Attendances and financial returns underpin Cricket Australia’s motivation to elevate this India series and present a blueprint for the future

Cricket Australia officials are hopeful of attracting 90,000 fans on Boxing Day this year for just the second time in a Test, as part of a summer that finally pulls India alongside England as Australia’s most important cricketing rival – and partner.

The series, which starts in Perth on Friday, is the first five-Test contest between the two countries since 1991-92 and marks the start of a radical new look to Australian summers. India’s men will become an even more regular accompaniment, but Australia’s best women players will abandon their homeland in peak season from 2026 to play in the burgeoning Women’s Premier League (WPL).