England team, who is currently playing the last Test of the two-match Test series, will begin their summer with the Test series against top-ranked New Zealand. The Test series has two Test matches and will be played at Lord’s (June 2-6) and Edgbaston (June 10-14) respectively. Notably, this series is not part of the World Test Championship 2020-21.
England Cricket Board (ECB) had further revealed the schedule of their team for summer. After the completion of the Test series against New Zealand, England will play a three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka at Sophia Gardens on June 23 and June 24 and the final T20I will be played at The Ageas Bowl on June 26. These matches will precede the already-announced three-match Royal London Series against Sri Lanka which starts from June 29.
“The prospect of our England Men’s team taking on the world’s two top-ranked Test nations in New Zealand and India this summer is something for us all to savour,” ECB Chief Executive Officer, Tom Harrison, said in a statement.
England’s chances for the World Cup Test Championship seems to be diminished:
After the completion of the ongoing Test series against Sri Lanka, Joe Root’s team will travel to India for the four-match Test series which is part of the World Test Championship.
For the series against India, Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer, who are currently not a part of England’s squad for the ongoing two-match Test series against Sri Lanka, will return to England’s squad. Rory Burns has also returned to the squad for Tests against India.
To make the final of the World Test Championship, They will need to whitewash Sri Lanka first. Their struggle won’t end here. They will need to win three tests and one draw in the 4 Tests series against India. This seems highly unlikely unless India has been dominant at home for quite some time now. Thus, England looks almost on the verge of going out of the final.