SYDNEY: Cricket Australia says it's confident the Sydney Cricket Ground can host the scheduled Test between Australia and the West Indies in January despite the abandonment of a domestic Sheffield Shield match on the weekend because of a dangerous outfield.

Match officials called off the New South Wales-Victoria match after players were slipping on the rain-affected surface, though the SCG Trust, which administers the ground, said it was “disappointed” in the decision and said the oval was “absolutely read to host a match”.

Cricket New South Wales chief executive Andrew Jones said he had been told the SCG Trust intends to resurface the playing area and “the informal advice is that it looks like they are planning to do that as soon as possible”.

New South Wales will play its next Shield match at the Bankstown Oval as that work begins.

Cricket Australia head of operations Sean Cary said “the Sydney Test is two months away. We have every confidence they will get the playing surface right for that match”.

“Abandoning a match is the last resort for any match official and was only done after due consideration for player safety.”

The SCG Test between Australia and the West Indies is due to begin on Jan 3.