Oval, Headingley, Old Trafford among venues for India’s next two Test tours of England

London, June 14

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced on Wednesday that The Oval, Headingley and Old Trafford are among the venues for India's next two Test tours of England, set to happen in 2025 and 2029.

While announcing the venues for England's home international matches for men's and women's from 2025-31, ECB said that Lord's, The Oval, Edgbaston, Headingley and Old Trafford will be the venues for the 2025 India-England Test series.

During the 2029 India tour of England, Lord's, The Oval, Edgbaston, Old Trafford and The Ageas Bowl will be hosting the five Test matches. India is the only side apart from Australia against whom England are scheduled to play a five-match Test series in both home and away formats.

India's tours of England are played for the Pataudi Trophy, while England's tours of India are played for the Anthony de Mello Trophy. India last won a Test series in England in 2007, winning three-game series by 1-0. They are also slated to tour England for white-ball matches in 2026 and 2028.

In terms of the Ashes, England will take on Australia in a five-Test series at Lord's, The Oval, Edgbaston, Trent Bridge and The Ageas Bowl in 2027, while England women's team will meet their Australian counterparts in a Test match at Headingley as part of a multi-format series in the same summer.

In 2031, the Men's sides will contest five Ashes Tests at Lord's, The Oval, Old Trafford, Headingley and Trent Bridge, while the Women's multi-format Ashes series will include a Test match at The Ageas Bowl.

"This year's Men's and Women's Ashes are only days away, but fans can already start looking forward to more great clashes up and down the country in the years ahead. For the first time, we are announcing long-term allocations for Women's international matches as well as Men's.

We have seen huge growth in attendances for Women's matches in recent years, with this year's Women's Ashes smashing previous records, and we want to build further on this in the years ahead.

By announcing arrangements for the next seven years, we are also giving venues long-term certainty so that they can invest sustainably into stadium improvements and improved fan experiences," said Richard Gould, ECB Chief Executive Officer.

England Women will play at Lord's during each of the seven years during this period, with other major venues including The Oval, Edgbaston, Headingley, Old Trafford, Trent Bridge and The Ageas Bowl each hosting the team at least four times during this period.

England Women's internationals will also continue to be hosted at other venues around the country which have historically hosted games. ECB added that for the first time, the same process has been used for allocating men's and women's international matches, over the same period.

--IANS