The vagaries of international cricket scheduling will be highlighted over the coming two weeks as New Zealand, Australia, Bangladesh, Australia and the West Indies compete in all three formats of the game in six different locations at the business end of the cricket season.
The Australians - unbeaten at home this season - will be looking to complete a sweep against the West Indies in the final One-Day International and two Twenty20 internationals in Melbourne, Hobart and Sydney on Friday, Sunday and Tuesday. They then relocate to New Zealand on the Wednesday to prepare for two Twenty20 internationals against the BLACKCAPS in Wellington and Christchurch.
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The BLACKCAPS - meanwhile - will be completing a Test against the Bangladeshis before regrouping to take on the Aussies in a tour that includes two Twenty20 internationals, a full five-match Chappell-Hadlee Series and two Tests.
"We are excited to culminate the season with this full tour by Australia,"said NZC CEO Justin Vaughan.
"A recent online survey of our website fans indicated that Australia is far and away the team that most New Zealanders want to watch against the BLACKCAPS. With 17 days of international cricket to look forward to, this tour will provide a fitting climax to a big season of cricket," he said.
Vaughan outlined the process for fixing New Zealand's international schedule, which is driven by the Future Tours Programme, a long-standing agreement between all of the Test playing nations that ensures an equitable spread of international cricket to all participating countries.
Usually, for New Zealand, this results in two tours per home summer, with one in December-January and the other in February-March.
This summer, the Bangladesh tour could not commence until the start of February because they had other international commitments. That has resulted in a schedule with two back-to-back tours throughout February and March (Bangladesh and Australia).
We have also been fortunate this season to host Pakistan for three Test matches that were effectively Pakistan home matches, but played in this country","said Vaughan.
"The big upside of this schedule is that it allowed an excellent window in January for the inaugural HRV Cup to be played, with the BLACKCAPS able to represent their Major Association teams as they fought out for the title and the right to represent New Zealand at the Champions League 2010,"he said.
More than 100,000 people attended these HRV Cup matches and SKY viewership was more than 40% up on the previous domestic season.
This domestic highlight - along with seven Tests, three Twenty20 internationals and eight One-Day Internationals - has created a full and exciting calendar for cricket lovers.
