Black Caps series in USA confirmed

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New Zealand and Sri Lanka will contest a three-match Twenty20 series in Florida next month to launch a new partnership between USA Cricket and New Zealand Cricket (NZC).

The details were confirmed today, six months after the proposal was first publicly mooted, with NZC chief executive Justin Vaughan suggesting the New Zealand team could play in the United States each year.

The first international matches played by full International Cricket Council (ICC) members in the United States will take place from May 20-23 in Lauderhill, about 50km from Miami.

NZC chief executive Justin Vaughan said his organisation had long seen the potential of cricket in the US.

"We have the experience and capacity to help develop the game of cricket in the USA. We are looking at ways of helping USA Cricket grow the game both professionally and at the grassroots," he said in a statement.

"This T20 series is the first of many initiatives between our two cricket boards and we envisage the Black Caps playing in the USA on an annual basis."

USA Cricket chief executive Donald Lockerbie said the series had the potential to help grow and develop the game in the US.

"We believe that in order to grow the game of cricket in the USA, we need to have the best teams in the world play in our country," he said.

"We want to demonstrate to the American public just how exciting the T20 format is. Cricket is already popular here but has lacked major media coverage. This inaugural series is the first step to reverse this situation."

The series will follow the world Twenty20 tournament in the West Indies, which ends on May 16.

The matches will be played at the Central Broward County Regional Park Cricket Stadium, the only ICC-approved cricket stadium in north America, on May 22 and May 22 and 23.

- NZPA