India A’s tour of England this summer time has been postponed and the senior group will now have an built-in jumbo squad for the five-match Check sequence in England later this 12 months, the ECB and the BCCI agreed on Tuesday.
The senior group, which is to play 5 Exams towards England in August-September, will now have solely two intra-squad apply video games as an alternative of the first-class fixture between India senior and India A groups deliberate earlier.
It’s believed that the choice has been taken to make sure the most secure potential surroundings for a top quality worldwide sequence in instances of COVID-19.
“The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Board of Management for Cricket in India (BCCI) have agreed to postpone this summer time’s males’s India A tour,” ECB mentioned in an announcement on Tuesday.
“The India Males’s group will as an alternative tour with a bigger squad to arrange for, and use throughout, the five-match LV= Insurance coverage Check Sequence.” “India’s warm-up schedule will now comprise two intra-squad four-day matches, which is able to substitute the 2 beforehand deliberate four-day fixtures between India Males and India A in July. Venues for these two intra-squad matches are to be confirmed.” Which means that a squad of 30 will likely be blended and matched for the apply video games.
The ECB additionally said that following additional discussions with the boards of New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, it has been agreed to cancel their scheduled males’s tour matches towards first-class counties.
New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Pakistan’s males’s groups will as an alternative play intra-squad matches to permit them appropriate preparation for his or her worldwide fixtures this summer time.
These agreements will enable the ECB to deal with delivering the most secure potential surroundings for all worldwide cricket matches scheduled to happen over the summer time.
ECB Chief Govt Officer, Tom Harrison, mentioned: “We’re wanting ahead to staging a memorable summer time of males’s and ladies’s worldwide cricket when followers are set to return to venues.
“Making certain the most secure potential surroundings for worldwide cricket is our first precedence and we’re appreciative for the understanding of our fellow boards.
“We sit up for welcoming a males’s India A tour at a later date after this summer time and when restrictions have eased. It is going to present a helpful alternative for gamers from each nations to expertise high-quality cricket and to showcase the expertise inside our England Lions group and first-class counties.”