England’s men’s team is expected to play five T20Is and three Caribbean Tests in 2022.
Cricket West Indies (CWI) and the Cricket Board of England and Wales (ECB) announced the transformational tour on Wednesday.
It is an extended program to what was planned in the original International Cricket Council (ICC) Future Tours Program (FTP). England were initially slated to play three T20Is and two Test matches. They will now play five T20Is and three Tests.
The Trial series sees both teams compete for the first commissioned “Richards-Botham Trophy”. The award is named after two legends of the West Indies game Sir Vivian Richards and England icon Sir Ian Botham.
The T20I series is the longest running series between the two teams in form and will allow both sides to prepare for the ICC Men ‘s T20 Men’ s World Cup in Australia in October 2022.
England and the West Indies played a three-match series in 2020.
“This extension of next year’s England tour to the Caribbean is welcomed for news for West Indian cricket and for the region’s tourism economy,” said Ricky Skerritt, CWI President.
“This is due to the unique relationship that has developed between our individual boards and we look forward to working with ECB Chairman Ian Watmore, and Chief Executive Tom Harrison, to help us extend participation even further into new areas of collaboration and support. We have already begun discussions about how the ECB can help us with our improvement programs and I am pleased that the ECB has shown so much desire and goodwill to help. ”
“We are delighted that the ECB has agreed to increase the number of matches in its Caribbean tour next year,” said CWI Chief Executive Johnny Grave. “The Tour of England is a special occasion for West Indies, so adding a third Test match and two T20Is to the original schedule will allow more fans to watch the teams fight and give for more of our countries to host games. “
The extended tour comes after the West Indies made a trip to England last July in the first international cricket in more than three months after the COVID-19 outbreak.
“We greatly appreciated the support of West Indies Cricket, and all its men and women players, in helping us to host a full season of international cricket in the summer of 2020,” said Ian Watmore, Chairman of the ECB.
“Following these tours to England we have been in discussions with CWI to understand how we can support them moving forward and one way of the English men’s tours was to We have already expanded to the Caribbean in 2022. ”
“A trip to the Caribbean is one of the most iconic for both English players and fans,” said Tom Harrison, “So we are delighted to confirm that the England men’s team will play two more IT20s and one another match as part of their planned rounds in January and March respectively. “
Fixtures
T20I Series
1st T20I: Friday, January 28th
2nd T20I: Sunday, January 30th
3rd T20I: Wednesday, February 2nd
4th T20I: Friday, February 4th
5th T20I: Saturday, February 5th
Test series
1st Test: Tuesday, March 8th to Saturday, March 12th
2nd Test: Wednesday, March 16th to Saturday, March 20th
3rd exam: Thursday, March 24th to Monday, March 28th