Lankan Tests in Darwin, Cairns

Sri Lanka will play Tests against Australia in Darwin and Cairns next July, Cricket Australia announced here on Saturday.

The former World Cup champions will take on Australia in Darwin in the Northern Territory from July 1-5 and Cairns in north Queensland, from July 9-13 next year.

The decision follows the success of Australia's first-ever Test match this weekend against Bangladesh, during the dry season in Australia's tropical north.

"By extending Australian cricket's traditional season into the winter months, we have the opportunity to showcase the game to more people for longer periods of time," Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said in a state ment on Saturday.

"Cricket Australia is delighted that after the hard work that has gone into preparing both venues for cricket this year, they will both host another international fixture in 2004."

Under normal programming arrangements, Cricket Australia would have hosted a Test series against Sri Lanka last season. However, a commitment to have both sides in South Africa for the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup meant the series had to be moved to the mutually-agreed month of July 2004, the statement said.

"The weather is perfect to play cricket at this time of year and we are thrilled with the response we've had from the locals to this week's Test match," Sutherland said.

Sutherland said winter cricket was important because it helped eased international cricket's congested playing schedule.

"The future tours program now is such that it is quite congested for us to fit everything in during our summer," he said.

"We have additional teams and additional commitments that we need to meet. We need to broaden the seasons."

Tests against the major crowd-pulling teams, such as England, the West Indies, South Africa and India, will be played in the more populated southern cities during the Australian summer, but the opportunity exists to play Tests in Australia's winter in the tropical cities of Darwin and Cairns.

Cricket enthusiasts have been delighted with the facilities at Darwin's Marrara Oval with the Northern Territory government upgrading the ground and a drop-in pitch installed for a consistent-playing wicket.