Pakistan to tour England in 2016, six years after spot-fixing scandal

LONDON: Pakistan will tour England next year, their first visit since their spot-fixing marred 2010 tour, the English Cricket Board (ECB) announced on Tuesday.

Pakistan are scheduled to face the recently-crowned Ashes winners in four Test matches, five one-day internationals and a T20 in 2016, the ECB confirmed.

Pakistan´s 2010 trip was overshadowed by a match-fixing affair that rocked the world of cricket.

Pakistan´s Mohammad Asif, Salman Butt and Mohammad Amir and their agent Mazhar Majeed arranged deliberate no-balls during the Lord´s Test against England five years ago in return for money in a deal with an undercover reporter of a now defunct British tabloid.

The lengthy sanctions against the three players expire next Tuesday.

But the Pakistan Cricket Board´s chief selector Haroon Rasheed last week effectively ruled out any early return for the trio when England face Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates in October.

Before Pakistan´s visit England will face Sri Lanka in a three-match Test series.