England’s upcoming Test series in Sri Lanka is under threat in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic. Cricket looks set to become the latest sport to be hit by the outbreak. England are already in Sri Lanka for the two-match Test series which is a part of the ongoing ICC Test Championship.
On Thursday, the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) released a statement saying the tour is “planned to continue” but reports in English media suggest that it could still be cancelled as early as Friday.
Currently, the ECB are in consultation with the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and a decision to cancel the tour was expected on Thursday but the cricket board has decided to wait for some more time before taking a final call, according to Inews.
“We are in regular contact with the Sri Lankan and British High Commissions in addition to Sri Lanka Cricket around the Sri Lanka v England Test matches, scheduled in the next few weeks,” the ECB statement read.
“At this stage, the series is planned to continue, but we want to stress that this is a highly evolving situation and circumstances are changing rapidly, sometimes several times a day.
“We urge fans who are considering travelling to consult with the current British and Sri Lankan Government advice, to continue to do this up until the point of travel and also for the duration of their trip,” it added.
A useful batting day in hot conditions ?
The bowlers will get their chance tomorrow.
Scorecard: https://t.co/aVWbubyEyk pic.twitter.com/rTqxinRej9
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) March 7, 2020
Sri Lanka has not been affected too much by the outbreak so far. The island nation has so far only had two confirmed cases of the Coronavirus but the country’s government this week took the decision to shut all schools for six weeks and have already put restrictions on foreigners entering the country, including halting all on-arrival visas and the quarantining of anyone who has spent time in Italy, South Korea or Iran in the past 14 days.
England players have been in Sri Lanka for just under a fortnight and are currently playing their final warm-up match in Colombo ahead of the two-Test series that starts in Galle next Thursday. But with around 2,000 English fans scheduled to travel to the country from this weekend, it is expected action will be taken to call off the tour as Sri Lankan authorities look to control the spread of Coronavirus within their borders.
England players are already isolating themselves as much as possible in Colombo. They have also decided to avoid shaking hands with opponents and signing autographs or taking selfies with fans in addition to avoiding mingling with other groups at dinner.
But if anyone was taken ill in the England team hotel there is a chance that the players could be put in a 14-day quarantine, meaning that the Test series would be off.