South Africa face hectic schedule

South Africa face a hectic international season ahead of next year's World Cup in West Indies, with the announcement of the 2006-07 international fixtures programme by Cricket South Africa. The team will play a maximum of eight Tests and 20 ODIs, starting with the tour of Sri Lanka in July.

The Sri Lanka tour includes two Tests and a tri-series also involving India, with each team playing each other twice before the finals. South Africa then head to India for the ICC Champions Trophy where they will play a maximum of five matches, should they make the finals.

Their home season kicks off with a five-match ODI series against India during the first half of the summer. The focus then shifts to the Tests, with six back-to-back matches, three each against India and Pakistan. Pakistan will play their Tests at Centurion, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town, followed by five ODIs, with the last ending on February 14. Almost immediately after, South Africa head to West Indies for the World Cup, and will be based in St Kitts for the group stages.

Gerald Majola, CEO of Cricket South Africa, said that the schedule was aimed at improving the team's international ranking and bench strength. South Africa are well placed in the ODI team rankings, second only to Australia. However, they will want to improve on a Test ranking which places them behind Pakistan.

"We have put a high performance programme supported by Standard Bank in place to fine tune the Proteas [South Africa] as well as to ensure that our widening pool of emerging players are ready to meet the challenges of international cricket," Majola said in a media release. "The Proteas will be looking to consolidate their ODI position in the top 2 with Australia, and to climb further up the Test ladder.

"All eyes are on the World Cup in March, and as world record holders the Proteas will be going into the tournament with much confidence. We will leave no stone unturned to ensure that the Proteas get the best preparation possible."

Jan 6-8 Tour Match - Kimberley
Jan 11-15 1st Test - Centurion
Jan 19 -23 2nd Test - Port Elizabeth
Jan 26 -303rd Test - Cape Town
Feb 2 1st ODI - Johannesburg (d/n)
Feb 4 2nd ODI - Centurion
Feb 9 3rd ODI - Port Elizabeth (d/n)
Feb 11 4th ODI - Cape Town
Feb 14 5th ODI - Durban (d/n)