Essex pre-season tour and MCC Champion County match cancelled

The annual curtain-raiser, which was due to be played between March 24 and 27 in Sri Lanka, has been called off in light of the global outbreak of Covid-19

• Coronavirus and cricket: Tours and competitions postponed, cancelled and affected by Covid-19

Essex’s pre-season trip to Abu Dhabi has been cut short due to the global coronavirus outbreak.

Earlier on Friday, the club had confirmed that the tour was underway as planned. However, after further consideration, the county has announced that players and management will return to Chelmsford at the weekend.

Essex’s 12-day trip to UAE was initially set to go ahead, albeit with practice matches against Worcestershire, Somerset and local opposition cancelled.

Worcestershire and Somerset had both already cancelled similar tours to the area, but last season’s county champions flew out on March 9 – earlier than others – to prepare for the Champion County match against the MCC, which was due to take place in Sri Lanka.

The annual curtain-raiser, which was due to be played between March 24 and 27, has also been called off in light of the global outbreak of COVID-19, with England’s Test series in the country also postponed.

Chief executive Derek Bowden said: “We have been monitoring the COVID-19 situation for a while, and although the area we’re based in is currently one of the least affected regions, the health and wellbeing of our players and staff is our highest priority, as is the season ahead.

“Therefore, the decision has been made for everybody to return early and to continue with pre-season preparations at Chelmsford.

“We’d like to thank and acknowledge the members and fans who were planning on making the trip to support the team in both Abu Dhabi and Sri Lanka.”

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