England will play three Tests and three one-dayers, as well as two Twenty20 internationals, against the West Indies and three Tests and seven one-dayers against India.

John Carr, the ECB's director of cricket operations, said in a statement: "We have an exciting programme of international cricket planned in 2007 with series against two 'big-draw' teams in West Indies and India."

Explaining why England were staging seven one-dayers against India, an unusually lengthy bilateral one-day series in an English season, Carr said: "ECB and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have had a long-standing agreement that India's tour to the UK would directly reciprocate the three Test Matches and seven one-day internationals played by the England team in India earlier this year.

"ECB is delighted to have secured the agreement of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to play a four-match npower Test Series and a three-match NatWest Series that enables us to present this exciting seven-Test and ten-ODI international match progra-mme for the 2007 season."

And, as for the reason why India were not playing a Twenty20 during their tour, Carr said: "ECB would normally plan to stage one NatWest International Twenty20 match against each of the touring teams but as the Indian team were not playing international Twenty20 cricket when the schedules were agreed, we have scheduled two matches against the West Indies."