England tour of Sri Lanka halted amid coronavirus fears
England's two Test series in Sri Lanka, that was set to begin in a few days, has been postponed because of concerns linked to coronavirus, the ECB confirmed on Friday.
By Thursday evening, the ECB had said that the tour was proceeding as planned but that circumstances were "changing rapidly". Following discussions overnight between the ECB and Sri Lanka Cricket, a decision was designed to postpone the tour and bring England's squad and support staff.
The ECB have stressed that this is a postponement instead of a cancellation plus they hope to reschedule the series at some point in the foreseeable future, particularly given the matches are section of the World Test Championship. Whether that is possible remains to be observed, however.
England's schedule is jam packed and the only two windows available are between the end of the T20 World Cup and Christmas, although Sri Lanka have an ODI series against Bangladesh by the end of December, or in April 2021 but that could overlap with the IPL. The World Test Championship final occurs at the start of June.
An ECB statement read: ''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 U.K and postpone the forthcoming Test series between Sri Lanka and England.
At the moment, the physical and mental wellbeing of our players and support teams is paramount. We will now turn to bring them home with their families immediately. They are completely unprecedented times, and decisions such as this go beyond cricket.
We would like to thank our colleagues at Sri Lanka Cricket because of their outstanding support and assistance throughout this example. We anticipate time for Sri Lanka in the forseeable future to fulfil this important Test series''
