Stuart Broad Backs ECB's Decision To Call Off Sri Lanka Tour Amid Coronavirus Scare

English pace spearhead, Stuart Broad has lauded England Cricket Board (ECB) for taking the right call to suspend the England-Sri Lanka Test series. England were supposed to play two Test matches against Sri Lanka on the latter’s home soil.

But, in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, ECB decided to call off the tour and suspend the games to avoid its players being hampered.

The first game of the series had to be played from March 19 at Galle. However, lanky pacer Broad has appreciated ECB for taking a necessary call.

Earlier, English skipper Joe Root had also said that they were left with no options but to cancel the tour as they couldn’t have risked the lives of their players and fans.

Stuart Broad Backs ECB’s Decision To Suspend Sri Lanka Tour

“They made a very tough but necessary decision and credit to them for putting the players and the fans first. It can’t have been easy, with all the financial aspects of a tour like this, and ultimately we want to be playing cricket for England so we were sad to be leaving. Despite the disappointment, though, the right decision has been made and we all look forward to coming back and completing this series at some stage,” Broad wrote in a column for the Mail on Sunday.

“The atmosphere has been quite different in Sri Lanka because there have not been as many cases of coronavirus, so although as a squad we have instigated social spacing, and have been very careful, we have not witnessed any of the changes in daily life that have perhaps occurred here. Not felt any of the hustle and bustle,” wrote Broad

“What would happen if one of us got it? The whole squad would have to go into 14-day quarantine. What would happen if a family member fell ill at home, and we had been in quarantine overseas? That would have meant no way of getting back to them. What would happen if one of our supporters got it and it then started spreading through the rest of the fans? There were an estimated 3,000 set to travel,” added Broad.

Cricket World Faces The Wrath Of Coronavirus Pandemic

The IPL 2020 has been postponed till April 15 due to the coronavirus spread across the country. To the disappointment of the cricket fans, the India-South Africa ODI series has also been called off.

Apart from it, the Road Safety World Series has also been suspended.

All the English players playing in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) have been called back immediately and the tournament now faces a high chance of being postponed.