MELBOURNE: Cricket Australia has reinstated the tri-series ODI concept and extended its regular Test dates to host India in a four-match series which breaks with recent convention. Australia unveiled a southern summer program Tuesday that features two Tests against New Zealand in Brisbane and Hobart at the start of December followed by a four-Test series against India starting Dec. 26, the traditional Boxing Day slot at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The subsequent Tests will be played in Sydney and Perth and the series concludes in Adelaide from Jan. 24-28. A two-match Twenty20 international series will follow that, leading into a Feb. 5-March 8 blockbuster limited-overs tri-series involving former world champion Australia against World Cup holder India and 2011 World Cup runnerup Sri Lanka.
