Pakistan cricket team to tour England next year; Tests to be part of world championship
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Wednesday announced that the men's cricket team's five-week-long tour of England next year will run from July 3 to September 2.
According to a PCB press release, the series will include three Test matches and three Twenty20 matches. It will be Pakistan's last World Test Championship (WTC) for the team during the 2019-20 season after they host Sri Lanka in October and Bangladesh in January along with a tour of Australia.
"The three T20s come up with an opportunity to prepare for the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia in October 2020," the press release stated.
As per PCB, the tour will start with a Test match at Lord's while matches will also be played at Old Trafford in Manchester and Trent Bridge in Nottingham.
"This tour holds special significance since this will be Pakistan’s first-ever tour of England for World Test Championship matches," said PCB director international cricket Zakir Khan.
He added that a tour of England "tests the skills and limits of the visiting sides" and anticipated that the tour would help Pakistan "furnish their red-ball skills" and prepare for the T20 World Cup in Australia in 2020.
"The PCB and the English and Wales Cricket Board enjoy an amicable relationship and this being Pakistan’s third bi-lateral tour of England in the last four years perfectly mirrors it. In 2010, the ECB provided the PCB facilities to host Australia in a two-match Test series," Khan said.
Additionally, PCB added that England’s return tour of Pakistan will be held 2022 as a "split affair" including a three-match One Day International series in October and three WTC Tests in December.
Schedule:
1st Test match, England v Pakistan, 30 July-3 August 2020, Lord’s, London
2nd Test match, England v Pakistan, 7-11 August 2020, Old Trafford, Manchester
3rd Test match, England v Pakistan, 20-24 August 2020, Trent Bridge, Nottingham
1st T20I, England v Pakistan, Saturday 29 August 2020, Headingley, Leeds
2nd T20I, England v Pakistan, Monday 31 August 2020, Sophia Gardens, Cardiff
3rd T20I, England v Pakistan, Wednesday 2 September 2020, Ageas Bowl, Southampton
