 Stephen Fleming will captain the New Zealand team |
The New Zealand government has offered financial backing for three one-day games between the national team and a World XI later this month. They will pay out �7.50 for every run scored, �373 for every four and �1,865 for each six hit by the two sides.
"The government is encouraging companies and individuals to sponsor the match in a similar way.
"We hope this initiative will create increased momentum for our fundraising effort," said NZC chief Martin Snedden.
The government expects to pay out more than �123,000 (NZ $300,000) in total to the New Zealand Cricket Tsunami Relief Fund.
"We appreciate the government's support for our fundraising which, when added to the total amount pledged so far, exceeds NZ $600,000 (�224,000)," Snedden added.
The three matches will take place in Christchurch on 22 January, Wellington two days later, and Hamilton on the 26th.
They were arranged after Sri Lanka abandoned their tour to New Zealand following the huge tidal waves in south Asia.
The World XI will be captained by Australian Shane Warne, who holds the record for the hightest number of wickets taken in Tests.
The squad also includes Sri Lankans Muttiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas, Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakkara, whose country was one of the worst affected by the disaster.
Almost 31,000 were killed in Sri Lanka and the number of people left homeless is now put at between 800,000 and a million.
A tsunami relief match between Asia and Rest of the World XI's in Melbourne earlier this week raised nearly �6m for the relief effort.
MMIX
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