LAHORE: The Netherlands and Ireland will host Pakistan for three One-day Internationals and two Twenty20 Internationals, respectively before their official tour of England next year.

The VRA Cricket Club Ground in Amstelveen will host the three one-dayers on July 4, 7 and 9 before Pakistan travel to Ireland for the T20 fixtures on July 12 and 14 at a venue to be decided.

Pakistan will then move to England to play three Tests of World Test Championship from July 30 to Aug 30 before taking on the 50-over world champions in three Twenty20 Internationals, which are scheduled from Aug 31 to Sept 2.

The series between the Netherlands and Pakistan will be the first-ever between the two sides, though they have previously met thrice in ICC events in 1996, 2003 in World Cups and then once in ICC Champions Trophy in 2002.

The series will definitely help the Dutch to shape up well to field a strong team in the 13-team ICC ODI League, which commences next year.

The Netherlands have qualified for the league by virtue of winning the ICC World Cricket League Championship.

The ODI league will be a direct qualification pathway towards the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2023 and will also be contested by the 12 Test-playing countries.

Meanwhile, the two T20s between Ireland and Pakistan will be the first instance of them playing each other in the shorter format in Ireland.

Pakistan to date have played six ODIs and a Test — that being Ireland’s maiden appearance in the format — in Ireland.

Ireland and Pakistan have previously featured in just one T20 with Pakistan winning The Oval fixture by 39 runs on way to winning the ICC World Twenty20 in England in 2009.

Zakir Khan, the PCB director of international cricket said in a statement: “The PCB is looking forward to visiting the Netherlands and Ireland. On our previous trips, we have received tremendous public support who have thronged the stadia to not only watch cricket but also appreciate and encourage the players.

“We also have a long and strong relationship with KNCB and Ireland Cricket, and I am confident the upcoming tours will further strengthen the bonding.”

Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2019