England Women to tour Pakistan for first time in October

Heather Knight’s side will play two T20Is and three ODIs in Karachi. The visit will overlap with a similar tour by England men’s white-ball side, with the men's and women's T20Is being played as double-headers

England Women will tour Pakistan in October for their first-ever trip to the country.

Heather Knight’s side will play two T20Is and three ODIs in Karachi. The visit will overlap with a similar tour by England men’s white-ball side, who are facing Pakistan in a pair of T20Is as last-minute preparation ahead of the T20 World Cup that follows in India.

The two T20Is, therefore, will be played as double-headers in Karachi on October 14 and October 15, with the women’s matches taking place before the men’s games. England Women will then stay on to play three ODIs on October 18, October 20 and October 22.

Having not played a single 50-over game in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the series will act as valuable match practice as Lisa Keightley’s team prepare to defend their World Cup crown in New Zealand in 2022. England are also set to tour New Zealand in the coming weeks, with squad and series details soon to be announced; they will fly at the end of January.

ECB managing director of women's cricket Clare Connor said: “We are absolutely delighted to be making this historic announcement today. The England Women’s cricket team has never toured Pakistan before, so this is another important step in our history and journey.

"Not only will this be a cricket tour that provides valuable competitive opportunity to both teams, it should also serve as another powerful and positive message as we drive forward our equality ambitions for more women and girls to derive empowerment through the sport.

"I was in Pakistan last year and I know the impact that a women’s tour such as this can have and how memorable an experience it will be for our players and staff.”

^{Sarah Glenn made her international debut when England faced Pakistan in Malaysia in 2019}

In 14 T20Is between the nations, England have only ever lost once against Pakistan – a one-run defeat at Loughborough in 2013.

The countries’ most recent bilateral series came in December 2019 – the last before Keightley officially took charge in the following month. England went unbeaten during the series played in Kuala Lumpur, winning two ODIs and three T20Is; leg-spinner Sarah Glenn made her international debut.

Speaking to The Cricketer earlier this week, Keightley said of England’s disrupted ODI plans: “We’ve done some really good research over the last six months on different areas of the game in 50-over cricket to give us some really good guidelines on where we need to be.

“We feel that it will win us games of cricket, so it’s a matter of rolling that out and getting the players comfortable with it, testing it and seeing where we’re at.”

PCB chief executive Wasim Khan added: “World champions England accompanying their men’s side for their first-ever tour to Karachi is an extremely powerful and strong announcement for Pakistan, our women’s cricketers as well as for the global sport.

“This announcement reflects the confidence, trust and relationship the PCB enjoys with the England and Wales Cricket Board, and is an acknowledgement for the successful delivery of international and domestic cricket in the challenging and difficult 2020.

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“Women’s T20Is taking place before the men’s matches at the iconic National Stadium will mean more eyeballs will follow these matches than ever before. While this presents a great opportunity for the PCB to showcase the image and profile of women’s cricket, it is a chance for the women cricketers to demonstrate their talent and skills, and play their part in attracting, inspiring and motivating the next generation of women cricketers so that they can also fall in love with this great sport.

“The three ODIs against the world champions will assist the Pakistan women’s side to access, gauge and fine-tune their ICC Women’s World Cup 2022 preparations as they aim to produce improved performances than in the past.

“Like the England men’s side, I am confident the women’s tour will open up opportunities for their future tours that will further contribute in promoting women’s cricket in Pakistan and helping our national side to narrow the gap with the leading nations.”

Pakistan are due to face South Africa in the coming weeks a part of their preparations for the World Cup qualifying competition in July.