India free to play Australian tri-series
November 26, 2004 - 1:29PM
Page Tools
Email to a friend Printer format
Get Jagmohan Dalmiya on the phone.
Australia and India could play the limited overs matches that were sadly lacking from the just-completed tour of the sub-continent if a replacement side for the West Indies is sought for next year's tri-series.
Only India and Kenya have free schedules, and you don't need to be Einstein to work out Cricket Australia's preferred option.
Watching Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar open the batting would be preferable to having Kennedy Obuya and Ravindu Shah stroll out.
Every other International Cricket Council nation is tied up while the tri-series is contested from January 14 to February 8.
Bangladesh and Zimbabwe will be playing Tests at a location yet to be determined.
New Zealand's first Test against Sri Lanka starts on January 15. England will be in South Africa for Tests and one-dayers.
The tri-series was thrown into turmoil when the West Indies board dumped captain Brian Lara and 15 other players for not signing letters of invitation to a three-week camp in Barbados that was to begin the side's preparations for the tri-series, which also features Pakistan.
Advertisement
AdvertisementEmergency meetings are being set up in Trinidad to resolve the dispute.
The problem is that the dumped players have sponsorship deals with Cable and Wireless, a telecommunications rival of Digicel, which recently signed a multi-million dollar sponsorship deal with the team.
Cricket Australia's general manager of public affairs Peter Young said on Thursday an alternative team would be considered for the series in preference to the Windies fielding a sub-standard side.
Crowds, profits and interest would plummet without the Windies' best players, primarily Lara.
India will already be in one-day mode, coming off three matches against Bangladesh that finish on December 27.
Dalmiya, the Indian cricket boss, would undoubtedly be eager for his side to contest such a popular and lucrative series. Pakistan is going to India for a two-month tour straight after the tri-series.
Australia's just-completed trek to India included four Tests but no one-dayers because the tourists needed to rush back home to start the Tests against NZ.
Australia defeated India in the 2003 World Cup final at Johannesburg and their rivalry is the best in the game right now.
Young said the issue "was not on the radar" for the time being because his organisation's focus was on the NZ Test series.
He said nothing had been heard from the Caribbean, and CA boss James Sutherland would wait until next week "at the earliest" to seek information.