MELBOURNE, Jan 10: Calcutta is the likely venue for the return Asian Tsunami Relief Appeal cricket match next month, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Monday.

ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said there was a small window of opportunity to stage the game between England's scheduled finish to their five-Test series in South Africa on Feb 13 and Australia starting their tour to New Zealand on Feb 17.

"We need to fly players in and out and have them there long enough for them to perform at a very high level," Speed told a press conference after the Rest of the World beat Asia by 112 runs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

"We're not entirely sure we're going to accommodate both groups of players but we'll know in the next day or so, but one way or another I would expect the Australian players will be playing, they have an eagerness and willingness to play in the next game.

"I was very hopeful that we would have a date before today so we could announce it but we're not quite there yet. "We need to make calls to England and India and I think we're probably there with a date tonight." Speed said Calcutta's vast Eden Gardens arena would be favourite to stage the match, while the Sri Lankan capital Colombo had also been discussed. -AFP