Published: Jun 18, 2016, 01:54 PM (IST)
Edited: Jun 18, 2016, 01:54 PM (IST)
England will play two One-Day Internationals (ODIs) at Antigua and one at Barbados when they tour the Caribbean in March next year. The short series between England and the West Indies, will help England to prepare for the ICC Champions Trohpy 2017 which is scheduled to begin from June 1. The England team will arrive in St Kitts on February 22 to play two-warm up games against West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) President’s XI side. They will then move to Antigua. The first ODI match will be played on March 3, followed by the next on March 5. The first two matches will be played at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium. The teams will then play the final ODI at the Kensington Oval in Barbados. ALSO READ: David Cameron welcomes Pakistan men and women’s team to England
“We are pleased to have agreed the itinerary for this tour, which will form an important part of our one-day squad’s preparations for the Champions Trophy in England and Wales later in the summer,” ECB’s director, Andrew Strauss, said as quoted by espncricinfo.com.
He further added – “West Indies is always a popular tour destination for England fans and we trust as many supporters as possible will travel to the Caribbean to show support for the team.”
Meanwhile, West Indies had failed to qualify for the Champions Trophy which is scheduled to take place in England in 2017 and WICB chief executive, Michael Muirhead felt this series would come as a chance for West Indies’ 50-overs side to improve their ODI rankings.
He said – “We see this an additional opportunity to strengthen our performances in this format as we aim to move up in the rankings. We are pleased once again to have England in the region and as always we know the contest will be keen and we know the fans will come out in their numbers.”
West Indies are ranked 8th currently in the ICC ODI team rankings, but missed out having stayed below Pakistan and Bangladesh during last year’s cut off.
