England’s schedule for the 2027 international summer is out. The statement that greeted it from England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chief executive Richard Gould was grandiose: “We have a summer schedule that offers high quality cricket across all formats and for all our England teams and fans.”
Gould is hoping the headline will be the fact that the men’s and women’s Ashes will be played concurrently.
Look closer, though, and you realise that this schedule will only magnify the faultlines that have opened up in the men’s set-up during a chaotic 2026 summer. It also guarantees that some of these games are likely to be anything but high quality.
England’s summer kicks off with five one-day internationals against Pakistan starting on May 15. Yet it’s the end date of May 26 that elicits a raised eyebrow. That’s because it leaves just one day between that series and the start of England’s one-off Test against Bangladesh at Lord’s – their only red-ball game before the Ashes begin at Trent Bridge on 18 June.
The Ashes 2027 schedule, plus Pakistan, Bangladesh and New Zealand fixtures
