Cricket: Bangladesh likely subsitutes for India

New Zealand's cricketers are likely to face Bangladesh as substitutes next year after India pulled out of next year's New Zealand tour because it was too close to the World Cup.

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) and the Indian board say the tour of three tests and five one-day internationals, originally scheduled for early 2007, is now likely to take place in December 2008.

NZC says the postponement was because the rescheduling of the World Cup in the Caribbean from the first week in April 2007 to the first week in March left insufficient time for the Indian tour to be completed.

NZC chief executive Martin Snedden today said the Black Caps would not be left short of international cricket leading up to the World Cup.

"Next season we will be hosting a full international tour. We're not exactly sure who that will be at the moment," he told Radio Live.

"Under the existing FTP (Future Tours Programme) agreement it's Bangladesh but the whole FTP programme is currently under revision and has been for some months now so it's a little bit uncertain as to whether it will be Bangladesh or whether it may be someone else."

Snedden said the World Cup dates change had driven the change.

"Once that decision was made it was apparent that it wouldn't be possible for India to be touring New Zealand."

Despite the apparent harmony between India and New Zealand, a senior Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) official told the Times of India newspaper that the real reason for the rescheduling was his board's determination to avoid a repeat of their team's 2003 experience, when they were routed in New Zealand only weeks out from the World Cup in South Africa.

"The conditions in New Zealand are very different from West Indies," the unnamed official said.

"There is no point in touring there because any loss will only raise pressure on the team like the last time."

The Black Caps already have a busy schedule leading up to the World Cup.

They participate in the ICC Champions Trophy in India from late October to early November, followed by the as-yet unconfirmed inbound tour in December and January, before the Black Caps travel to Australia to play the hosts and England in the VB Series.

That was likely to be followed by the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy Series in New Zealand in the second half of February, NZC said.

Earlier this week, the ICC warned India against making unilateral decisions about the cricket calendar after the BCCI said it would not take part in the Champions Trophy after this year.

The ICC said chief executive Malcolm Speed had written to the BCCI "to remind it of the obligations it has as a member of the international cricket community".

The BCCI, which is hosting the one-day Champions Trophy from October 7 to November 5 this year, earlier this week said India would not be free to take part in future years.

It argued that holding the trophy in October broke into India's season and so cut revenue.

The biennial Champions Trophy was launched in 1998 to raise money for the ICC's development projects.

- NZPA