Following a meeting with Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Rameez Raja, England and Wales Cricket Board Chief Executive Tom Harrison has announced that his team will play two additional T20 matches during the tour of Pakistan.
During the scheduled tour, the English team is scheduled to play five T20 matches in September / October next year.
According to a press release issued by the PCB on Tuesday, the English team is scheduled to play three Test matches in Pakistan during November / December next year which will be part of the ICC Test Championship.ECB chief executive Tom Harrison said he and senior director Martin Derlo had come to Lahore to discuss the issues of the past few weeks and the cancellation of the tour in October.
"We wanted to talk about the future as well, because the two boards have a historic relationship, so we want to look to the future instead of looking back," he said.
"We are pleased to announce that our team will play two additional T20 matches during the tour of Pakistan in September / October next year," he added. After the ICC T20 World Cup, the team will return to Pakistan to play the scheduled Test match."It is a reaffirmation of our commitment that the England men's and women's teams will gradually start playing in Pakistan. I don't think there will be a single cricketer in England who doesn't want to play here to test his talent against the talent in Pakistan.
Talking on the occasion, Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Rameez Raja said that the ECB has given proof of its big heart for which I am grateful to the Chief Executive and Senior Director.
"We are excited that England have agreed to play two more T20 matches," he said. We will make sure that the host team feels comfortable in Pakistan.
He further said that it would be a proud moment for Pakistani cricket fans to welcome England and Australia in 2022.
The announcement by the England Cricket Board's chief executive to play extra matches in Pakistan comes a few days after the PCB announced the schedule for next year's tour of Australia to Pakistan. The Australian team will play one Test each in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi during the tour, while Lahore will play three ODIs and one T20I match.
