Old stadium in Ahmedabad to host warm-up game against England

The old Sardar Patel stadium in Ahmedabad`s Navrangpura area will host a four-day game against a visiting England team later this year.

Mumbai: The old Sardar Patel stadium in Ahmedabad`s Navrangpura area, which was the venue of all cricket matches in the city before the advent of Motera stadium on the outskirts in early 1980s, will host a four-day game against a visiting England team later this year.

According to the itinerary of the tour released by the BCCI, England are to play two warm-up three-day games in Mumbai before moving on to Ahmedabad to play the third game, a four-day match, at the old Sardar Patel stadium ahead of the opening Test at the Motera Stadium from November 15-19. The Sardar Patel Stadium has seen little top level cricket action since the construction of the Motera stadium barring the hosting of the rebel and now defunct Indian Cricket League matches a few years ago. The old stadium has not held any official Tests, but was the venue of the unofficial `Test` against Sri Lanka before the island nation gained Test status. Also for the first time the Bandra Kurla Complex ground of the Mumbai Cricket Association, which has held Ranji trophy and limited overs domestic games, would host a game involving an international team. According to an England and Wales Cricket Board release, the English cricketers are scheduled to depart their country on October 25 for a three-day training camp at the ICC Global Cricket Academy in Dubai before playing three first class matches in India ahead of the four-Test series. "This will be England`s first full tour of India since 2008 and I am sure that cricket fans in both countries will be eagerly anticipating an exciting series of contests in all three formats of the game," ECB Managing Director, England Cricket, Hugh Morris said. "We are grateful to BCCI for agreeing to host three First-Class tour matches ahead of the Test series and we are also seeking to finalise an England Performance Programme camp in India before Christmas which will help prepare members of both our Test and T20 squads," he added. Prior to England, New Zealand will visit India for a short series of two Tests and two Twenty20 Internationals - the latter as a warm-up for the ICC World Twenty20 Championships in Sri Lanka from September 18-October 7. PTI The Itineraries: New Zealand Tour • Aug 23-27: 1st Test match at Hyderabad (Uppal Stadium). • Aug 31-Sep 4: 2nd Test at Bangalore. • Sep 8: 1st T20 International at Visakhapatnam (D/N). • Sep 11: 2nd T20 International at Chennai (D/N). England Tour Tests and T20s • Oct 29: Arrives in Mumbai • Oct 30- Nov 1: 3-day tour match in Mumbai (CCI) • Nov 3-5: 3-day tour match in Mumbai (BKC) • Nov 8-11: 4-day tour match in Ahmedabad (Sardar Patel Stadium, Navrangpura) • Nov 15-19: 1st Test match, Ahmedabad (Motera Stadium) • Nov 23-27: 2nd Test match Mumbai (Wankhede Stadium) • Dec 5-9: 3rd Test match, Kolkata • Dec 13-17: 4th Test match, Nagpur • Dec 20: 1st T20 Pune (Subroto Roy Sahara Stadium) (D/N) • Dec 22: 2nd T20 Mumbai (Wankhede Stadium) (D/N) • Dec 23: England team departs ODIs: • Jan 3, 2013: England arrive in Delhi • Jan 6: 50-over warm-up match at Delhi (venue tbc) • Jan 8: 50-over warm-up match at Delhi (venue tbc) • Jan 11: 1st ODI at Rajkot (D/N) • Jan 15: 2nd ODI at Kochi (D/N) • Jan 19: 3rd ODI at Ranchi (D/N) • Jan 23: 4th ODI at Dharamsala (D/N) • Jan 27: 5th ODI at Mohali (D/N). PTI