The upcoming Test series between Sri Lanka and England has been called off due to the coronavirus outbreak. The news comes an hour after the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was postponed to April due to the same reason. This is the third cricketing event after the IPL and Road Safety World Series to face the brunt of the deadly virus.
The England Cricket Board (ECB) confirmed the news of the postponement of the series on social media and announced that the player will be returning home so that they would not come in contact with the disease of COVID-19. The board also noted that the well-being of the players and support staff is much more important than the game. As a precautionary measure, they will call-off the entire series.
The decision has been taken after seeing the rising number of cases of coronavirus in the Asian region.
“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,” the statement read.
Both teams were going to play two Tests in Galle and Colombo respectively. The English players had already landed in the Island Nation and also played a tour game before the series.
The governing body of cricket in England is making sure that all the members of the team reach their families without any complications. The statement concluded by saying that there is a life beyond cricket too.
“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,” the board revealed in a statement.
England also expressed gratitude towards the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) board for their amazing support and assessment throughout the situation. They also promised that they will return for a series when things get better.
Various sporting events around the world have been cancelled or postponed. Formula One, NBA, and FIFA are some of the organizations that have decided to cancel their future events until the situation gets better.
Not just sporting events, all the cultural events are also being canceled around the world. Musical festivals like Coachella, NCAA March Music Madness have also been called off or postponed.
More than 135,000 cases have been tested positive around the world and over 4,000 deaths have been reported.
