England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) along with Cricket West Indies (CWI) have announced an expanded England tour of West Indies 2022. England were scheduled for a T20I series followed by a Test series in this tour. A total of 5 matches were scheduled earlier as part of this tour. However, the total number of matches now has been increased to eight from five!
The tour would kick start with the 5-match T20I series – earlier it was a 3-match series. The T20I series would be followed by a 3-match Test series, which was a 2-match affair earlier. According to the latest announcement from the two cricket boards involved, the five T20Is would be played from January 28, 2022 to February 5, 2022. And then the Test series would kick start with a 4-day warm-up on March 1, 2022.
As per the itinerary, the five T20Is would be played on January 28, January 30, February 02, February 04 & February 05. The three-Test matches would be played between March 08-12, March 16-20 and March 24-28. At this juncture, only dates are announced by the board and the venues of each of these games will be announced by the end of April this year.
The five-match T20I series will be a build-up for both the teams for the World T20 2022 which is to be hosted by Australia in October the same year. On the other hand, the three-match Test series would be played as part of the next ICC World Test Championship cycle. The Test series between these two nations is commissioned as “Richards-Botham Trophy” in honor of Sir Vivian Richards and Sir Ian Botham.
“This expansion of next year’s England tour to the Caribbean is welcomed news for West Indies Cricket and for the region’s tourism economy. It has come about because of the special relationship that has been developed between our respective boards and we are looking forward to working with ECB Chair Ian Watmore, and CEO Tom Harrison, to expand our partnership even further into new areas of cooperation and support,” said Ricky Skerritt, CWI President, reflecting on the expanded tour.
“A tour to the Caribbean is one of the most iconic for both England players and fans alike. So, we are delighted to confirm that our England men’s team will play two additional IT20s and one more Test Match as part of their planned tours in January and March respectively,” said Tom Harrison, ECB CEO.
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