England will not play any Test matches after August 4 next year, with the marquee series against India played early in the summer before the Hundred.
The five-match series against India begins on June 20, with the first Test at Headingley. There will only be two Test matches – the last two against India – played during the school holidays, which begin on July 23, with traditionalists likely to complain about the lack of five-day games in August.
The schedule is similar to last year’s Ashes, with the Test matches concentrated at the start of the summer. While there was no Test cricket at all last August, next year’s schedule has just four days of the format.
Click here to view this content.
When India last visited England, in 2021, the five-Test series began on August 4, the same date as next year’s series is scheduled to end. The desire for the Hundred to have a window, with greater scope for England players to appear in the tournament, means that there is no international cricket played between August 4 and September 2.
England’s summer begins with a one-off four-day Test against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge, the first time that Zimbabwe have visited since 2003. The five Tests against India are played at Headingley, Edgbaston, Lord’s and Old Trafford before The Oval hosts the final Test.
Lord’s will also host the World Test Championship, which is set to be played from June 11 to 16, before the England-India series. India are currently top of the World Test Championship table, and will hope to avenge their defeats in the first two finals of the competition. England have only an outside chance of reaching the final, with Australia currently in second and South Africa also in contention.
After playing Zimbabwe, England welcome West Indies for three one-day internationals and Twenty20 games. England play one-day international and Twenty20 series against South Africa, beginning on September 2, before playing Ireland away in three one-day internationals, from September 17 to 19. The matches were originally scheduled for June but were moved because of England’s saturated fixture list, as Telegraph Sport first revealed.
England women will not play a home Test next year. But it has been confirmed that Lord’s will host England’s Test with India in 2026, which will be the first women’s Test played at the historic ground.
Next summer, England women will play white-ball series against West Indies and India.
Article courtesy of
Source link
