The England and Wales Cricket Board and Cricket Australia have confirmed the dates for Australia's 2009 Ashes tour.

Dates have been agreed for the Ashes Test series, the one-day series and the two Twenty20 matches in 2009.

Australia will kick off their warm-up matches with a four-day game against Sussex at Hove on June 24 before they face a four-day match against England Lions at Worcestershire's New Road ground starting on July 1.

Both matches are played before the first npower Test match at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff which starts on July 8.

A three-day game against Northamptonshire has provisionally scheduled - depending on their involvement in the Friends Provident Trophy - for July 24.

A two-day match against Kent at Canterbury is also pencilled in for August 15 although this could be against England Lions if Kent are involved in the Twenty20 finals.

Australia's one-day programme will start with an international against Scotland in Edinburgh on August 28.

The schedule also includes two Twenty20 matches at Old Trafford on August 30 and September 1 as well as Australia's first one-day international at the Rose Bowl on September 9.

ECB chief executive David Collier said: "The summer of 2009 promises to be one of the most exciting in the history of cricket in England and Wales.

"The npower Ashes Series and the NatWest Series along with the NatWest International Twenty20 matches have the potential for providing the sort of wonderful cricket which can fire the nation's imagination.

"And of course all this follows the ICC World Twenty20 which guarantees that all the best Twenty20 players in the world will be in this country in June 2009."

Fixtures for the Australian tour to England 2009:

June

Wed 24 - Sat 27: Four-day game v Sussex (Hove)

July

Wed 1 - Sat 4: Four-day game v England Lions (Worcester)

Wed 8 - Sun 12: 1st npower Test (Cardiff)

Thu 16 - Mon 20: 2nd npower Test (Lord's)

Fri 24 - Sun 26: Three-day game v Northants (Northampton)

Thu 30 - Mon 3 Aug: 3rd npower Test (Edgbaston)

August

Fri 7 - Tue 11: 4th npower Test (Headingley)

Sat 15 - Sun 16: Two-day game v Kent (Canterbury)

Thu 20 - Mon 24: 5th npower Test (Oval)

Fri 28: ODI v Scotland (Edinburgh)

Sun 30: 1st NatWest International Twenty20 (Old Trafford)

September

Tue 1: 2nd NatWest International Twenty20 (Old Trafford, floodlit)

Fri 4: 1st NatWest Series day/night (Brit Oval)

Sun 6: 2nd NatWest Series (Lord's)

Wed 9: 3rd NatWest Series day/night (Rose Bowl)

Sat 12: 4th NatWest Series (Lord's)

Tue 15: 5th NatWest Series day/night (Trent Bridge)

Thu 17: 6th NatWest Series day/night (Trent Bridge)

Sun 20: 7th NatWest Series (Durham)


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