Associated Press

Melbourne, May 19:

Australia will host Pakistan and New Zealand in Test series and a tri-series limited-overs tournament against the Pakistanis and the West Indies in the 2004-2005 cricket season.

The top-ranked Australians open their home summer in November with Tests against New Zealand in Brisbane and Adelaide. The New Zealanders will remain for the inaugural Chappell-Hadlee Trophy, set to be an annual three-match limited-overs series. The trophy is certain to revive the names of some of the most revered cricketers in the region and one of the most reviled cricket incidents.

The first Australia vs Pakistan test will be held in Perth in early December, followed by Tests at Melbourne starting December 26 and at Sydney on January 2. The West Indies will join Pakistan and the Australians in a limited-overs series in January and February. Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said the introduction of the Chappell-Hadlee trophy would build on the traditional rivalry between Australia and New Zealand. “Chappells and Hadlees have been involved in a lot of the trans-Tasman cricket rivalry that goes back 50 years but, in particular, goes back to the start of one-day international cricket 30 years ago,” he said.

Sutherland said Walter Hadlee captained New Zealand in its first Test against Australia in 1945, while Ian and Greg Chappell played for Australia and Richard and Dayle Hadlee played for New Zealand in the first limited-overs international between the two nations in 1974.

The Chappell name entered New Zealand cricket folklore in 1981 when Australian captain Greg Chappell ordered younger brother Trevor to bowl an under-arm delivery along the pitch on the last ball of a limited-overs international when the Kiwis needed six runs to win.

New Zealand tailender Brian McKechnie could only block the ball, giving Australia the win.

The under-arm delivery wasn’t illegal but was considered contrary to the spirit of cricket. It has since been banned. The episode soured sporting and political relations between the neighboring countries for several years, with Rob Muldoon, New Zealand prime minister at the time, describing it as the “most disgusting incident I can recall in cricket.”