England players set for IPL

Sabina Park: Venue for the first Test of the series

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England's schedule for the tour of the West Indies next year show an early finish - clearing the way for their players to take part in the Indian Premier League.

The England and Wales Cricket Board's itinery reveals that the squad will be returning home on Saturday April 4.

On their last visit to the Caribbean in 2004, England didn't conclude a seven-match one-day series until the beginning of May.

With the ICC World Twenty20 being staged on English soil later that summer, the ECB appear to have opened the door for players to participate in the IPL competition which runs from April 10 to May 29.

Schedule

England arrive in Barbados on January 21 and play two three-day warm-up matches before the first Test in Jamaica, which gets underway on February 4.

They then move on to Antigua for the second match before playing a two-day fixture in Barbados ahead of the third Test on the same island.

The series will come to a climax at the start of March in Trinidad, which will also stage the first Twenty20 International played between the two teams on Caribbean soil.

A five-match one-day series will see two games each in Guyana and Barbados before being completed by a day-night fixture in St Lucia.

Full itinerary for England's tour to the West Indies in 2009:
Jan 21: England team arrives in Barbados
Jan 25-27: Three-day practice match, Barbados
Jan 29-31: Three-day first class match, Barbados
Feb 4-8: First Test, Jamaica
Feb 13-17: Second Test, Antigua
Feb 21-22: Two-day match, Barbados
Feb 26-Mar 2: Third Test, Barbados
Mar 6-10: Fourth Test, Trinidad
Mar 14: One-day practice match, Trinidad
Mar 15: Twenty20 International, Trinidad
Mar 20: 1st ODI, Guyana
Mar 22: 2nd ODI, Guyana
Mar 27: 3rd ODI, Barbados
Mar 29: 4th ODI, Barbados
Apr 3: 5th ODI, St Lucia (d/n)
Apr 4: England team departs for UK