England will extend its tours of the West Indies in 2022, adding an extra Test and two more T20Is to their schedule.
The January 2022 Tour will now feature five T20Is to be followed by England returning to the Caribbean for three Test matches in March – increased from the original two Test matches. “Cricket West Indies (CWI) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) today announced the scheduled match dates for England’s next tour of the Caribbean in 2022. It represents an expanded schedule to the original International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Future Tours Programme (FTP),” read a joint statement released by both the boards.
The Test series will be the first in which the two teams compete for the newly commissioned “Richards-Botham Trophy,” named in honour of West Indies’ batting icon Sir Vivian Richards and England’s great all-rounder Lord Botham. The new trophy pays tribute to the two legends whose rivalry and friendship embodies the close relationship and mutual respect between the two sides.
The T20I series will be the biggest Series to date between the two teams in the shortest form of the game and will be part of the preparations building up to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia in October 2022.