England’s white-ball series against Bangladesh is set to begin just a day after the final Test of their New Zealand tour in the New Year.
The schedule for England’s first visit to Bangladesh since 2016 has been confirmed, with Jos Buttler’s side set to play three T20Is and three ODIs in the country in March next year.
The First ODI takes place on March 1 in Dhaka, the day after what is scheduled to be the fifth and final day of England’s Second Test against New Zealand in Wellington.
The tourists are expected to play two warm-up matches in Bangladesh prior to that opener and the overlap between white- and red-ball tours means England’s multi-format players that have been included in the Test squad for New Zealand - including Joe Root, Harry Brook and Ben Stokes - are certain to miss at least part of the former.
England have not yet ruled out the possibility that they could join up with the Bangladesh party later in the tour, though that seems particularly unlikely in the case of Brook, who is already flying straight from the white-ball series in South Africa to New Zealand earlier in the year.
Teenage spinner Rehan Ahmed was last week left out of the Test squad for New Zealand despite taking five-for on debut in Pakistan. The Leicestershire youngster is instead set to play in the UAE’s T20 franchise league with a view to possible selection for the Bangladesh tour.
The ODIs in Bangladesh will form a key part of England’s build-up to next autumn’s World Cup in India, with Buttler’s men looking to defend the title they won on home soil in 2019.
The Second ODI will also be held in Dhaka two days after the opener, before the series moves to Chattogram for the third game on March 6. The First T20 will then take place in Chattogram on March 9, before the tour returns to the capital for the remaining two matches, on March 12 and 14.
