ECB Cancels England's Tour Of Sri Lanka Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

Due to the Coronavirus situation, England’s two-Test tour of Sri Lanka has been cancelled. Several sporting events all around the globe have already been either called off or postponed due to the rapid outbreak of the deadly virus that has claimed several lives, spreading across 110 nations. There exists no word about England’s Test series against West Indies; however, the same remains under the cloud too.

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The Englishmen were already engaged in their second practice match leading up to the two-Test series in Sri Lanka. The first game resulted in a draw while the visitors remained in a strong position in the second. The previous time England toured Sri Lanka, they achieved a series sweep over the hosts in 2018. However, the upcoming series would no longer take place. A later date is yet to be announced.

England’s tour to Sri Lanka called-off

An official source of the England Cricket Board (ECB) claimed that we had some lengthy overnight discussions with Sri Lankan Cricket before arriving at a decision. They have made a call to bring the players and the support staff back home.

“After overnight discussions between our teams in Sri Lanka and the SLC, the decision has been made to postpone the series and bring players and support staff home. Our aim will be to reschedule the series.” an ECB spokesman said as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo.

“Due to the Covid-19 pandemic worsening globally, and after discussions with Sri Lanka Cricket, we have today made the decision to return our players to the UK and postpone the forthcoming Test series between Sri Lanka and England.”

ECB thanks the Sri Lankan Cricket Association for their assistance and hope to return in the near future:

After announcing the decision, the English cricket board thanked their counterparts for their understanding and help throughout the situation. They hope to return to the Island nation as soon as possible to complete this important series. Furthermore, the well-being of their cricketers remained the board’s utmost priority and that an extreme action had to be taken in the wake of the pandemic.

“At this time, the physical and mental wellbeing of our players and support teams is paramount. We will now look to bring them home to their families as soon as possible. These are completely unprecedented times, and decisions like this go beyond cricket.”

“We would like to thank our colleagues at Sri Lanka Cricket for their outstanding support and assistance throughout this situation. We look forward to returning to Sri Lanka in the very near future to fulfil this important Test series.” the official added further.

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