England announce schedule for 2004

As they prepare to jet off to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka at the beginning of October, England's cricketers had better steel themselves for a torrid 12 months

Wisden CricInfo staff

11-Sep-2003

As they prepare to jet off to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka at the beginning of October, England's cricketers had better steel themselves for a torrid 12 months. The ECB today unveiled its most complicated international match schedule yet, with seven Tests and a whopping 28 one-day internationals to be crammed into the English season next year.

The season will be kicked off by three Tests in the space of five weeks against New Zealand in May and June, and will be concluded in late September by the 15-match ICC Champions Trophy, which will involve all ten Test nations, plus Kenya and one other country. The tournament, which last took place in Sri Lanka prior to the 2003 World Cup, will be spread over 17 days and three venues, yet to be confirmed.

In between whiles, there is a four-Test series against the West Indies to look forward to, a ten-match triangular series against West Indies and New Zealand, and a repeat of the three-match NatWest Challenge in early September, with Australia earmarked as possible opponents.

For England's players, it is a wearying schedule. Their longest break in the entire summer is an 11-day gap between the NatWest triangular and the first Test against West Indies, which starts on July 22, and their season will, in effect, begin as early as March 5, when they play the first warm-up match of the Caribbean tour. They will have just a fortnight to gather their thoughts between the end of the seventh ODI in Barbados on May 5, and the start of the Lord's Test against New Zealand.

npower Test Series v New Zealand
Thu 20 - Mon 24 May       1st Test             Lord's
Thu 3 - Mon 7 June        2nd Test             Headingley
Thu 10 - Mon 14 June      3rd Test             Trent Bridge

The NatWest Series Thu 24 June Eng v NZ (d/n) Old Trafford Sat 26 June NZ v WI Edgbaston Sun 27 June Eng v WI Trent Bridge Tue 29 June Eng v NZ (d/n) Chester-le-Street Thu 1 July Eng v WI (d/n) Headingley* Sat 3 July NZ v WI Cardiff Sun 4 July Eng v NZ Bristol Tue 6 July Eng v WI Lord's Thu 8 July NZ v WI Southampton Sat 10 July Final Lord's Sun 11 July Reserve day

npower Test Series v West Indies Thu 22-Mon 26 July 1st Test Lord's Thu 29 July - 2 Aug 2nd Test Edgbaston Thu 12-Mon 16 Aug 3rd Test Old Trafford Thu 19-Mon 23 Aug 4th Test The Oval

Domestic cricket showpieces Sat 7 Aug Twenty20 Final Edgbaston* Sun 8 Aug Reserve day Sat 28 Aug C&G Final Lord's Sun 29 Aug Reserve day

The NatWest Challenge - opposition to be confirmed Tue 31 Aug 1st ODI TBC Thu 2 Sept 2nd ODI The Oval* Sat 4 Sept 3rd ODI Lord's*

ICC Champions Trophy - schedule and three venues to be confirmed Wed 8 Sept Opening match Sat 25 Sept Final

* Venue subject to staging agreement