Afghanistan to visit the Caribbean
Afghanistan will visit the Caribbean for a bilateral series against the West Indies including three T20Is and three ODIs, beginning in the first week of June.
The teams will clash while eight of the top full members contest the Champions Trophy in England with the West Indies losing out on a place in the quadrennial showpiece.
The three T20Is will be contested in St Kitts over the course of four days at Warner Park before the series moves to St Lucia for all three ODIs that will be played at the Darren Sammy International Stadium.
The West Indies will be desperate to earn rankings points to avoid having to play in the World Cup Qualifier in Bangladesh in 2018 with the game’s biggest event being cut to just ten teams for 2019.
The series represents Afghanistan’s first against a full member nation that isn’t Zimbabwe.
ICB Manager of Cricket Operations Roland Holder said: “It will also be an important series for our side as they look to move up in the ICC World Rankings in the two formats, and continue their quest to qualify for the 2019 ICC World Cup in England and Wales.”
The West Indies will need to rise to eighth in the rankings by the September cut-off to qualify for the World Cup automatically with Bangladesh currently above them in eighth while Afghanistan are behind them in tenth.
Afghanistan have been in excellent form recently completing 3-2 series wins over Zimbabwe and Ireland in their last ODI outings and are currently pressing for Test status.
West Indies v Afghanistan schedule:
June 2 – First T20I
June 3 – Second T20I
June 5 – Third T20I
June 9 – First ODI
June 11 – Second ODI
June 14 – Third ODI