ECB announce update to Men’s and Women’s international schedule

• England Men will play three Royal London Internationals against Ireland at The Ageas Bowl starting Thursday 30 July
• England Men will host Pakistan in three Tests starting on Wednesday 5 August at Emirates Old Trafford and three Vitality IT20s at Emirates Old Trafford starting Friday 28 August
• Discussions ongoing to schedule an England Women’s tri-series against India and South Africa
• Talks continue to reschedule England Men’s white-ball series against Australia

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has today announced that Hampshire’s The Ageas Bowl and Lancashire’s Emirates Old Trafford will host England Men’s international matches behind closed doors later this summer against Ireland and Pakistan.

The Ireland squad will arrive in the UK on Saturday 18 July, travelling to The Ageas Bowl. This will be their base before the first Royal London International at the same venue on Thursday 30 July. England and Ireland will play two more Royal London Internationals in Southampton on Saturday 1 August and the final match of the series on Tuesday 4 August.

Royal London Series:

1st ODI v Ireland: Thursday 30 July at The Ageas Bowl (2.00pm start D/N)

2nd ODI v Ireland: Saturday 1 August at The Ageas Bowl (2.00pm D/N)

3rd ODI v Ireland: Tuesday 4 August at The Ageas Bowl (2.00pm D/N)

Pakistan, who arrived into the UK on Sunday 28 June have started their preparation ahead of a packed schedule, which consists of three Test matches and three Vitality IT20s. They are undergoing a 14-day isolation period at Blackfinch New Road, Worcester before transferring to Derbyshire’s The Incora County Ground on Monday 13 July to accelerate their preparation ahead of the first Test, which will include two four-day internal warm-up matches.

Emirates Old Trafford will host the first Test of the series starting on Wednesday 5 August. The final two Tests will be played at The Ageas Bowl from Thursday 13 August and Friday 21 August.

The three Vitality IT20s will take place at Emirates Old Trafford on Friday 28 August, Sunday 30 August and the final match of the tour on Tuesday 1 September.

Test Series:

1st Test v Pakistan: 5-9 August at Emirates Old Trafford (11.00am start)

2nd Test v Pakistan: 13-17 August at The Ageas Bowl (11.00am start)

3rd Test v Pakistan: 21-25 August at The Ageas Bowl (11.00am start)

Vitality IT20 Series:

1st IT20 v Pakistan: Friday 28 August at Emirates Old Trafford (6.00pm start)

2nd IT20 v Pakistan: Sunday 30 August at Emirates Old Trafford (2.30pm start)

3rd IT20 v Pakistan: Tuesday 1 September at Emirates Old Trafford (6.00pm start)

This summer’s remaining scheduled international series for England Women (against India and South Africa) and England Men (against Australia) remain postponed with discussions ongoing to understand the best way to reschedule these matches.

Plans are progressing positively for England Women to host a tri-series against India and South Africa. Any Men’s or Women’s rescheduled matches will be played without spectators.

ECB Chief Executive Officer, Tom Harrison, said:

“Confirmation of these matches against Ireland and Pakistan is another important step for our game as we begin to safely stage international cricket again, but also to minimise the impact the Covid-19 pandemic has had, and will continue to have, on cricket at all levels.

“It has taken significant effort and expertise to allow us to reach a position where cricket is now ready and able to return to the field of play from the elite level to recreational cricket.

“We owe a significant debt of gratitude to the players, staff and administrators of the Cricket West Indies, Cricket Ireland, and the Pakistan Cricket Board for their willingness and co-operation to get international cricket back up and running and allow these matches to be staged.

“Sports fans across the world will benefit as international cricket returns to our screens while it will also provide much-needed financial aid at all levels of cricket in England and Wales as we aim to withstand the challenges in front of us.

“It must be reiterated that there is still much work for the ECB and the cricket network to do as we try to plot a path through this pandemic.

“Chief amongst our priorities is to build on our commitment to support and grow women’s cricket and at the elite level discussions continue to progress to determine the best and safest way to host a tri-series against India and South Africa.

