Cricket: World XI looks to become game's de facto 11th team

Don't be surprised if FICA's new World XI becomes the international game's de facto 11th team.

That's the word from New Zealand Cricket Players Association chief Heath Mills after a highly-popular three-game inauguration of the World XI ended in front of a sellout 12,000-strong crowd at Westpac Park yesterday.

Formed to bail out New Zealand following the disruptions of the tsunami disaster, the World XI will now almost certainly reassemble in late April to play in Sri Lanka, with a view to helping with the effort to reconstruct the devastated Galle Stadium.

Mills said Sri Lanka Cricket had responded enthusiastically to FICA overtures regarding a World XI tour and were considering their options for staging a series immediately after returning from their two tests in New Zealand.

With New Zealand at that stage facing no more international cricket for four months, the possibility is that several Black Caps could be involved, among them Chris Cairns, Stephen Fleming, Brendon McCullum and Nathan Astle.

There was even a chance that the matches could double as part of Shane Bond's recovery, although Mills said player availability was yet to be canvassed and no one had been approached.

"What is clear, however, is that the World XI concept is both viable and popular, and will remain a part of the cricket calendar.

"The talk is that this new team could in effect be world cricket's 11th side; filling in where needed, helping out where needed, and generally giving the game's stake-holders another option."

Mills said the response of the New Zealand cricket public had shown how attractive the World XI concept was, and the financial backing from England from Brit Insurance had confirmed that corporate support was also available.

"The World XI players can't stop talking about how much fun they've been having playing in this series, they've really enjoyed themselves.

"The entire concept has been a revelation for us, in that it's not only worked, it's shown itself to be sustainable."