Tour dates announced for England's winter trip to Sri Lanka

England will fly out to the sub-continent on October 1 before playing five one-day internationals, a solitary T20I and three Test matches

The schedule for England's winter tour of Sri Lanka has been confirmed by the two country's governing bodies.

England will fly out to the sub-continent on October 1 before playing five one-day internationals, a solitary T20I and three Test matches.

The tour is set to last for a total of eight-and-a-half weeks, with games scheduled to take place in Colombo, Dambulla, Kandy and Galle.

There will be minimal preparation time for either the red or white-ball squads ahead of their respective series.

Two 50-over tour matches will be played in Colombo on October 5 and 6 before the ODI campaign begins in Dambulla on October 10.

Five games in 13 days follow, plus two days set aside in case of bad weather, before the one-off T20 is staged in Colombo on October 27.

The red-ball part of the tour begins on October 30, with back-to-back two-day warm-ups, again in Colombo, prior to the first of the three Test matches which begins in Galle on November 6.

FULL SCHEDULE

October 5: 50-over tour match v Colombo – RPICS, Colombo
October 6: 50-over tour match v  Colombo – RPICS, Colombo
October 10: 1st ODI D/N, RDICS, Dambulla
October 13: 2nd ODI, RDICS, Dambulla
October 14: Rain reserve day for 2nd ODI
October 17: 3rd ODI D/N, PKICS, Kandy
  October 20: 4th ODI, PKICS, Kandy

October 23: 5th ODI D/N, RPICS, Colombo
October 24: Rain reserve day for 5th ODI
October 27: T20I, RPICS, Colombo
October 30-31: Two-day tour match, NCC, Colombo
November 1-2: Two-day tour match v CCC, Colombo
November 6-10: 1st Test Match, Galle International Stadium
November 14-18: 2nd Test Match, PKICS, Kandy
November 23-27: 3rd Test Match, SSC, Colombo