England announce home fixtures for 2017

Published - 02 Jul 2016, 11:40 IST | Updated - 02 Jul 2016, 11:40 IST

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The England and Wales Cricket Board (RCB) on Friday announced their home international fixture for 2017. They will host South Africa and the West Indies along with the ICC Champions Trophy that will be played in June. Along with that England will also host the women’s World Cup 2017 from June 26 to July 3.

The 2017 home season commences with two One-Day Internationals (ODIs) against Ireland. This is the first time Ireland will play England on their home soil. The two ODIs will be played at Bristol and Lord’s on May 5 and 7.

South Africa will fly over in May to play 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is; the 50-overs series will be played before the Champions Trophy while the T20I series will be completed after the conclusion of the CT 2017 which starts with hosts England playing against Bangladesh at The Oval on June 1 and the final will be played at the same venue on June 18.

After the initial dose of limited overs series the Brits have a tough schedule of 7 Tests to be played in less than 10 weeks time. They will play 4 Tests against South Africa starting at Lord’s on July 6 and then a 3-match series with the West Indies from August 17.

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There are speculations that the 1^st Test against West Indies at Edgbaston, could be England’s first home day/night Test but the ECB is yet to confirm it. Following the Test series England will play the a one-off Twenty20 and 5-match ODI series against the Caribbean team.

ECB chief executive Tom Harrison said, “With three different international teams coming here next summer and this country playing host to two major ICC global events –- the ICC Champions Trophy and the ICC Women’s World Cup — there will be a feast of international cricket to excite us in England and Wales,”

“Both the international and the domestic schedule will have a different shape to previous years. And the early season block for the Royal London One-Day (50-over) Cup –- with a new mid-season date for its Lord’s final –- July 1 — will support both England’s ICC Champions Trophy preparations and our longer term planning for the ICC Cricket World Cup in (England) in 2019.”

“It will also allow players to focus skills on the white-ball game and help more people to understand the structure of the season.” Harrison said.