AFZAL JAVED
ISLAMABAD: A 17-year drought will be broken in September this year as England will tour Pakistan to play seven Twenty20, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced on Tuesday.
The National Stadium Karachi will host the matches on 20, 22, 23, and 25 September, before the historic event will shift to the provincial capital Lahore, where the remaining three matches will be played on 28 and 30 September and 2 October.
The seven T20Is will be part of the first leg of England’s tour of Pakistan and they will return after the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Australia 2022 for three Tests in December.
The T20I series against the second-ranked side will launch Pakistan’s bumper international season. Following the September and December matches against England, Pakistan will host New Zealand twice – first for two Tests and three ODIs in December/January and then in April for five ODIs and five T20Is – West Indies for three T20Is in late January and finally the 50-over ACC Asia Cup.
Complete schedule of the England Test series as well as New Zealand and the West Indies series will be announced in due course.
Apart from five Tests, eight ODIs and 15 T20Is in the 2022-23 season, Pakistan will also stage 187 men’s domestic matches in six senior competitions, 33 HBL Pakistan Super League 2023 fixtures and 19 Pakistan Junior League 2022 games.
Zakir Khan, PCB Director International Cricket said that we are absolutely delighted to confirm hosting England for seven T20Is in Karachi and Lahore as a curtain-raiser to a busy, entertaining and exciting season of home internationals. England is one of the top-ranked T20I teams and playing the shortest format in the lead up to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Pakistan will not only help the team management to finalise their preparations, but will also set the tone for December’s three-Test series.
“We demonstrated our event planning and operational skills in the highly-successful series against Australia in March/April and I am confident we will be able to replicate these when England visit us for the first time since 2005”, he said added that we have been able to confirm schedule of the T20Is following a successful tour by the England and Wales Cricket Board recce team, which was pleased and satisfied with all our arrangements.
Zakir said that he is confident that the cricket fans, like they did in the series against Australia, will turn up in big numbers to support both the sides and also make our Diamond Jubilee celebration year an unforgettable one.”
Meanwhile Rob Key, ECB Managing Director England Men’s Cricket, said that they are looking forward to returning to Pakistan and playing these seven T20Is as the team builds up to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
“We have been liaising closely with the PCB over arrangements for this visit and the Tests later in the year, and will continue to work closely with the PCB, British High Commission and other relevant authorities as we continue to prepare for these tours’” he said.
“We would like to thank the PCB and the city authorities for all their ongoing assistance with planning for the tours, including hosting the recent pre-tour planning visit by ECB representatives and the PCA CEO.”
Schedule of T20Is (matches to start at 1930 PKT):
Tuesday, 20 Sep – 1st T20I, Karachi
Thursday, 22 Sep – 2nd T20I, Karachi
Friday, 23 Sep – 3rd T20I, Karachi
Sunday, 25 Sep – 4th T20I, Karachi
Wednesday, 28 Sep – 5th T20I, Lahore
Friday, 30 Sep – 6th T20I, Lahore
Sunday, 2 Oct – 7th T20I, Lahore
