WELLINGTON, July 23: New Zealand will host Australia and Sri Lanka in separate Test and One-day Internationals this summer as part of a revamped international schedule.
Sri Lanka will play two Tests and five One-day Internationals in December and January while the Australians will play three Tests and five one-dayers in February and March.
The one-day series with Sri Lanka starts on Dec 26 after New Zealand Cricket (NZC) announced it had scrapped Wellington's traditional Boxing Day Test. New Zealand has traditionally played Tests in December but chief executive Martin Snedden defended the decision to move the Tests to January.
"The pre-Christmas Tests have been a problem both because of weather interference and because in the hectic run up to Christmas," Snedden said. "It is difficult for spectators to make time available to attend Tests."
The series with Australia will be played in its traditional timeslot with back-to-back Tests in Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland but includes a Twenty20 match for the first time.
SRI LANKA SCHEDULE:
Dec 21: v Central Districts (New Plymouth).
Dec 23: v Northern Districts (Hamilton).
Dec 26: First One-day International (Auckland).
Dec 29: Second One-day International (Napier).
Jan 2: Third One-day International (Queenstown).
Jan 4: Fourth One-day International (Christchurch).
Jan 8: Fifth One-day International (Wellington).
Jan 10-12: v Auckland (Auckland).
Jan 15-19: First Test (Hamilton).
Jan 22-26: Second Test (Wellington).
AUSTRALIA SCHEDULE:
Feb 17: Twenty20 match (Auckland).
Feb 19: First One-day International (Wellington).
Feb 22: Second One-day International (Christchurch).
Feb 26: Third One-day International (Auckland).
March 2: Fourth One-day International (Hamilton).
March 4: Fifth One-day International (Napier).
March 10-14: First Test (Christchurch).
March 18-22: Second Test (Wellington).
March 26-30: Third Test (Auckland). -Reuters
