LONDON, Jan 20: England are set to play India as often as they do arch-rivals Australia after agreeing in principle to face the Asian powerhouse every other year.

Inderjit Singh Bindra, a key figure in the new-look BCCI met David Morgan, chairman of the ECB to discuss a schedule that would replicate the Ashes programme.

England, who travel to India next month for a nine-week tour, are scheduled to face the Indians on home soil in 2007, five years after their last visit to England.

However, Morgan made clear he was keen on more frequent encounters. “We’ve always wanted to develop closer ties with India,” he explained.

“This was on our wish list that we gave to the ICC. They have a middle class which us as big as the entire population of the United States. Bindra was pushing at an open door,” Morgan also told the Daily Telegraph.—AFP