The tour, which was to include three Tests and five one-day matches, was postponed with the agreement of both countries, NZC said in a statement.

The World Cup had been rescheduled to the start of March from early April, not allowing enough time for the tour to take place, it said.

"Following the ICC's decision NZC and the BCCI discussed various rescheduling options before finally agreeing that the tour should take place in December 2008," chief executive Martin Snedden said.

Reuters adds from Melbourne that Australia's next Test series against the West Indies, scheduled for 2007, has been postponed indefinitely, Cricket Australia (CA) said on Thursday.

The series was due to be played in the Caribbean after the World Cup but was dropped when the West Indies Cricket Board said it would prefer not to host two major tournaments in a year.

"The West Indies have concerns about having two marquee events back to back, they would prefer to spread them out, and frankly that makes sense," CA spokesman Peter Young told the Melbourne Age newspaper.