After this winter Ashes drubbing at the hands of Australia, England will once again face off with their Aussie rivals after being drawn alongside them in their T20 World Cup Super 12 group.
Alongside Australia, England will also take on New Zealand and Afghanistan, with their tournament opener coming against the Afghani’s on October 22 in Perth.
Eoin Morgan’s team will then take on arch rivals Australia on October 28 at the MCG, before taking on New Zealand on November 1 at The Gabba.
The England setup will most likely be sick of the sight of Australia after a dismal showing this winter, as the Test side lost 4-0 to the Aussies for the second successive series down under.
However, the fresh-faced T20 setup will no doubt head into this year’s World Cup with plenty of optimism, with England’s white ball squad regarded as one of the best in the world.
Morgan’s team will be looking to build on England’s agonising semi-final finish in last year’s World Cup, after the tournament favourites were knocked out by New Zealand in the final four.
This year’s hosts Australia then went on to defeat the Black Caps in a nail-biting final in the UAE, to ensure they would be defending the title on home soil in 2022.
On the other side of the Super 12 draw India, Pakistan, South Africa and Bangladesh will all meet, with one of the headline events of the tournament - India v Pakistan - taking place on October 23 in Melbourne.
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Twelve teams have already secured their spot at the tournament, with four spaces still up for grabs.
One of those 16 already qualified are Scotland, who will face one of the remaining four in a first round clash in Hobart.
Ahead of the tournament ICC CEO Geoff Allardice revealed that the fixture release poses exciting news for cricket fans, with the schedule ‘offering so much’.
He said: “This schedule offers so much, from the 2014 Champions Sri Lanka opening the event, to our defending champions Australia starting with a rematch of the 2021 Men's T20 World Cup Final against New Zealand and of course India taking on Pakistan at the MCG.
“We know that hundreds of thousands of passionate cricket fans will turn out to support every single one of the 16 teams across all seven of our host cities which is what makes it so special for the players.
“You only need to cast your mind back to the brilliant ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia to know that this is going to be a wonderful event for players and fans alike.”
