Australia Women's maiden tour of South Africa moves back a week for the Champions Trophy

Cricket South Africa has moved the Proteas Women's first home series against Australia back a week to 24 March to 18 April 2027, switching the one-off Test to Buffalo Park

The revised schedule, confirmed by Cricket South Africa on Monday, keeps the shape of the tour intact — three T20Is, three ODIs and a one-off Test — but pushes the first ball back from 18 March to 24 March 2027 and the finish from 11 April to 18 April.

The move follows the ICC's confirmation of the inaugural Women's Champions Trophy for 14 to 28 February 2027, a six-team T20I tournament in India that left the original March window too tight.

It remains the first bilateral series the two sides have played in South Africa. A tour scheduled for March 2020 was cancelled at the start of the pandemic, and their only previous Test meeting came at the WACA Ground in 2024.

Why the dates moved

The Champions Trophy will be played at the Cricket Club of India's Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai and the Vadodara International Cricket Stadium, with the top two sides in the round-robin meeting in the final on 28 February.

That left barely a fortnight between the tournament and the original start date in Kimberley, and the two boards reworked the itinerary rather than compress it.

"Hosting a heralded team like Australia will always be a special occasion, let alone doing so for the first time," CSA chief executive Pholetsi Moseki said, crediting staff at both boards for settling the new dates.

Three T20Is to open in Kimberley

The tour begins at Kimberley Oval on 24 March, moves to Willowmoore Park in Benoni on 27 March and closes the short format in Potchefstroom on 30 March.

Potchefstroom's fixture is new. Under the original plan the town was to stage the Test, and the third T20I was pencilled in for Buffalo Park, so the two venues have in effect swapped places.

Cape Town's Newlands, which hosted the 2023 T20 World Cup final, does not appear on the schedule.

The Test switches to East London

The one-off Test now runs from 15 to 18 April at Buffalo Park Cricket Stadium in KuGompo City, the ground formerly known as East London, which has never staged a women's Test.

It had been set for 8 to 11 April in Potchefstroom, so the red-ball match has both changed venue and become the tour's closing act rather than its penultimate fixture.

For Australia it will be a first multi-day match since they beat India in Perth in March 2026, and there is no Test on their 2026-27 home summer schedule.

ODIs carry World Cup qualification weight

The 50-over leg forms part of the ICC Women's Championship 2026-2029, the qualification path to the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2029, so the points count for more than the series itself.

The order has been reversed. Kingsmead in Durban now opens the ODIs on 3 April, Boland Park in Paarl follows on 7 April and St George's Park in Gqeberha closes the leg on 10 April; the original plan began in Gqeberha and finished in Durban.

All three are day fixtures, with the Durban match starting at 2pm local time.

Black Day ODI returns in Durban

The Kingsmead match is CSA's sixth Black Day ODI, the annual fixture the board uses to raise awareness of gender-based violence in South Africa.

"Having the Aussies involved in this important cause can only help strengthen our message," Moseki said.

Tickets for all seven internationals are on sale through Cricket South Africa.

The tour opens in Kimberley on 24 March 2027 and ends with the Test at Buffalo Park on 18 April.

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