Bangladesh’s tour of Sri Lanka postponed due to COVID-19: ICC
The ICC has announced that Bangladesh's tour of Sri Lanka, which was scheduled for July, has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Published : Jun 24, 2020 17:13 IST
The Bangladesh cricket team’s tour of Sri Lanka next month was postponed on Wednesday owing to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Bangladesh’s tour to Sri Lanka, scheduled to take place next month, has been postponed,” the ICC posted on its Twitter handle.
Bangladesh was scheduled to tour Sri Lanka next month for a three-Test series.
Sri Lanka Cricket issued a statement to say that Bangladesh pulled out due to its players’ “lack of preparation” due to the pandemic.
”...the Bangladesh Cricket Board has informed SLC that a conducive environment has still not arrived for their players to take part in an international cricket series, purely due to the lack of preparation for its players, caused by the COVID—19 pandemic,” the statement read.
”...BCB and Sri Lanka Cricket have agreed that Bangladesh National Team’s tour of Sri Lanka which was scheduled to be held during July 2020 will not take place and will be deferred to a mutually planned later date,” it added.
The COVID-19 pandemic had on Tuesday led to New Zealand’s Test tour of Bangladesh being postponed due to the health threat after three cricketers from the South Asian country recently tested positive for the virus.
New Zealand was slated to play a two-Test series in Bangladesh in August-September as part of the ICC World Test Championship.
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Last week, Bangladesh’s former ODI captain Mashrafe Mortaza , Nazmul Islam and Nafees Iqbal also tested positive for the deadly contagion.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board had earlier postponed its Test tour of Pakistan in April apart from the Ireland and UK tour in May. Australia’s tour of Bangladesh, originally scheduled for June, has also been deferred.
International cricket is set for resumption next month when England hosts the West Indies in a Test series.