INDIA and Pakistan plan to play two one-day international matches in England next summer with part of the proceeds going to the Prince’s Trust, the charity overseen by the Prince of Wales. The games — which would be sure to attract capacity crowds — have been earmarked for the first half of July before India begin their Test series in England.

Lalit Modi, the influential chairman of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, said that he and Shaharyar Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) at the time, met Prince Charles during the summer.

“We have been requested by the Prince’s Trust to hold some games and we will see in the next few weeks whether we can get things confirmed,” Modi said. “They would be bilateral matches, run as normal internationals with some money going to charity.”

Modi said that the games would be televised and that Lord’s and the Brit Oval have been identified as possible venues.

India and Pakistan have met twice before in England, but never in a self-contained series. They took part in a World Cup fixture at Old Trafford in 1999 and then in the ICC Champions Trophy two years later at Edgbaston. Both games sold out quickly and made for vibrant, colourful and largely trouble-free occasions.

Modi is keen to maximise India’s commercial standing and recognises the market for games against Pakistan wherever there is an expatriate community. The potential income from television of games beamed back to India from anywhere in the world is even more lucrative.

For Pakistan there would be the extra benefit of regaining goodwill lost at the Oval in August when they forfeited the fourth Test after being accused of ball-tampering. Without Inzamam-ul-Haq, their captain who was suspended because of that incident, Pakistan were knocked out of the ICC Champions Trophy yesterday. They were bowled out for 89 in Mohali and lost by 124 runs to South Africa, who qualify for the semi-finals.