England to play Sri Lanka at Bristol County Ground

Ireland’s cricketers will play home ODI series against both Sri Lanka and Pakistan next summer.

The games against Sri Lanka will take place on Thursday June 16 and Saturday June 18, while the fixtures against Pakistan are on Thursday August 18 and Saturday August 20 – the venues for all the games are still to be confirmed.

Pakistan pace bowler Mohammad Amir has apologised to fans for his role in the spot-fixing scandal that saw him banned for cricket for more than four years. The lengthy sanctions against the three players expire next Tuesday.

European Central Bank Chief Executive Tom Harrison believes that Sri Lanka and Pakistan will provide stern competition for a dynamic England team on the crest of a wave following victory in the Investec Ashes Series.

“Over the year’s Somerset has gained quite a reputation for the warm welcome and the facilities that it affords touring sides and we all look forward to seeing Pakistan here again next season”.

Since the terrorist attack on a Sri Lankan team bus in March 2009 in Lahore, Pakistan have used the UAE to host worldwide fixtures and are unbeaten in the country in seven Test series played through that period. The bans on all three will expire next week. England have been making giant strides ever since they were embarrassed in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 – they managed to hold New Zealand for a draw in a two-Test series and then emerged as winners in the Ashes 2015.

Trent Bridge will not host a Test for the first time since 2009, while Bristol will hope to see the return of worldwide cricket after five years, having suffered a washout during the visit of India in 2014.