England are set to host Pakistan for a five-match Test series for the first time since 1992, with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) holding active talks with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) as part of a broader shift in plans to structure its home Test schedule.
According to reports, the board is moving away from the principle of reciprocal home and away series in the next cycle of the World Test Championship (WTC), which begins with next summer’s home Ashes.
The ECB wants to follow the Australian and Indian models, both of whom host five-match rubbers every four years, and its own internal research backs the push, finding that Test cricket remains the most popular format in England across all age groups.
Pakistan toured England for three Tests as recently as 2024, but a five-match series is a different proposition entirely. The last time the two sides played a five-Test rubber in England was in 1992, when Pakistan won 2-1 under Javed Miandad as Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis ran through the England batting lineup.
Reports said that South Africa are also in discussions with the ECB for a five-match visit in 2032, with plans to repeat that arrangement in 2036. While Pakistan are lined up as an alternative should the South Africa deal not come together, the preference is clearly to accommodate both sides across the coming decade.
To balance the longer home series, future England tours to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh could be cut to a single Test match, topped up with white-ball fixtures that carry greater commercial value for the host nations.
The ECB will not push for full Test tours overseas, accepting that long series are not commercially viable in many markets.
The board’s shift comes in response to the ICC’s plans to expand the WTC to include all 12 Test-playing nations, with Ireland and Zimbabwe set to compete in a single division for the first time.
As part of that expansion, one-off Test matches will receive WTC status for the first time, dropping the previous requirement of a minimum two-match series for championship recognition.
That also opens the door for England to play their first Test in Zimbabwe since the 1996-97 tour, something the ECB is now actively considering. The board supports the one-Test series concept, arguing it gives smaller nations more opportunities while fitting into its broader strategy to protect the longest format.
Under a proposed new WTC format drawn up by an ICC working group, each of the 12 teams must play 12 matches against at least eight different opponents over a two-year cycle.
The top two sides will meet in a WTC final every other year, with Lord’s hosting the final until 2031. There is no requirement for every team to face each other, giving individual boards considerable freedom over their fixture lists, a flexibility the ECB supports.
The ICC board is due to discuss the working group’s proposals this month, though one meeting has already been pushed due to the conflict in the Middle East.
