India to tour Australia in four out of six years

In a bid to cash in on the growing rivalry between cricket's two powerhouses, a deal has been struck between India and Australia that the former tours Down Under in four out of six years of the new FTP while the latter reciprocates it every year, a report said on Friday.

India will tour Australia -- either for a Test or ODI series -- in four out of six years of the post 2012 Future Tours Programme, while the Aussies will reciprocate by touring every year, according to a Sydney Morning Herald report.

Cricket Australia has agreed in principle the new arrangement which has the provisional backing of the International Cricket Council, it said.

The deal was designed to ensure that world cricket's heavyweights -- Australia, India, South Africa and England -- play each other more often when the new international schedule comes into effect from 2012, it said.

India would come to Australia for Tests one summer and one-dayers the next. Australia will tour India every year either to play a Test or ODI series.

"Objective is to spread quality of touring teams. If we get it right, we could have India touring here in four out of six years in next FTP period," CA spokesman Peter Young was quoted as saying by the report.

The benefits of hosting India regularly are huge as the value of television rights to CA from a tour by Indians exceeds that of an Ashes because of the huge, cricket-mad population on the subcontinent.