May 30, 2007	Wednesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 13, 1428

MUMBAI, May 29: India will have to make do with just one warm-up match on their gruelling year-end tour of Australia after the cricket board Tuesday ruled out any extra games.

A crammed calendar will see India tackle world-beating Australia in December-January in four Tests followed by a triangular series.

And they will have to do that after only one warm-up game against state side Victoria before the first Test at Melbourne from Dec 26.

Skipper Rahul Dravid had urged the board to look into the possibility of having more than one practice match to help the team acclimatise.

“There's no chance of adding any extra games. The players may want more but where is the time?” Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary Niranjan Shah told the Press Trust of India.

Dravid had called for better tour schedules during the just concluded tour of rain-lashed Bangladesh.

“Ideally, the timing of the series (in Bangladesh) could have been better. But schedules are crammed, over-crammed if you ask me. I don't know how we are going to fit everything in,” he said.

“The solution is that we have to get the scheduling right and try to get certain number of Test and ODIs. We should try not to exceed that number and plan our tours well and prepare well for them.”

Dravid, who has already voiced his concern over tight schedule in next 12 months, wants BCCI to seek an extra practice match on tour of Australia so that players get chance to adjust to bouncy pitches there.

A second three-day match was scheduled between the second (Jan 2-6, Sydney) and third Test (Jan 16-20, Perth).

So crammed is schedule that the team will have just five days between home series against Pakistan (Nov-Dec) and start of Australian tour. The series against Pakistan ends on Dec 12 and team expected to leave for Australia around Dec 17.

Some members of team management even wanted three practice games before first Test. But all these requests were turned down by BCCI officials citing 'practical difficulties'.

“With ICC bringing in a tournament (Twenty20 World Cup), we had a tough time fitting in our programme. Anyway, as professionals today's players should be able to adjust to conditions,” Shah said.

On its part, Cricket Australia claims both sides are 'comfortable' with tour programme.

“BCCI is aware of programme and practice arrangements,” said CA spokesman Philip Pope.—Agencies