“We also continue to explore options for our England Men to play white-ball series against Australia this summer and hope to have news on those series soon.”

Following this update on the international schedule and the confirmation that all future matches will be played without spectators, ticket purchasers for all originally scheduled men’s and women’s international matches will be contacted by the original host venue with information on the options available to them, including refunds.

Further information on international and domestic tickets refunds can be found here: www.ecb.co.uk/refundscheme.

Ends

Editorial Notes:

The ECB’s independent Host Venue Panel (HVP) recommended the use of two full matchday broadcast venues for the international fixtures against Ireland and Pakistan.

HVP’s rationale for selecting venues:

Reducing the movement of people as much as possible mitigating the risk of infection.

Reduces the number of individuals required to deliver the matches and in turn reduces the risk of infection.

Reduces the movement of core infrastructure between venues and the associated time and costs.

Opportunity to create ‘island sites’ for the delivery of matches.

Venues will be locked down in bio-secure environments for long periods of time.

Take measures not to add to the burden on the NHS.

Venues had to demonstrate key principles to create a bio-secure environment. The criteria comprised of:

Biosecurity

- Venue perimeter, access and access control

- Accommodation (onsite or nearby)

Medical screening/testing provision

- Designated areas for isolation of anyone presenting symptoms.

- Car parking requirements (approx. 200)

- Medical Screening and Testing sites (approx. 1500 m2)

Footprint to enable social distancing

- Extendable Players and Match Official areas

- Extendable space for broadcast compounds, studios and written media.

Venue/Cricket operations

- The number and suitability of TV pitches

- Provision for warm-up matches

- Indoor and outdoor practice facilities

The Ageas Bowl and Emirates Old Trafford will receive an administration fee for hosting the matches and all incremental staging costs will be met by the ECB.

Original dates for England Men’s series against Ireland and Pakistan

England Men’s three-match Royal London Series against Ireland was due to start at Trent Bridge on 10 September, followed by the second ODI on 12 September at Edgbaston and the third ODI at the Kia Oval commencing on 15 September.

The Test series against Pakistan was due to start on 30 July at Lord’s. The second Test was scheduled for 7 August at Emirates Old Trafford and the final Test of the series was due to be played at Trent Bridge on 20 August.

The Vitality IT20 series between England and Pakistan were due to take place at Emerald Headingley on 29 August with the final two matches of the series taking place at Sophia Gardens and the Ageas Bowl on 31 August and 2 September respectively.

Original dates for England Women’s series against India and South Africa

England Women’s Vitality IT20 series against India was due to begin at the Cooper Associates County Ground on Thursday 25 June, followed by the second T20 at the Bristol County Ground on Saturday 27 June.

The four-match Royal London ODI series was start at Blackfinch New Road on Wednesday July 1. The second match was scheduled for Saturday 4 July at The Cloudfm County Ground followed by the third match at Canterbury on Monday 6 July and the fourth match at The 1st Central County Ground on Thursday 9 July.

England Women’s two-match Vitality IT20 series against South Africa was due to start at The 1st Central County Ground on Tuesday 1 September with the second match at The Cloudfm County Ground on Friday 4 September.

A four-match Royal London ODI series was scheduled to begin at Canterbury on Tuesday 8 September. The second match was to be played at The Incora County Ground on Friday 11 September followed by the third match at Emerald Headingley on Sunday 13 September and the final match of the series at The Fischer County Ground on Wednesday 16 September.

Original dates for England Men’s series against Australia

England Men’s three-match Vitality IT20 series against Australia was due to start at Emirates Riverside on Friday 3 July. The second match was scheduled for Emirates Old Trafford on Sunday 5 July before the series was to conclude at Emerald Headingly on Tuesday 7 July.

The three-match Royal London Series was scheduled to begin on Saturday 11 July at Lord’s followed by the second match at the Ageas Bowl on Tuesday 14 July and the third match at the Bristol County Ground on Thursday 16 July.