England women to tour West Indies in December

England’s women will play three ODIs and five T20Is against West Indies in Antigua and Barbados in December.

The ODIs in Antigua will form part of the ICC Women’s Championship, in which England is yet to get off the mark following their 3-0 defeat by India in September.

The Tour runs from December 4 to 22, which means it will be concurrent with the men’s Test tour of Pakistan, which gets underway in Rawalpindi on December 1, with the third Test in Karachi ending on December 21.

England is likely to be able to call upon the services of Nat Sciver, who withdrew from the India series for a mental-health break in the summer, while their captain Heather Knight is also hopeful of being fit after undergoing hip surgery during the summer.

“We’re happy to be able to release the schedule for the tour of the West Indies,” Jonathan Finch, director of England Women’s cricket, said. “It’s always a great place to visit and with a new head coach soon to come on board it’s the beginning of a new cycle for this team.

“The West Indies series sees our first overseas round of the ICC Women’s Championship and it’s key we get some points on the board. The tour also plays an important role in preparing for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup early next year.”

The CG United ODIs will be played at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium (SVRS) in Antigua on 4, 6 and 9 December. The three ODIs form part of the ICC Women’s Championship. The first T20I will also be at SVRS on 11 December. The tour then moves to Barbados for four T20Is at Kensington Oval on 14, 17, 18 and 22 December.

West Indies captain Hayley Matthews is eagerly looking forward to the upcoming home series as both teams will look use the series as part of their preparation for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup to be played in South Africa early next year.

The eighth edition of the marquee event will begin on 10 February 2023 with hosts South Africa taking on Sri Lanka. Cape Town, Paarl and Gqeberha will host the matches in the tournament with the knockout matches set to be played in Cape Town. The final will be held on 26 February.

The 10 teams will be drawn in two groups as follows, Group 1: Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh; with Group 2: England, India, West Indies, Pakistan and Ireland.