The Pakistan Cricket Board has revealed the dates for the upcoming England visit to play T20Is in the country. This would be the first time England would visit Pakistan in 17 years. England was supposed to tour Pakistan last year but pulled out without any strong explanation, a decision that angered the PCB. England promised to go ahead with the tour at a future date, and we have that now.

According to the PCB, the tour would begin on September 20, and England would play seven T20Is. The matches would take place in Lahore and Karachi. Then both countries would go on a break just in time for the T20 World Cup, which takes place in Australia. After the T20 World Cup, England would return to Pakistan in December for three Tests.

Pakistan only started receiving visitors recently as they could not due to security reasons. This is why the last time England visited was in 2005. Last year, New Zealand was supposed to visit before England, but had to pull out due to security reasons. This may also have been why England pulled out as well, although it was never stated.

Speaking on the development, Zakir Khan, PCB director of international cricket, said that he was confident things would go smoothly with England as it had gone with Australia earlier this year.

“We demonstrated our event planning and operational skills in the highly successful series against Australia in March/April, and I am confident we will be able to replicate these when England visit us for the first time since 2005.”

England’s tour of Pakistan would be very significant and would encourage other countries to tour the country. The managing director of England cricket, Rob Key, said that England was looking forward to the tour and that they were working with all relevant parties to make sure that the tour goes on as planned.

Written by: Leon Osamor