Sharjah returns to Test fold as Pakistan v Sri Lanka dates announced

Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah will stage a Test each as the full itinerary of Sri Lanka's tour of the UAE is announced.

KARACHI // The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have announced their full itinerary for the Sri Lanka tour of the UAE, Pakistan's adopted cricket home, which will include three Tests, five one-day internationals (ODI) and a Twenty20 international from October 18 to November 26 this year.

The series will see the revival of Test cricket at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium after 11 years. The previous Test was between Pakistan and Australia in 2002.

Pakistan have been forced to play their home series against Sri Lanka in the UAE after the Lankans refused to tour Pakistan because of security concerns.

Sharjah will also host an ODI between the two teams marking its return as an international venue after an eight year absence. The PCB said the matches will be played at Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Dubai as the venues were cost effective.

"We had a choice of neutral venues but we opted for UAE because it allows us to manage things smoothly," the chief operating officer, Subhan Ahmad said.

The Sri Lankan team came under a militant attack in Lahore in March 2009 in which six Pakistani policemen and a van driver were killed and five visiting players wounded.

Since then no foreign team has toured Pakistan and neutral venues in the UAE and England have been used.

Sri Lanka had also offered to host the series at home but the offer was declined by the PCB.

Pakistan will also host an England tour in January and February next year in the UAE.

Programme:

October 15 - Teams arrive in the UAE
October 18-22 - First Test - Abu Dhabi
October 26-30 - Second Test - Dubai
November 3-7 - Third Test - Sharjah
November 11 - First one-day international - Dubai
November 14 - Second one-day international - Dubai
November 18 - Third one-day international - Dubai
November 20 - Fourth one-day international - Sharjah
November 23 - Fifth one-day international - Abu Dhabi
November 25 - Twenty20 match - Abu Dhabi