The organisation has had to explain its decision to switch from Canberra to the much hotter climate of Alice Springs.
Cricket Australia (CA) has defended its decision to switch a tour match between England and a Chairman’s XI in November, from Canberra to the extremely humid Alice Springs.
During the second Ashes tour of 2013, the Three Lions were due to play a warm-up game at the Manuka Oval in the Australian capital between the first Test in Brisbane and second in Adelaide.
However, CA have now decided that the venue will be switched to the Northern Territory as the pitch is being resurfaced at the Canberra ground.
The only issue with the switch is that England will now have to play the two-day practice match in high humidity and sweltering heat – which reaches around the 35 degrees Celsius mark at that time of year.
The match will be played on 29 and 30 November, with the game concluding five days before the second Test match; although the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) are keen to stress they have no issues with the change.
“The change to the schedule was made with our full consultation and agreement,” an ECB spokesperson said on Sky Sports.
“It is a two-day game with only one day likely to be spent in the field and there will be ample time for rest and recovery before the next Test match starts on December 5.”
It will certainly be a welcome switch for officials at Traeger Park in Alice Springs, as the arrival of England will end a drought of 13 years without an international team being hosted at the ground.
The Chairman’s XI team the Three Lions will face will be decided upon later in the year by the Australian selectors and CA chairman Wally Edwards.
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