England and Australia will meet in the first Twenty20 international

England's opening encounter with Australia in next year's 2005 Ashes series will be the first ever men's Twenty20 international.

The match will take place at The Rose Bowl on 13 June and act as a curtain-raiser for the triangular NatWest Series, also involving Bangladesh.

England and Australia will see further one-day action in a separate best-of-three NatWest Challenge.

Finally, on 21 July, the first of five Npower Tests will begin at Lord's.

The battle for the Ashes, which England have not won since 1987, will be the focal point of the summer.

But there will be plenty of interested observers of the Twenty20 match, with the England and Wales Cricket Board campaigning to have the format included in future Olympics.

The Twenty20 Cup was a massive success in its inaugural season in English domestic cricket last year, attracting over 250,000 fans to county grounds.

In games lasting just two-and-a-half hours, each team faces 20 overs.

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Bowlers have to jog to the end of their run-ups and batsmen wait in a pitch side dugout for their turn at the crease to ensure innings are completed within a time limit.

South African cricket has also taken up the the 20-over format, launching the Pro20 Series earlier this year.

New Zealand is the only other country to have experimented with a shorter format at the top level, playing three Cricket Max internationals over the last eight years.

The England women's team will play New Zealand at Hove in August in what will be cricket's first international Twenty20 fixture.

ENGLAND'S SUMMER SCHEDULE 2005

Npower Tests

26-30 May 1st Test v Bangladesh, Lord's
3-7 June 2nd Test v Bangladesh, Chester-le-Street

Twenty20 International

13 June v Australia, Rose Bowl

NatWest Series

16 June England v Bangladesh, The Oval
18 June Australia v Bangladesh, Cardiff
19 June England v Australia, Bristol
21 June England v Bangladesh, Trent Bridge (D/N)
23 June England v Australia, Chester LS (D/N)
25 June Australia v Bangladesh, Old Trafford
26 June England v Bangladesh, Headingley
28 June England v Australia, Edgbaston (D/N)
30 June Australia v Bangladesh, Canterbury
2 July Final, Lord's

NatWest Challenge

7 July v Australia, Headingley
10 July v Australia, Lord's
12 July v Australia, The Oval

Npower Tests