England were scheduled to play three ODIs and three T20s in Bangladesh in September and October this year; The matches have now been moved to March 2023 after a mutual decision between the ECB and the Bangladesh Cricket Board.
Eoin Morgan’s England team will now tour Bangladesh in 2023
England’s tour of Bangladesh, originally scheduled for September and October this year, has been moved to March 2023.
The Cricket Board of England and Wales (ECB) and the Bangladesh Cricket Board reached the decision “mutually”, according to the ECB.
The tour will still include three ODIs and three T20Is, as planned.
The rescheduling of the Bangladesh tour means that England will have just two preparation matches before the T20 World Cup kicks off in October, both against Pakistan, on October 14 and 15.
Before that, England play five Tests against India, and the first match at Trent Bridge begins on Wednesday, live on Sky sports.
Both England and Bangladesh were facing crowded schedules and the need for teams to stay in restrictive bubbles or closed environments due to Covid has only increased the pressure on international tours.
However, there is a secondary impact in relation to the Indian Premier League. The lucrative T20 tournament was halted earlier this year and will resume in the United Arab Emirates in September.
England players were supposed to miss the competition due to the trip to Bangladesh, but now they are more likely to show up in their franchises with a gap opening.
The ECB will begin discussions on availability with its Indian counterparts, but as things stand, the IPL play-off and final would still be off limits due to a clash with England’s planned T20 series in Pakistan. .
England captain Joe Root admits that the test side is simply not the same without Ben Stokes, but is more interested in his well-being as a friend than as a match winner.
Stokes has taken an indefinite break from the game to prioritize his mental health and fully recover from a finger injury.
The absence of his star off-roader and vice-captain seriously weakens Root’s hand as he looks to get things back on track following losses in each of England’s last two test series. But, for now, that is not the priority.
“From my point of view, I just want my friend to be okay,” Root said.
“I had a conversation with Ben and that’s when I found out. The call will stay between the two of us, but it was hard for me to see a friend like that.
“Cricket has to be an afterthought, a long way to go and it should be taken as long as it takes.
“He has my full support on that, he has been assured that he has the full support of the ECB on that and he certainly has the support of the whole team.”
“Anyone who knows Ben, he always puts other people in front of himself and now is an opportunity for him to put himself first, to take the time to take care of himself and get back to a good place.”
“Hopefully that may be sooner rather than later.”
