England's Sri Lanka tour called off

Joe Root's team was due to face the hosts in two Tests as part of the World Test Championship, but they will now return home

England’s Test series against Sri Lanka has been called off because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Chris Silverwood’s side was due to play two games – in Galle and Colombo – as part of the World Test Championship. The first match was set to begin on Thursday, with the second from March 27.

They drew their first warmup match, before their second was cut short on Friday.

‘’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,” an ECB statement confirmed.

“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.  

“We would like to thank our colleagues at Sri Lanka Cricket for their outstanding support and assistance throughout this situation. We look forward to returning to Sri Lanka in the very near future to fulfil this important Test series.”

The decision follows talks between the ECB and the Sri Lankan and British High Commissions.

On Thursday, the ECB had declared that it remained hopeful the series would go ahead, but advised of a “highly evolving situation”.

England had already revealed that player-fan interaction would be limited during the trip, with handshakes also replaced with fist-bumps.

Subscribe to The Cricketer for exclusive content every day: The inside track on England's Test tour with George Dobell in Pakistan, award-winning analysis, breaking news and interviews and the only place for in-depth county coverage all year round. Plus: An ad-free app experience at your fingertips. Subscribe to thecricketer.com today for just £1.