Star Australian all-rounder Ellyse Perry on Wednesday, 7 October 2026 voiced her disappointment over the Australian women's cricket team's sparse home schedule, describing the absence of international fixtures during the country's peak cricket months as 'a sad development.' Perry made the remarks in Brisbane ahead of Australia's opening ODI against Bangladesh on Friday.

The Scheduling Gap

Australia — the world's top-ranked ODI and T20I side — will play just six white-ball matches in the fortnight ahead: three ODIs against Bangladesh followed by three T20Is against New Zealand. After that, the women's side faces a five-month international hiatus at home, with no fixtures until March, effectively blanking out the traditional Australian summer peak period when cricket interest is at its highest.

'I think everyone at the moment feels the challenge from a scheduling perspective that we're not able to play probably in the peak months this summer when people are really tuned into cricket,' Perry said to reporters in Brisbane. 'Kids are on holidays, people are off work, so yeah there's a challenge for sure, because our team has been largely successful and we have got some support from fans around the country.'

Men's Team Gets a Packed Calendar

The contrast with the Australian men's side is stark. The men's team has a 12-game international schedule at home this summer, including three ODIs and five T20Is against England starting 13 November, followed by a four-Test series against New Zealand running from 9 December to 8 January. The disparity underscores a longstanding tension in cricket administration over equitable scheduling for the women's game.

Franchise Competitions Adding to the Crunch

Perry acknowledged that a jam-packed global calendar — driven by franchise competitions such as the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) in Australia and the Women's Premier League (WPL) in India — has intensified scheduling constraints for national teams. 'We just don't have enough opportunity to play in front of our fans because it's a really jam-packed schedule,' she said. 'But hopefully, at least in the women's game, we can create more opportunities to play at home.'

Focus on Bangladesh ODIs and ODI Cricket Rhythm

Turning to the immediate challenge, Perry noted the team would need to readjust to 50-over cricket after limited exposure to the format in recent months. 'We haven't played a lot of one-day cricket recently, and even looking over the next 24 months, it's going to be sporadic when we drop into one-day cricket as a group,' she said. She added that the team's core ethos remains consistent across formats, even as nuances around batting duration and bowling workloads differ.

Eye on the 2029 Women's ODI World Cup

Perry also pointed to the long-term objective motivating the squad. With the Women's ODI World Cup scheduled at the back end of 2029, she said Australia is focused on evolution after falling short in the previous edition. 'A lot changes in a couple of years in women's cricket, so I think we've got to keep trying to push that where we want to take that style of cricket too,' she concluded. The next fortnight of white-ball cricket against Bangladesh and New Zealand will offer the team a rare opportunity to sharpen its game ahead of a long domestic franchise season.