This summer’s West Indies U19 tour of England postponed
2 April 2020
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket West Indies (CWI) have agreed to postpone the planned West Indies U19 tour of England, scheduled for August and September 2020.
With the West Indies U19 team being unavailable to tour England during the proposed window, the ECB and CWI have worked together to investigate all alternative scheduling options but unfortunately it has not been possible to find a time for the tour that would work for both Boards in relation to the respective domestic tournaments and player availability.
The scheduled programme had included one IT20, three ODIs and two Youth Tests against England U19s, which had been set to run between 16 August and 3 September 2020.
As the current environment makes it impractical to plan to host alternative opposition, the decision has had to be taken not to run a competitive England U19 programme this summer.
Mo Bobat, ECB Performance Director, said: “Cancelling the summer programme for our U19 side is not an easy decision to take, but with it not having been possible to identify a window for the tour that works for both Boards - and in the current climate - it is certainly the most appropriate step.
“Our young players benefit greatly from these competitive matches against their peers from around the world, not just in preparation for the biennial U19 World Cups, but also to prepare them for the rigours of international cricket.
“The squad learned a lot from their tri-series in Antigua in December 2019, so we look forward to welcoming the West Indians back to the UK in the future.”
