NZ to see more test action in next year

New Zealand cricket followers can expect to see more of the national team in whites with at least nine test matches, including four at home, scheduled to be played before the end of next summer.

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) is putting the finishing touches on the schedule and although exact dates and venues are not finalised, there will be an increase in the number of tests after the one-day World Cup ends in early April.

A two-test away series against Bangladesh, probably in late May, is on the radar and is to be followed by a test against the reinstated Zimbabweans in Zimbabwe in October or November.

New Zealand will then play Australia in two tests in Australia in December before a home test against Zimbabwe in January and another three tests at home against the touring South Africans in February-March.

The tours will also include the standard diet of Twenty20 and one-day internationals.

An NZC spokesman today said the test schedule had been pencilled in and exact details were close to being confirmed.

New Zealand are currently playing just their fifth test since the home series against Australia last summer.

They played three tests in India last November and are playing the second of two home tests against Pakistan here this week.

- NZPA