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LONDON. – England’s cricket team abruptly pulled out of their tour of Sri Lanka yesterday over the mounting coronavirus pandemic.
A practice match in Colombo was halted as the team announced they would be flying back to London, and the first of two Test matches due to start on March 19 has been postponed.
“At this time, the physical and mental wellbeing of our players and support teams is paramount,” said an England and Wales Cricket Board statement announcing the end of the tour.
“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.”
The Australia women’s cricket team have also pulled out of their upcoming tour to South Africa due to the coronavirus pandemic that has been sweeping the globe. The current T20 World Cup winners were due to play three ODIs and three T20Is against the Proteas women starting later this month.
The ODI matches were due to be played in Durban (March 22), Pietermaritzburg (March 25) and East London (March 28) and the T20Is in East London (March 31) and Benoni (April 3 and 4).
Cricket Australia will continue to monitor the coronavirus situation at home and overseas before making a decision on Australian women’s international matches beyond the tour of South Africa. – AFP.
Online Reporter