KARACHI, Aug 31: A proposed 20/20 game between West Indies and South Africa this November has been cancelled just days after the West Indies’ itinerary for the winter tour of Pakistan was announced.

According to details available, the US$5 million winner-takes-all Stanford SuperStar fixture was scheduled to take place in Antigua on Nov 10.

But since the leading West Indian stars, such as Brian Lara, Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan, almost certain to be unavailable because the lucrative fixture was in direct confrontation with the Pakistan tour, Allen Stanford, an Antigua-based Texan billionaire and the pioneer behind the 20/20 project, had little option but to scrap the match.

For more than two months, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) was trying to reach a compromise – with chairmen of both boards meeting at the ICC forum in July – with the Pakistan Cricket Board over the dates of West Indies tour, which is now confirmed to start from Nov 7, just two days after the ICC Champions Trophy final in Mumbai.

But the PCB refused to alter the dates because of Pakistan’s hectic schedule leading upto next year’s World Cup. Inzamam-ul-Haq’s team barely has a three-day break after the current England tour ends in mid-September.

Pakistan visit India for the Champions Trophy in Oct with three matches guaranteed at the group stage two more if they reach the final.

Pakistan then return home to host West Indies in three Tests and five One-day Internationals between Nov 11 and Dec 16 before embarking on a tour of South Africa two weeks later.

The South Africa trip, which ends on Feb 14, hardly give Pakistan cricketers any breathing space with the World Cup in the Caribbean beginning in early March with the warm-up matches slated to start from March 6.

The World Cup then gets under way in earnest with the hosts West Indies facing Pakistan in the opening fixture in Jamaica on March 13.

Pakistan’s schedule after Champions Trophy: