ECB and Cricket West Indies announce extended schedule for England’s 2022 tour of Caribbean

The tour, scheduled for January-March 2022, has been extended to include five T20Is and three Test matches

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket West Indies (CWI)  have announced the extended schedule for England’s 2022 tour of the Caribbean.

The tour, beginning in January 2022, will now feature five T20 internationals – increased from three – followed by England returning in March to face West Indies in three Test matches – increased from two.

The Test series will be the first in which the two sides compete for the Richards-Botham Trophy, named in honour of West Indies’ batsman Sir Viv Richards and England all-rounder Ian Botham.

The T20I series is the biggest series to date between England and West Indies in the shortest format of the game and will form part of the preparations for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia in October 2022.

"An England tour to the West Indies is a special event, so by adding a third Test match and two T20Is to the original schedule it will enable more fans to watch the teams do battle and afford more of our countries the opportunity to host matches"

Commenting on the tour, ECB chair, Ian Watmore said: "We hugely appreciated the support of Cricket West Indies, and all its men’s and women’s players, in helping us host a full season of international cricket in the summer of 2020. Following the conclusion of those tours to England we have been in discussions with CWI to understand how we can best support them moving forward and one way was to extend our existing England men’s tours to the Caribbean in 2022."

Tom Harrison, chief executive officer of the ECB, added:  "A tour to the Caribbean is one of the most iconic for both England players and fans alike. So, we are delighted to confirm that our England men’s team will play two additional IT20s and one more Test Match as part of their planned tours in January and March respectively.

"The three Test Match series will form part of the next ICC World Test Championship, whilst the additional IT20s will provide our England men’s team with valuable preparation ahead of the ICC World T20, which takes place in Australia later that year."

Meanwhile, CWI president, Ricky Skerritt, said: "This expansion of next year’s England tour to the Caribbean is welcomed news for West Indies Cricket and for the region’s tourism economy.  It has come about because of the special relationship that has been developed between our respective boards and we are looking forward to working with ECB Chair Ian Watmore, and CEO Tom Harrison, to expand our partnership even further into new areas of cooperation and support. We have already begun discussions on how the ECB can help us in our development programs and I am pleased that ECB has been showing so much appetite and goodwill to assist."

Jonny Grave, chief executive officer of CWI, echoed his sentiments, stating, "We are delighted that the ECB have agreed to increase the number of matches in their tour to Caribbean next year. An England tour to the West Indies is a special event, so by adding a third Test match and two T20Is to the original schedule it will enable more fans to watch the teams do battle and afford more of our countries the opportunity to host matches."

The venues for the matches will be announced by the end of April.

Full Match Schedule

Friday, January 28: 1st T20I
Sunday, January 30: 2nd T20I
Wednesday, February 2: 3rd T20I
Friday, February 4: 4th T20I
Saturday, February 5: 5th T20I

Tuesday, March 1 to Friday, March 4: Warm-up match
Tuesday, Mar 8 to Saturday, March 12: 1st Test
Wednesday, March 16 to Saturday, March 20: 2nd Test
Thursday, March 24 to Monday, March 28: 3rd Test

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