Tigers to play all other full members in next FTP

Bangladesh will be playing all other full members of the International Cricket Council during the next cycle of the ICC Men's Future Tours Programme for the period 2023-27, the details of which were confirmed by ICC on Wednesday.

The announcement of the FTP, a result of a collective effort of Full Members with ICC's support, ensures certainty of cricket fixtures with the confirmation of all bilateral series across the three formats. The exact dates of the series are for the members to announce in due course.

Bangladesh make a tour of Ireland in June 2023, which will be followed by a home series of two Tests, three ODIs and three T20Is against Afghanistan in June. The Tigers also have a busy calendar in 2024 during which they host Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe from February to April and then play Afghanistan, Pakistan and India in away Tests mid-year.

A home Test series against South Africa and an away full tour of the West Indies (two Tests, three ODIS and three T20Is) are part of the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 while the 2025-27 WTC finishes off for Bangladesh with a challenging home series against England and an away series in Australia.

World Test Championship series: Bangladesh play New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka at home in the 2023-25 WTC while touring India, Pakistan and the West Indies. In the 2025-27 cycle, the Tigers play England, Pakistan and the West Indies at home and have away series scheduled in Australia, South Africa and Sri Lanka.

The announcement of the Men's FTP comes a day after the first-ever Women's FTP was announced. Bangladesh Cricket Board CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury said: ‘The 2023-2027 FTP is very pleasing for Bangladesh. We have received a healthy share of matches against members across formats. This FTP is also a credit to the efforts of the ICC scheduling team and the member Boards and the cooperation between the stakeholders.

‘The BCB believes that the FTP should be based on the principle of fair distribution of matches for all teams and from that aspect, we are happy that the new FTP promises us a greater number of days of international cricket compared to the previous cycle.

‘We have been emphasising on the importance of playing more international cricket in order to attain the desired standards and the ICC FTP 2023-2027 gives ample opportunity to our players to compete regularly at a high level which will be most beneficial for individual and collective improvement.’

Full members to play more international cricket in ICC's new FTP cycle

Despite the rapid and ongoing expansion of T20 leagues around the world, there is an increase in the amount of bilateral international cricket scheduled in the new ICC men's Future Tours Programme (FTP) for the next four years. This includes two Border-Gavaskar Test series - Test cricket's headline rivalry of the last decade or so - between Australia and India that will, for the first time in over 30 years, be contested over five Tests.

The ICC released the 2023-27 FTP on Wednesday, in which the 12 Full Members play a total of 777 international matches - 173 Tests, 281 ODIs and 323 T20Is - compared to the 694 games in the current cycle.

Bangladesh play the most bilateral international games (150) in the new FTP, followed by West Indies (147), India (141), England (139), Australia (135), New Zealand (135), Sri Lanka (131), Pakistan (130), Afghanistan (123), Ireland (111), South Africa (110) and Zimbabwe (109).

In terms of T20Is, West Indies play the most bilateral matches (73) followed by India (61), Afghanistan (57), Bangladesh (57), New Zealand (57), Pakistan (56), Sri Lanka (54), Australia (52), England (51), Ireland (48), Zimbabwe (45), South Africa (43).

Bangladesh also play the most bilateral ODIs (59), followed by Sri Lanka (52), Ireland (51), West Indies (48), Pakistan (47), New Zealand (46), Afghanistan (45), England (45), Zimbabwe (44), Australia (43), India (42) and South Africa (39).

In Test cricket, England play the most matches (43), followed by Australia (40), India (38), Bangladesh (34), New Zealand (32), South Africa (28), Pakistan (27), West Indies (26), Sri Lanka (25), Afghanistan (21), Zimbabwe (20), Ireland (12).