The West Indies have replaced South Africa as the opposition for an annual cricket match against the prime minister’s XI at Manuka Oval in Canberra, Australia.
The match was originally scheduled to feature an invitational side against South Africa on January 27, but the West Indies will now be the visiting team in the traditional one-day game on December 2.
The January 27 match would have been played in the middle of a hectic triangular one-day series between Australia, Sri Lanka and South Africa.
”It just got too hard. It works a lot better if we do this on December 2 instead of January 27,” Cricket Australia spokesperson Peter Young said on Monday.
The match, first played in 1951/52, has been variously played in December and January in recent years, Young said.
The West Indies will play Tests in Brisbane (November 3 to 7), Hobart (November 17 to 21) and Adelaide (November 25 to 29). — Sapa-AP