Major League Baseball is coming to Australia with the 2014 season set to begin with two games at the Sydney Cricket Ground next March between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks.

The games will take place in the year of the 100th anniversary of the Chicago White Sox playing the New York Giants on a combined world tour just before World War I.

The announcement is the result of years of work between the MLB, the Australian Baseball League and the NSW government.

The games are scheduled for March 22 and March 23 at the SCG.

It is understood the series will kick off the MLB season with the rest of the league to start a few days later meaning the global television baseball audience will be focused on Sydney that week.

The ground, which is currently undergoing major refurbishment, held a local baseball game as long ago as 1878.

Major league teams have previously played regular season games outside the U.S, most recently when the Oakland Athletics and Seattle Mariners split their opening series in Japan in 2012.

"The globalization of our game continues to be paramount to Major League Baseball, and Australia is an essential part of our long-term efforts to grow the sport," MLB commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement.

"We look forward to writing an exciting new chapter in international baseball history at the historic Sydney Cricket Ground next March."

Baseball was brought to Australia by American miners in the Victorian gold rush of the mid 19th century and, although far outstripped in popularity by cricket, has retained a hard core of adherents since.

Reuters / ABC

