England To Kickstart Their 2021 Home Summer With A Two-Match Test Series Against New Zealand
Published - 25 Jan 2021, 06:33 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 01:35 PM
England Men’s Cricket Team will kickstart their 2021 International home summer with a two-match Test series against the World’s No.1 Test side New Zealand, the ECB announced on Monday.
This will be the first time that England and New Zealand will lock horns on English soil post the controversial World Cup final finish in 2019 at the ‘Home of Cricket’ Lord’s where the Eoin Morgan-led home side won on the back of the now-scrapped boundary count rule.
This will also be the Test series that New Zealand will play on English soil since the summer of 2015. Since then, England has traveled Down Under twice for two-Test rubbers which they have lost by the same margin of 0-1. The Test series will not be a part of the ongoing ICC Test Championship cycle.
“The prospect of our England Men’s team taking on the world’s two top-ranked Test nations in New Zealand and India this summer is something for us all to savor,” Tom Harrison, ECB Chief Executive Officer, said in a statement on Monday.
England to host Sri Lanka for additional three T20Is besides the already announced ODI series
Besides hosting New Zealand in a Test series, England’s white-ball team will also square off against the visiting Sri Lankans in a three-match T20I series.
The series will take place at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff (June 23 and 24) and at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton (June 26).
The T20I rubber will be followed by a three-match ODI series which will take place at Durham’s Emirates Riverside (June 29), The Kia Oval (July 01), and Bristol (July 04).
Apart from hosting New Zealand and Sri Lanka, England will also lock horns with Pakistan in six white-ball Internationals (3 ODIs + 3 T20Is) in July, which will be followed by a blockbuster five-match Test series against Virat Kohli’s India in August.
