26 June,2011 07:27 AM IST | | A Correspondent
India's tours of England in 2014 and 2018 will feature five Tests each, making it the only series besides the Ashes to contain as many Tests, according to a report on ESPNCricinfo.
India last played a five-match Test series in the Caribbean in 1996-97. The draft of the Future Tours Programme (FTP) for 2012 to 2020 will be finalised during the International Cricket Council's (ICC) annual conference in Hong Kong next week.
In what must come as good news for domestic teams around the world, the working draft of the FTP, which is available with the website, contains an official window in September for the Champions League Twenty20, each year, from 2014 to 2018.
There's a clear demarcation among the Test playing countries, with England (99), Australia (92) and India (90) playing the most Tests. Sri Lanka (76), South Africa (74), West Indies (66), New Zealand (65) will host fewer Tests. Also, India will not host either Bangladesh or Zimbabwe for Tests and ODIs until 2020.
The website also claims that "these are draft options, and the final numbers could be different" when officially released by ICC later next week.
