Late rescheduling allows Australians to spend more time in UK before Ashes start
Caribbean date change for Australian tour
The West Indies Cricket Board has announced Australia's matches in the Caribbean have all been brought forward two days.
Australia's two-Test tour now starts in just 47 days' time, with a three-day warm-up match in Antigua starting on May 27.
That match now starts just three days after the Indian Premier League final where several members of Australia's Test squad could foreseeably feature.
The first Test for Australia's defence of the Frank Worrell Trophy now starts on June 3 in Dominica and the second Test in Jamaica now starts at Sabina Park on June 11.
The flow-on effect means Australia will be able to arrive in the UK two days earlier than previously planned, giving the team 10 days in the UK to acclimatise before the first match of that tour, a warm-up game against Kent.
The change is sure to throw out plans for a number of Australian fans planning to travel to the Caribbean, one of the more attractive destinations for cricket.
WICB manager of cricket operations, Roland Holder, acknowledged the upheaval the changes would cause but said they were unavoidable.
"We are fully aware that there are a number of fans planning to travel around and to the Caribbean for the Australia tour, and we want to explain to them that the change was absolutely necessary, due to a number of logistical challenges beyond our control," Holder said.
Cricket Australia's contracted players are currently on leave, as are many of the team's high performance staff. Australia's Test squad is expected to assemble in Antigua on May 19, ahead of the IPL play-offs.
Australia's Caribbean tour
May 27-29: Tour match – Vivian Richards Cricket Ground, Antigua
June 3-7: 1st Test – Windsor Park, Dominica
June 11-15: 2nd Test – Sabina Park, Jamaica
Australia's Frank Worrell Trophy squad
Michael Clarke (c), Steve Smith (vc), Fawad Ahmed, Brad Haddin, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Peter Nevill, Chris Rogers, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, Adam Voges, David Warner, Shane Watson