The Hindu : Sport : England, Australia to play back-to-back Ashes

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Tuesday, Jun 28, 2011
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England, Australia to play back-to-back Ashes

HONG KONG: England and Australia will play 10 back-to-back Ashes Tests as part of the new future tours program agreed by cricket's world governing body on Monday. Andrew Strauss's side faces Australia in the English summer of 2013 and then will do it all again Down Under in the Australian summer.

The series form part of the Future Tours Programme (FTP) for the period from 2012 to 2020 finalised at a meeting of the International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executives committee in Hong Kong on Monday.

The back-to-back Ashes schedule is a result of Australia hosting the World Cup in 2015, when the return Ashes would normally be played.

The FTP contains an official two-week window in September for the Champions League Twenty20 each year and also leaves space for an unofficial IPL window in April and May, making it possible for players from most nations to participate in the money-spinning tournament.

England is scheduled to play 99 Test matches from 2012-20 while Australia will play 92 and India 90.

India's tours to England in 2014 and 2018 will include five Tests — the only series of that length outside of the Ashes.

Pakistan, which is only allowed to play away from home following the 2009 terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore, is scheduled to tour India in March and April 2013.

World Cup winner India has been scheduled to play 166 One-day Internationals, the biggest share and 102 more than Zimbabwe. All other nations will play between 100 and 160 games. — AFP

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