England will play almost half their Test matches over the next four year cycle against just two teams - India and Australia.
The lucrative five match series against the other two members of the ‘Big Three’ form the backbone of England’s red ball cricket with 20 matches against them and just 23 against the remaining nine nations.
And that familiarity continues between India and Australia who have extended their own ‘Border-Gavaskar’ series to five Tests. There is no room for a single Test match against either Zimbabwe or Afghanistan in the new cycle and just one against Ireland next summer.
