[Abid_Khan]

New Zealand's Twenty20 series against Sri Lanka in Florida - the first international series between two full ICC members to take place in the USA - has been reduced from three matches to two following the cancellation of the opening match in Lauderhill on Thursday.

According to Don Lockerbie, the chief executive of USACA, the decision was taken in the interests of promoting USA cricket in the best possible light, with a thunderstorm threatening to wash out the opening fixture and damage the image of the sport as it seeks to find its niche in a new and untapped market.

"The original match was scheduled under lights, and we wanted to move it to the afternoon, but that's tough to pull off on an American working week," Lockerbie told Cricinfo. "We feel it's better to start with a big bang on the weekend, because it's about the USA and our strategic partner, New Zealand, trying to figure out what's best to grow cricket in our country."

Lockerbie added that better weather was predicted for the back-to-back fixtures on Saturday and Sunday, which have both been turned into double-headers following the inclusion onto the bill of an additional Twenty20 match involving USA and Jamaica. However, he played down suggestions that the decision had been made as a cost-cutting measure, following reports of poor ticket sales and low levels of sponsor interest.

"This is really an important weekend for us," said Lockerbie. "We want to show the world we are open for business, and show that these teams have made a wise choice to come and play cricket in the US. But it's got to be done prudently. How many events all over the world get set up and then cancelled at the last minute due to inclement weather while the fans are in the stadium and the broadcasters have to talk through the rain? To us, at this stage of our development, that would be worse than making a smart business decision now."

A spokesman for the New Zealand team, who are already in Florida awaiting the start of the series, told Cricinfo that the news of the cancellation had not been confirmed to them, but that the team remained committed to putting on a good show. "The guys are doing their fitness work at the moment, and they are taking it pretty seriously," he said. "There are 15million cricket followers in the USA, so it's a big thing."

Source:CI