Second tsunami match cancelled

Ricky Ponting starred in the first match at Melbourne and will miss the chance for a repeat performance © Getty Images Enlarge

The second tsunami fundraising match between the World and Asian XIs, which was scheduled for Calcutta in April, has been cancelled. Jagmohan Dalmiya, the Asian Cricket Council president, said the weather would be too hot for the match, which was already postponed from February 13 because too many top-level players were unavailable.

"Due to the heat in second half of April, the tsunami match cannot be held," Dalmiya told Press Trust of India. Following the success of the first match at Melbourne, which raised $14m (US$11m) for victims of the Boxing Day tsunami, the ACC was due to organise another game to continue to aid the rebuilding process.

The crowded playing schedules of international teams had also made it too difficult to arrange the match. "We were all geared up and ready to go," Syed Ashraful Huq, the ACC chief executive, told the Weekend Australian. "We had sponsors in place but were forced to push the match back because of the overworked players, who wanted it later in April."