West Indies reveal dates for ‘biggest’ England tour in a decade

BARBADOS: Cricket West Indies announced Friday the dates for what they said was the “biggest” England tour in a decade.

The all-format two-month visit by England, which begins in January, will see them face the West Indies in three Tests, five one-day internationals, and two T20 Internationals.

A CWI statement said it would be “the biggest international home series between the two teams since 2009”.

All the fixtures will take place in the eastern Caribbean, with Barbados, Antigua and St Lucia staging the Test matches.

Meanwhile Barbados, Grenada and St Kitts will share the ODIs with the Twenty20s split between St Lucia and St Kitts.

The last Test series between the two sides in the West Indies ended in a 1-1 draw in 2014/15, with England retaining the Wisden Trophy on home soil thanks to a 2-1 success last year.

That was despite an impressive West Indies five-wicket win in the second Test at Headingley where Shai Hope (147 and 118 not out) became the first batsman to score hundreds in both innings of a first-class match at Yorkshire’s headquarters.

The one-dayers will act as warm-ups for next year’s World Cup in England, with the West Indies looking to underline their status as World T20 champions in the shortest format fixtures.

“England coming to the region is always a special occasion for cricket fans and we are pulling out all the stops for a successful series on and off the field,” said Johnny Grave, the English chief executive of CWI.

“West Indies fans create a unique spectator atmosphere and not only do England fans add to this, they bring in a significant tourism boost to the region as thousands will travel here to enjoy the cricket and experience the unique Caribbean culture and hospitality,” he added.

West Indies v England fixtures, 2019

Jan 23-27: 1st Test, Kensington Oval, Barbados

Jan 31-Feb 04: 2nd Test, Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua

Feb 09-13: 3rd Test, Darren Sammy Stadium, St Lucia

Feb 20: 1st ODI, Kensington Oval, Barbados

Feb 22: 2nd ODI, Kensington Oval, Barbados

Feb 25: 3rd ODI, National Cricket Stadium, Grenada

Feb 27: 4th ODI, National Cricket Stadium, Grenada

Mar 02: 5th ODI, Darren Sammy Stadium, St Lucia

Mar 05: 1st T20, Darren Sammy Stadium, St Lucia

Mar 08: 2nd T20, Warner Park, St Kitts

Mar 10: 3rd T20, Warner Park, St Kitts