Lord's and Headingley to host Pakistan Tests

LONDON // Next year's neutral cricket Test matches between Pakistan and Australia will be played at Lord's and Headingley, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have announced. The two Twenty20s between the countries will both be at Edgbaston while Cardiff will host the two International Twenty20 matches between England and Pakistan. The neutral Tests are being played in England next July after the original series in Pakistan was cancelled due to security concerns.

Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman, said the decision would "ensure that the largest number of members of the Pakistani ethnic community across Britain can see the neutral Test matches between Pakistan and Australia as well as ensuring a good geographical spread of the matches." England's two Tests against Bangladesh will be held at Old Trafford and Lord's. It will be Old Trafford's first Test since 2008 and the decision is something of a surprise as the playing square is to be "switched" at the end of the current season.

England's 2011 International Twenty20 match against India will be at Old Trafford and the Twenty20 against Sri Lanka at Bristol. * Reuters