England to host Sri Lanka and Pakistan in 2016

The SSE SWALEC in Cardiff has been chosen to host the final matches of England’s Royal London One-Day worldwide series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan in 2016.

“(Captain) Alastair Cook was absolutely right to acknowledge the contribution of England’s fans to our Ashes success”, added Harrison in reference to the 3-2 victory over Australia in the series that ended on Sunday.

The game starts on Friday, May 27.

Pakistan and Sri Lanka will each play two one-day internationals against Ireland next summer, Cricket Ireland have announced.

The global season in 2016 will start with England facing Sri Lanka across all three formats from May to early July, followed by Pakistan’s first tour of this country since 2010 from July to early September.

The two sides meet in the UAE this winter, and will lock horns again next year for a four-match Test series encompassing games at Lord’s, Old Trafford, Edgbaston and The Oval.

The worldwide campaign concludes with five more ODIs between August 24 and September 4 and a T20 in Manchester three days later.

Pakistan’s Mohammad Asif, Salman Butt and Mohammad Amir and their agent Mazhar Majeed arranged deliberate no-balls during the Lord’s Test against England five years ago in return for money in a deal with an undercover reporter of a now defunct British tabloid.

That is when the ECB’s Major Match Group determined the split of games between 2012 and 2016, and it has subsequently been awarded fixtures for the 2017-19 period.