Sports Desk : dhakamirror.com
Bangladesh will be playing all other full members of the International Cricket Council (ICC) during the next cycle of the ICC Men’s Future Tours Programme (FTP) for the period 2023-27, the details of which were confirmed by ICC on Wednesday.
According to the fresh announcement of the FTP, The Tigers are set to play 150 international matches – 59 ODIs, 57 T20Is and 34 Tests. They are followed by West Indies (147), England (142), India (141), Australia (135), New Zealand (135), Sri Lanka (131), Pakistan (130), Afghanistan (123), Ireland (111), South Africa (110) and Zimbabwe (109).
The announcement of the FTP, a result of a collective effort of Full Members with ICC’s support, ensures certainty of cricket fixtures with the confirmation of all bilateral series across the three formats. The exact dates of the series are for the members to announce in due course.
Bangladesh will tour Ireland in June 2023, which will be followed by a home series of two Tests, three ODIs and three T20Is against Afghanistan in June.
Tigers also have a busy calendar in 2024 during which they will host Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe from February to April and then play Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India in away Tests in mid-year.
A home Test series against South Africa and an away full tour of the West Indies (two Tests, three ODIs and three T20Is) are part of the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25, while the 2025-27 WTC finishes off for Bangladesh with a challenging home series against England and an away series in Australia.
Tigers will play New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka at home while tour India, Pakistan and the West Indies in the 2023-25 World Test Championship series.
In the 2025-27 cycle, the Tigers play England, Pakistan, and the West Indies at home and have away series scheduled in Australia, South Africa and Sri Lanka.
The announcement of the Men’s FTP comes a day after the first-ever Women’s FTP was announced.
‘The 2023-2027 FTP is very pleasing for Bangladesh. We have received a healthy share of matches against members across all formats. This FTP is also a credit to the efforts of the ICC scheduling team and the member Boards and the cooperation between the stakeholders,’ Bangladesh Cricket Board chief executive officer Nizamuddin Chowdhury was quoted as saying in the press release provided by ICC.
‘The BCB believes that the FTP should be based on the principle of fair distribution of matches for all teams, and from that aspect, we are happy that the new FTP promises us a greater number of days of international cricket compared to the previous cycle.
‘We have been emphasising on the importance of playing more international cricket in order to attain the desired standards and the ICC FTP 2023-2027 gives ample opportunity to our players to compete regularly at a high level, which will be most beneficial for individual and collective improvement.’
