The tourists had been due to begin the five-match one-day series in Hambantota on Thursday (December 9).

But with the rains showing no signs of abating, local cricket authorities decided to put off the matches until a yet to be decided date in January.

"The series has been postponed till about the third week of January," Sri Lanka Cricket spokesman Brian Thomas said at the Suriyawewa Stadium in Hambantota.

The matches are now expected to be played ahead of next year's World Cup being co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh from February 17 to April 2.

Hambantota is one of the two new venues alongside Pallekele that has been earmarked to host World Cup matches.

The current tour, which was planned in 2006, has been marred by unusually bad weather with more rains forecast for the next two weeks in Sri Lanka.

At least six people have died and over 100,000 people left homeless due to torrential rains that have swept through Sri Lanka over the past week, officials said.

Sri Lanka depends on monsoon rains for irrigation and power generation but the seasonal downpours frequently cause floods.

The island's two main monsoon seasons run from May to September and December to February.



There are fears that the weather will further disrupt Hambantota's preparations for the World Cup, which it is hoped will help demonstrate that the small southern town is capable of hosting large international events and give its Commonwealth Games bid a major boost.

Organisers have already missed one deadline of November 30 set by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for the new stadium to be completed by.

But Nishantha Ranatunga, who is in charge of overseeing preparations for Sri Lanka Cricket, is confident that things will be ready in time.

"The prevailing weather is no hamper to the situation and the work is in progress without a break, and they have taken this up as a national challenge," he said.

"The State Engineering Corporation and the Ports Authority are going pell-mell towards their goal and are confident that the venues could be completed by the end of the month.

"We are sure that the main structures could be completed by the end of the month and to do the final touches, we still have time till the 15th of January, by which time the ICC authorities would be here to take over the facilities."

Hambantota's only rival to host the 2018 Commonwealth Games is Australia's Gold Coast.

The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) are due to announce the host city at a meeting in St Kitts and Nevis on November 11, 2011.

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