Australia planning to break new winter ground

The Australian Cricket Board (ACB) explored new ground - literally and metaphorically - last year when it staged a One-Day International series in the depths of winter. In 2001, it plans to make even more refinements to its exciting new product.

If the Board's invitation to new opponent India is accepted later this month, it is not only likely that such a series will occur again but also that its configuration will take on a different look. Some thirteen months after it hosted the highly successful three-match series against South Africa at Melbourne's Colonial Stadium, that city's spectacular new indoor facility, its plans could see 'winter' cricket extend further north.

While two of the matches have again been scheduled for Colonial, CricInfo has learned that Brisbane's 'Gabba ground has been earmarked as the venue that will stage the other of the three encounters to be contested over the five-day period between 14 and 18 September.

On the heels of the epic Test series between the two nations earlier this year, media outlets in both countries have made the prospect of the upcoming series the subject of intense speculation in recent months. It has been widely reported that the Board of Control for Cricket in India has already accepted the invitation and that the matches would be staged over five days between 10 and 14 September in Melbourne.

But a range of Board spokesmen in both countries have consistently refused to be drawn into commenting on such speculation and it has now emerged that a number of the claims in such reports were erroneous.

If successful, the ACB's plans will see Brisbane stage international cricket for the first time ever outside of the November to March period - the months during which such matches have traditionally been played in Australia. As the Board seeks to add greater flexibility to its programming in the wake of the International Cricket Council's adoption of a comprehensive new ten-year plan earlier this year, the series is therefore likely to act as a blueprint for further off-season internationals in northern Australia over coming years.

The shift to the 'Gabba on this occasion will also reduce the possibility that the ACB will be forced to alter its scheduling to avert direct clashes with Australian Football League finals due to be played during that week.

Although such details remain sketchy at this stage, it is believed that a drop-in pitch will be used at both venues. As football will be played at each of the two stadiums until at least the first week of September this year, it is understood that this is being viewed as the method most likely to produce reliable surfaces.