Cricket: NZC plan to play dates in land where baseball rules

Will the umpires call "let's play ball!"?

And will the announcer bellow "batter up!" at the fall of a wicket?

All this and more awaits New Zealand as they prepare for a possible three-game Twenty20 series against Sri Lanka in Florida next month.

New Zealand Cricket have been in talks with their American counterparts on a medium to long-term plan to play regular games there.

The proposed dates for the first series are May 20, 22 and 23, straight after the world Twenty20 championship in the Caribbean.

The final sign-off is awaiting financial clarification to ensure NZC aren't going to be out of pocket.

"It is intended to kickstart the partnership between NZC and United States Cricket," NZC chief executive Justin Vaughan said. "We believe in the long term it should be able to generate some traction."

An investor is being sought to underwrite the series but Vaughan is optimistic it will go ahead. He envisages other countries being sought as New Zealand's opponents, notably the West Indies, India and Pakistan with strong expatriate communities.

Vaughan expects the final decision on the series to be made within a week.

* Test cricket is set to return to Boxing Day this year, in the form of the second of the three-match series against Pakistan, with the Basin Reserve a strong candidate as host.

However, it is unlikely to become a regular fixture on New Zealand's calendar, because of the fluidity of fixtures and dates of incoming tours.

Pakistan will arrive in mid-December and will play the ODI leg of their visit after the tests, to help preparations for both teams for the 50-over World Cup starting in February on the sub-continent.

* New Zealand A's tour to England this year has been postponed. Foreign exchange rates hurt NZC's finances and the A tour, designed to give quality cricket to the tier of players immediately below the top flight, is a casualty.

There will be a trip to Australia in August for a mix of NZ A/Emerging Players designed partly to keep them in good shape as cover for New Zealand's tour to Bangladesh in September-October.