WA preparing for life after Langer

WACA chief executive Christina Matthews always knew the day would come when Justin Langer flew the coup, she just never realised it would be this soon.

Langer has done a magnificent job turning around the fortunes of WA cricket, and the 47-year-old is now the frontrunner to take over as head coach of Australia's men's team.

A decision on the post is expected from Cricket Australia within weeks.

Matthews initially planned to lose Langer to the national set-up when Darren Lehmann's contract expired in 2019.

But after Lehmann stepped down in March following the ball tampering controversy in South Africa, Matthews knew Langer's time in WA would likely be cut short.

"We've been preparing for life after Justin Langer since Justin Langer started, knowing he would have a limited tenure with us," Matthews said.

"Look, there's a lot of water to go under the bridge yet. But everyone knows he's a strong candidate for the role.

"We knew Darren's contract finished mid next year anyway, so we were starting our planning processes.

"Now we've just got to sit back and see what Cricket Australia do.

"I would suggest that Justin's interested in the role. We'll wait and see."

Meanwhile, Matthews is confident the drop-in wicket at Optus Stadium will perform well when the $1.6 billion Perth venue hosts its maiden Test match later this year.

Australia will take on India at Optus Stadium from December 14-18.

The venue successfully hosted a one-day international between England and Australia earlier this year, but a five-day Test will prove to be an entirely different challenge.

"There's no reason for us to think it won't be anything but a world-class Test pitch," Matthews said.

"We did experiment with it following the one-dayer, letting it roll out as if it was a Test match to see how it cracked and how it deteriorated, and we were very pleased with it.

"We will play a  Sheffield Shield game here before the Test match. But I have no concerns about how the pitch will turn out."

Matthews said she would love to see day-night Tests played at Optus Stadium in the future.

Public tickets for the men's internationals will go on sale in June, with women's matches on sale in August. Members of the Australian Cricket Family will again enjoy priority access to tickets. Join here. 

2018-19 International Schedule

Commonwealth Bank Women's Series v New Zealand

First T20: North Sydney Oval, September 29
Second T20: Allan Border Field, Brisbane, October 1
Third T20: Manuka Oval, Canberra, October 5
First ODI: WACA Ground, February 22
Second ODI: Karen Rolton Oval, Adelaide, February 24
Tour match: GG's XI v NZ, Drummoyne Oval, February 28
Third ODI: Junction Oval, Melbourne, March 3

Gillette Series v South Africa

Tour match: PM's XI v South Africa, Manuka Oval, Canberra, October 31
First ODI: Perth Stadium, November 4
Second ODI: Adelaide Oval, November 9
Third ODI: Blundstone Arena, Hobart, November 11
Only T20: Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast, November 17

India Men's tour of Australia

First T20: Gabba, November 21
Second T20: MCG, November 23
Third T20: SCG, November 25
First Test: Adelaide Oval, December 6-10
Second Test: Perth Stadium, December 14-18
Third Test: MCG, December 26-30
Fourth Test: SCG, January 3-7
First ODI: SCG, January 12
Second ODI: Adelaide Oval, January 15
Third ODI: MCG, January 18

Sri Lanka Men's tour of Australia

First Test: Gabba, January 24-28 (D/N)
Second Test: Manuka Oval, February 1-5