The National Men’s Senior Squad will hold a series of International Test Matches meeting Australia at Perth Hockey Stadium, Australia, starting 23 April to 28 April 2022
Kookaburras v Malaysia Series
Perth Hockey Stadium at Curtin University
Saturday 23 April (4:00pm local, 6:00pm AEST)
Sunday 24 April (4:00pm local, 6:00pm AEST)
Tuesday 26 April (6:30pm local, 8:30pm AEST)
Thursday 28 April (6:30pm local, 8:30pm AEST)
Australia’s world number one ranked men’s hockey team, the Kookaburras will play their first internationals since last year’s Tokyo Olympics when they take on Malaysia in Perth.The four-match series begins on Saturday 23 April before concluding on 28 April.
While they had their benefits, Kookaburras Head Coach Colin Batch knows there is nothing like the real thing and says the players are itching to take on an international opponent.
“The players are competitive beasts by nature and they love competing, that’s why they make the commitment to train early in the morning every day and do what they do. It has been difficult not having any internationals this year so we are excited and grateful for the opportunity to welcome Malaysia here for this series.”
“The players have been working hard at training and we are progressing well as we continue to ramp up our preparations for the Commonwealth Games.”
Malaysia’s men’s team currently sits 11th in the world rankings and will use this series as crucial preparation for the Asian Games in September, which doubles as Olympic qualifiers.
Australia would press the international competition button when they play a four Test series against Malaysia from April 23-28 at the Perth Hockey Stadium in Curtin University. The four test series to be played on April 23, 24, 26, and 28, would enable the Kookaburras to fine-tune their preparations as they would seek to defend their Commonwealth Games gold medal in Birmingham in July. Australia last played Malaysia at the 2018 Invitational Event in Darwin, where the Kookaburras won comfortably 5-2.
For Malaysia, it would be their first international engagement since the two Test series against Ireland held in October 2021. Malaysia scored four goals in a space of 11 minutes to win the second Test 4-2 after narrowly losing the first Test 2-3.
The Arul Selvaraj-coached Malaysians would have their task cut out against the mighty Aussies, who are likely to a number of debutants in a bid to get the right combination going for the upcoming Commonwealth Games.
