New Zealand's national team has been granted its wish to play extra matches on its upcoming tour of Australia. The news comes a fortnight after the country's leading administrator, Martin Snedden, lodged the request with the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) in Melbourne.

A little over a week after announcing a number of revisions to its Pura Cup and ING Cup fixture lists, the ACB has found room for a total of three extra matches for the Black Caps in the 2001-02 schedule.

But, while that gives the green light to their plan to familiarise themselves with Australian conditions earlier than initially planned, the New Zealanders will not be meeting quite the calibre of opponents they were seeking.

In the wake of their withdrawal this month from a tour of Pakistan, the New Zealanders had been hoping for extra match practice to come in the form of fixtures against at least two more state teams.

The legacy of an already tightly-packed program of Australian domestic matches in October, however, is that the tourists will only be able to play one state team in the lead-up to the First Test, starting in Brisbane on 8 November.

Instead of other first-class sides being added to the Kiwis' pre-Test schedule, the Queensland Academy of Sport (that state's second eleven team), a Queensland President's XI (another composite of fringe players) and the Australian Capital Territory will now join the senior Queensland line-up as their early opponents.

While conceding that extra state games had been his organisation's preferred option, Snedden today expressed gratitude that extra match practice had been facilitated.

"These matches will provide a good build-up to the first Test, allowing our players to adapt to Australian conditions, establish form, and prepare for a gruelling series after a lay-off of some months," Snedden said.

The impending Federal election in Canberra has necessitated a further change to New Zealand's itinerary. The tourists' match against the Prime Minister's XI at the Manuka Oval has been moved from 14 November to 6 December.

New Zealand's tour of Australia is now due to begin on 16 October, a matter of 16 days earlier than originally scheduled. Its squad will be named next Friday.

© 2001 CricInfo Ltd