LONDON, June 27: The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced on Monday they would host Test and one-day series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan next year. In a change to the present triangular one-day format and additional three-game Challenge, England will play two separate five match limited overs series against both Asian nations.

This season saw England play their first Twenty20 match, a 100-run win against Australia at the Rose Bowl earlier this month.

Next year both the Rose Bowl and Trent Bridge will stage a Twenty20 match each.

England will play three Tests against Sri Lanka early in the season before facing Pakistan in a four-match series.

Although Thursday is the traditional start day for Test matches in England two of next year’s games, one each against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, will begin on a Friday.

The ECB said this was to ensure players had a minimum three-day break between games, in accordance with International Cricket Council regulations.

Next season will be the start of a particularly congested fixture schedule for England.

After their home series they go to India for the Champions Trophy and then on to Australia for an Ashes campaign before heading out to the Caribbean for the 2007 World Cup.

Meanwhile, two ECB security experts have arrived in Karachi to inspect venues for England’s tour this year.

England have expressed safety concerns over playing in the city on the tour which starts in October.

“These two experts will also visit Multan, Faisalabad, Lahore and Islamabad for the next week to inspect the match venues and security details,” the director of operations of the Pakistan Cricket Board Abbas Zaidi said on Monday.

The two experts, Douglas Dick and Andy Allman, declined to comment.

Pakistan has ruled out holding a match in Peshawar during England’s tour.

Zaidi said the experts would be briefed by Interior Ministry officials in the capital, Islamabad, on security arrangements he described as elaborate.

ECB director of cricket operations John Carr and a representative of the English players’ association Richard Bevan are due to arrive next week to finalise details of the tour.

Since the Sept 11, 2001 attacks on the United States and subsequent increased security worries, only South Asian neighbours Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have played Tests in Karachi while India figured in a One-day International last year.

Other teams including Australia, West Indies and South Africa have shunned Karachi as a match venue because of security concerns.

2006 international fixtures

England v Sri Lanka:

May 11-15: First Test (Lord’s).

May 25-29: Second Test (Edgbaston).

June 2-6: Third Test (Trent Bridge).

June 15: Twenty20 (Rose Bowl):

June 17: First ODI (Lord’s).

June 20: Second ODI (The Oval).

June 24: Third ODI (Chester-le-Street).

June 28: Fourth ODI (Old Trafford).

July 1: Fifth ODI (Headingley).

England v Pakistan:

July 13-17: First Test (Lord’s).

July 27-31: Second Test (Old Trafford).

Aug 4-8: Third Test (Headingley).

Aug 17-21: Fourth Test (The Oval).

Aug 28: Twenty20 (Bristol).

Aug 30: First ODI (Cardiff, D/N).

Sept 2: Second ODI (Lord’s).

Sept 5: Third ODI (Rose Bowl, D/N).

Sept 8: Fourth ODI (Trent Bridge).

Sept 10: Fifth ODI (Edgbaston).—Agencies