Kiwis keen for winter one-day tournament in Cairns

BRISBANE, June 25 AAP - New Zealand Cricket is keen to play a one-day tournament against three Australian states in Cairns in August.

The Cairns Cricket Association is believed to have earmarked Queensland, New South Wales and Tasmania as the most likely opponents for the Black Caps during the warm tropical winter.

But the future of the tournament remains uncertain despite the interest of New Zealand officials seeking a warm-up for September's International Cricket Council Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka.

"We are evaluating it at the moment but it is likely New Zealand will take part," NZC operations manager John Reid told cricinfo.com.

"We wanted some sort of build-up because our team would have been going there (to Sri Lanka) after having at least two months of a New Zealand winter.

"Temperatures at the time of the Champions Trophy are expected to be between 30-40 degrees celsius."

Queensland Cricket chief executive Graham Dixon said he was aware of the concept but the Australian Cricket Board had to approve any Australian tournament featuring an international team.

The ACB has more pressing issues, trying to sort out the future of Australia's proposed tour to Pakistan in late August.

"There is uncertainty as to whether (the Cairns tournament) can go ahead based on the fact that it must first have ACB approval," Dixon said.

"The ACB are aware of it, we're aware of it but there is still uncertainty."

It is believed issues such as player payments would need to be discussed before any tournament is approved.

New Zealand will be among the leading contenders for the Champions Trophy after winning its predecessor, the ICC Knockout Trophy, in Nairobi in 2000.