CWI and ECB announced an extended England’s tour to the Caribbean in early 2022. The tour will include a five-match T20I series and a three-match Test series.
Cricket West Indies and England and Wales Cricket Board have released the dates for England’s West Indies tour next year. The itinerary reflects an expanded tour as the two cricket boards have decided to add a couple of extra T20Is and an additional Test match.
According to the original International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Future Tours Programme (FTP), England were scheduled to tour West Indies for three T20Is and two Test matches. However, CWI and ECB have decided to make it a five-match T20I series, which will be in preparation for the 2022 Men’s T20 World Cup scheduled to be played in Australia in late 2022. It is the biggest T20I series in terms of the number of games between the two sides. Moreover, there will be three Test matches as well – increased from the original two.
The Test series will compete for the ‘Richards-Botham Trophy’ for the first time in the history of Test cricket between West Indies and England. It is in honour and tribute to the friendship and rivalry between the two great cricketers from either side – the legendary West Indies batsman Sir Vivian Richards and the all-time great England all-rounder Sir Ian Botham.
CWI President Ricky Skerritt was delighted that the ECB agreed to an increased number of games on their tour early next year and termed the relation between ECB and CWI as ‘special’ and hopes to expand it further as well.
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. We have already begun discussions on how the ECB can help us in our development programs and I am pleased that ECB has been showing so much appetite and goodwill to assist,
CWI President Ricky Skerritt was quoted saying.
ECB Chair Ian Watmore appreciated the support that CWI showed in the resumption of international cricket in England. West Indies were the first team to travel in the post lockdown world. They flew down to the United Kingdom (UK) for a series of three Test matches. The women’s team also toured England for five T20Is. Thus, Watmore wanted to extend the support and repay the faith to West Indies cricket.
We hugely appreciated the support of Cricket West Indies (CWI), and all its men’s and women’s players, in helping us host a full season of international cricket in the summer of 2020. Following the conclusion of those tours to England we have been in discussions with CWI to understand how we can best support them moving forward and one way was to extend our existing England men’s tours to the Caribbean in 2022,
Ian Watmore, the Chair of the ECB was quoted saying in a statement released by the ECB.
Full schedule:
January 28: 1st T20 International
January 30: 2nd T20 International
February 2: 3rd T20 International
February 4: 4th T20 International
February 5: 5th T20 International
March 1 – March 4: warm-up match
March 8 – March 12: 1st Test Match
March 16 – March 20: 2nd Test Match
March 24 – March 28: 3rd Test Match
