3rd Momentum ODI, Kingsmead, Durban
March 13 : 13h00, 4th Momentum ODI, St. George’s Park, Port Elizabeth
March 16 : 13h00, 5th Momentum ODI, PPC Newlands, Cape Town
March 19 : 18h00, 1st KFC T20 International, PPC Newlands, Cape Town
March 22 : 18h00, 2nd KFC T20 International, SuperSport Park, Centurion
March 24 : 14h30, 3rd KFC T20 International, Bidvest Wanderers Stadium