It's bye bye South Africa and hello West Indies for Canberra's crickets fans.

The annual PM's XI game will now be played against West Indies after Cricket Australia announced a late change to its scheduling for the upcoming summer.

The Manuka Oval game was originally to feature an invitational side against South Africa on January 27, but now the Windies will have the chance to end their three-Test tour of Australia with the traditional one-day clash on December 2.

The January 27 match would have been wedged in the middle of a hectic triangular one-day series between Australia, Sri Lanka and South Africa.

"It just got too hard. It works a lot better if we do this on December 2 instead of January 27," CA public affairs general manager Peter Young said.

The match has been variously played in December and January in recent years, Young said.

He said the Windies and South African teams were both very comfortable with the scheduling change.

While there is still doubt over whether the Windies will bring their star players including Brian Lara because of a sponsorship dispute, Young said the tourists will end their stay on a high, including an official reception at the PM's Lodge on match eve.

West Indies will play Tests in Brisbane (November 3-7), Hobart (Nov 17-21) and Adelaide (Nov 25-29).

Recent PM's XI captains have included Steve and Mark Waugh and Michael Bevan, who led the invitational side to a five-wicket loss against Pakistan in January this year.

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