South Africa scrap Tests in India

Captains Graeme Smith and Anil Kumble share the spoils last year. South Africa and India will now not meet in Tests in 2010

South Africa will not play any Tests on their tour of India next year, Cricket South Africa chief executive Gerald Majola has revealed.

The Proteas were scheduled to compete in Test and one-day series when they travel to the sub-continent in February, but the tour has been watered down to include limited-overs contests only.

Majola said the decision owed much to a packed calendar and the fact that England’s current tour of South Africa could not be rescheduled.

“We could not reach an agreement on rescheduling the England series,” Majola said. “We also needed to have our Boxing Day and New Year Tests in place.

“Next year’s schedule is very crowded with the Indian Premier League and the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean, so we agreed with the Board of Control for Cricket in India that next year’s tour would be ODIs only.

“We will play the Tests at a later stage when it’s convenient for both countries,” he said.

The sides met on Indian soil as recently as last year, when South Africa let slip a 1-0 lead to draw the three-Test series.

India, who went top of the International Cricket Council’s Test rankings this week, are scheduled to play only two Tests against Bangladesh - in January - between now and November 2010.