Bdos: Windies Aussie tour off

THE West Indies will next week finally, officially and reluctantly cancel their scheduled Test tour of Australia later this year, West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) cricket operations officer Zoral Barthley confirmed yesterday.

Barthley explained that, under the ICC’s ten-year programme, the West Indies were down to tour Australia for four Tests, starting in mid-November.

But the WICB had been informed by their counterparts, Cricket Australia, that such a full series was no longer possible as the inclusion of the ICC Champions Trophy in England in late September meant Australia had to put back a planned Test series in India. That would not now finish until mid-November.

The WICB clearly was not prepared to send a team to Australia for a truncated series of two Tests.