ENG v IND 2021: ECB organizing a ‘Select County XI’ for warmup match for India before Test series

The match will be a 3-day affair and might be accorded first-class status.

By Jatin Sharma - 02 Jul, 2021

As reported earlier, The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is trying to work out COVID-19 protocols and details in order to arrange a warmup match for the visiting Indian team ahead of their five-Test series which begins on August 4.

The Indians will face a ‘Select County XI’ side in the third week of July, and the match will be a three-day affair, which might carry the first-class status. The tentative dates could be between 20-22 July.

The Indian team management has understood that it is not possible to prepare well without a proper first-class or at least a warm-up game against an opposition side.

"We are aware of a request from the BCCI to play a three-day warm-up match against a County Select XI as part of the Indian Men's Test teams build-up to the five-match LV= Insurance Test series. We are working through the operations and COVID-19 protocols to ensure we are able to deliver this and will confirm in due course,” an ECB spokesperson told PTI.

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"The Indian Test team will report to Emirates Riverside, Durham for their pre-Test camp on 15 July and will prepare at the venue until 1 August before heading to Trent Bridge, Nottingham ahead of the first Test starting on 4 August," the spokesperson added.

The ECB also said that the Select County XI team will be made of the players who are not in the Hundred tournament, which begins from July 23, on being asked about the quality of the side being chosen to face the Indians.

"It will be players that aren't in 'The Hundred' and we will look to select the strongest squad available," the ECB said.

Under-preparation by the Indian team was termed as the primary reason for their loss to New Zealand in the Final of the World Test Championship in Southampton. In fact, skipper Virat Kohli, after the lost final, had expressed his displeasure at not being given a first-class game and BCCI had requested the ECB for a practice game.

(PTI inputs)

By Jatin Sharma - 02 Jul, 2021

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