Know why the England vs New Zealand Test series is being played in the middle

England will play a series of Test matches against New Zealand at Lord's and Edgbaston in the next two weeks, but this series has been drawn suddenly. This is rarely seen when a series is organized without a future tour program. The foundation of this series was laid in January. Cricinfo has done a detailed report on this, which explains why this series is being organized.

The ICC prepares the Future Tour Program, or FTP, years ago, which has all the information about when and which team will play against which team in which format, but the England vs New Zealand Test series is not a part of FTP. Not only this, but this series also has nothing to do with the World Test Championship that the ICC started. In such a situation, the question arises that why this series is being played?

This series is being played as an extra series. At the time when this series was announced, it was also included in the hectic schedule, because if the IPL 2021 season was played, then the top players of England and New Zealand would not have been part of it. In such a situation, again the same question arises that for whose benefit this series is being done. You might be thinking that if the England and Wales Cricket Board is hosting it, then the ECB will benefit from it, but it is not so.

The ECB is not going to make any money from the media rights of these two-match series, but it is a reward for broadcasters, as the 2020 season was spoiled due to the coronavirus epidemic. The board has organized this series to make up for the same deficit. Apart from this, it is beneficial for the fans, because they will get to see extra cricket for a few days.

This series will be most beneficial for the New Zealand team, as the preparation for the Kiwi team will be done for the ICC World Test Championship. A further question was arising that if both the New Zealand and England teams reached the final of the World Test Championship, would the series still be held? The answer is yes because the series was being organized to reward broadcasters only and only.