South Africa unveil bumper summer ahead of World Cup

Cricket South Africa have announced their home schedule for the 2018/19 season that will see tours by Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, with the focus on One-Day Internationals ahead of the World Cup next year.

Pakistan will feature in the marquee Boxing Day and New Year Tests as they tour South Africa for the first time since 2013.

The first Test will be played in Pretoria from Dec. 26-30, before matches in Cape Town (Jan. 3-7) and Johannesburg (Jan. 11-15). The sides will also clash in five ODIs and three Twenty20 Internationals that will follow the Test series.

There will be a just a week's break before the end of Pakistan's tour and the arrival of Sri Lanka for Tests in Durban (Feb. 13-17) and Port Elizabeth (Feb 21-25).

The sides will also be involved in a series of five ODIs and three Twenty20 fixtures that will finish on Mar. 24.

South Africa's summer will get underway with a limited overs tour by Zimbabwe that will include three ODIs and three Twenty20 fixtures between Sept. 30 and Oct. 14.

South Africa are ranked second in the world in Tests and ODIs, but only sixth in Twenty20 internationals. Their next assignment is a tour of Sri Lanka that has matches in all three formats and starts in mid-July.