AUS vs BAN: After a wait of more than two decades, Test cricket is finally returning to Darwin. Marrara Stadium will once again become the centre of international cricket when Australia face Bangladesh in the opening Test of their two-match series from August 13 to 17, bringing an end to a remarkable 22-year drought in the Northern Territory.

Australia played Sri Lanka at Marrara in 2004

Darwin last hosted a Test in July 2004, when Australia played Sri Lanka at Marrara stadium. Since then, the tropical city has largely been absent from the Test map, despite continuing to host domestic cricket and international white-ball matches. Now, after 22 years, the longest format is back in Australia’s Top End.

There is an added sense of symmetry to the occasion. Darwin’s first-ever Test, played in 2003, was also between Australia and Bangladesh. On that occasion, Australia dominated from the outset, dismissing Bangladesh for just 97, with Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee taking three wickets each.

The 2026 contest, however, arrives in a very different era. Bangladesh return to Australia for their first Test series Down Under since 2003, while Darwin gets another opportunity to establish itself as an important venue for international cricket.

The ground hosted top-level international cricket

The return is also significant for the local cricket community. The Northern Territory’s hot and dry winter conditions provide a distinctive setting for Test cricket, while recent international white-ball matches have demonstrated the region’s love for top-level cricket.

For Darwin, this is about much more than another international match. It is the reopening of a chapter that had been left unfinished for 22 years. When Australia and Bangladesh walk onto the Marrara surface on August 13, Darwin will once again hear the sound of Test cricket, a sound the city has been waiting more than two decades to hear again.

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