SYDNEY (Reuters)
Australia may host international matches during the off-season in the outback city of Darwin to cope with an increasingly crowded schedule, the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) said on Monday.

With a growing number of international matches being played, Australia were looking to venues like Darwin to stage out-of-season matches to ease the burden during their domestic season, an ACB spokesman said.

"We have to look at other options, and northern Australia is an option," he said. The weather in northern Australia would be suitable for cricket during the winter.

The already packed 2002 Australian season is likely to become even more cluttered, with an increasing possibility that Pakistan will tour.

Australia were scheduled to tour Pakistan in August and September next year, but the trip is expected to be cancelled due to the war in Afghanistan. This would mean that Australia might have to host Pakistan as well as England and Sri Lanka in 2002, and then tour South Africa in the 2002-03 season.

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