Australia hosts England in the Ashes 2026-27, with the SCG Test set for early January 2027 and details on tickets, transport and the five-Test calendar.
The Sports Desk is a contributing writer covering sports and public affairs for The Sydney Times.
The Ashes 2026-27 brings England to Australian soil for a five-Test series reported to run from late November 2026 to late January 2027, with the Sydney Cricket Ground staging its Test in early January 2027. Cricket Australia has confirmed the England white-ball tour for November, with the ODI series running from 13 November, but the full Test itinerary, including exact dates and the venue order, is yet to be published on cricket.com.au. What is settled is the destination for Sydney fans: the SCG Test, the marquee fixture of the local summer, returns to Moore Park in the first weeks of 2027.
The Ashes is the oldest rivalry in Test cricket, contested since the 1882-83 English summer that followed Australia's famous win at The Oval. The ground at Moore Park has been part of that story from the start, hosting its first men's Test in February 1882 and staging Ashes Tests across more than a century of the rivalry.
The reported calendar runs from late November 2026 to late January 2027, with the SCG Test set for early January 2027. Cricket Australia has yet to confirm the exact dates and the order of the five Tests, and the venue rotation stays provisional until the board publishes its fixture list. Sydney's match anchors the back end of the series, sitting in the first week of January, the SCG's traditional New Year slot.
The five-Test format has been the Ashes template in Australia for decades, with the series traditionally moving through the mainland state capitals before finishing in Sydney. The SCG's early January slot carries that weight: the ground has hosted the final Test of the Australian summer for generations, and the New Year crowd is among the largest regular Test audiences of the season.
The ground's own schedule shows the summer taking shape well before the Ashes dates are locked in. The Sydney Cricket Ground's fixture list includes Sheffield Shield fixtures from 22 November, a men's T20I against England on 29 November, a Shield fixture against Western Australia from 3 December, and BBL|16 fixtures with the Sydney Sixers across the summer. Cricket Australia's official website remains the primary source for the Test itinerary as each venue and date is confirmed.
Tickets for the SCG Test will be sold through the Sydney Cricket Ground's official ticketing channels, with session and full-day passes expected once Cricket Australia sets the dates. Prices are not yet published, and the ground has not opened sales for the Test. Fans who followed the ground's 2026 events know the pattern: the NRL Grand Final statistics and analysis from September drew roughly 48,000 spectators to the same stands, and Ashes crowds typically run to similar capacity.
Getting to Moore Park is straightforward on public transport. The CBD and South East Light Rail stops at Moore Park, a short walk from the SCG gates, while trains to Central leave a 20 to 30 minute walk through Surry Hills. Light rail frequency increases for major events, and Transport for NSW typically publishes extra match-day timetables once Test dates are confirmed. Driving is possible, but parking around Moore Park is limited and fills early, so the light rail is the reliable option.
A Test match runs across five days, with play usually beginning mid-morning and finishing in the early evening, broken by lunch and tea breaks. Session times are set for each match once the itinerary is confirmed. The SCG holds close to 48,000 spectators across stands that include the Members Pavilion, the MA Noble Stand, the Clive Churchill Stand and the Bill O'Reilly Stand, with the Paddington End and the Randwick End framing the ground.
The Bureau of Meteorology declared El Niño in June 2026, and some models suggest it could be among the strongest on record, according to the Bureau's ENSO outlook. El Niño tends to bring hotter, drier conditions to eastern Australia, so a January Test at the SCG carries a real heat risk. Fans should plan for sun protection, hats and water, and arrive early for the first session. On non-match days, the ground's museum and 90-minute guided tours, which include the players' dressing rooms and the Richie Benaud Media Centre, run through the Sydney Cricket Ground's visitor information.
Squad details for the series remain unconfirmed at the time of writing, with neither Cricket Australia nor England's board having named a final Ashes party. The storylines that do not depend on names are already rich: the urn itself, contested since 1882-83, and the weight of the SCG's own Ashes record, where the New Year slot has produced some of the most famous sessions in Australian cricket history.
The series also anchors Sydney's events calendar. The SCG Test lands alongside Sydney Festival and the run to Australia Day on 26 January, closing a summer that already includes the BBL and the Sheffield Shield. For fans arriving from overseas, Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport opens on 25 October 2026, adding a second international gateway to the city ahead of the series. The wider sporting year is taking shape as well: Sydney's 2027 season outlook covers the Swans and Giants campaigns, and the Sydney cricket season preview tracks the Blues and the Sixers.
For the latest on the Sports hub and the cricket hub, the Test itinerary will be updated as Cricket Australia confirms each venue and date. The board is expected to publish the full Ashes itinerary in the coming weeks, with the first Test slated for late November 2026 and the SCG Test following in early January 2027.
Cover image: the Sydney Cricket Ground during the 2017-18 Ashes, photographed by David Molloy, licensed CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
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