Dodgers to open 2014 season in Australia vs. Diamondbacks, per reports

The Dodgers and Diamondbacks will reportedly open their 2014 season with a pair of regular season games played in Australia, per both Andre Clennell of The Daily Telegraph and Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times.

The games will be played on Mar. 22 and 23 at the Sydney Cricket Ground, and though this has been rumored since October 2012, the games have not yet been confirmed by MLB. This will be the first time an MLB team has played a regular season game in Australia.

Sports minister Graham Annesley described the planned renovations to Sydney Cricket Ground, which has been around more than a century, to The Daily Telegraph:

"Sydney has a history of hosting significant baseball games at the SCG, with the Chicago White Sox playing against a combined NSW team in 1914," he said.

"The SCG will be transformed into an MLB field, with the construction of an infield clay area, pitcher's mound, dugouts and additional grandstand."

The Dodgers played games during spring training in China in 2008 and Taiwan in 2010, but those were exhibition games. These two games will count as regular season games.

The real regular season is scheduled to begin in earnest on Monday, Mar. 31.