Leicestershire pull pre-season tour to Spain: "The welfare of the players is absolute paramount"

The Grace Road club were due to fly to the Desert Springs resort on Tuesday but have followed advice to cancel the trip

• Key believes The Hundred could be prioritised in 2020

Leicestershire are the latest county to have their preparations for the new domestic season disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Grace Road club have been forced to cancel their pre-season trip to Spain amid the increased tightening of travel into the country.

Spain has declared a state of emergency with the number of cases of COVID-19 having reached 8,794. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office have advised against all but essential travel to the country.

Furthermore, locals have been banned from leaving home except for buying supplies or attending work.

Paul Nixon's side were due to travel to the Desert Springs resort in Almería on Tuesday for a warm-weather training camp and a match against Cambridge University, before returning on March 22.

How county pre-season plans have been affected by COVID-19

But following a meeting of senior management the decision was taken to withdraw from the trip.

“The welfare of the players, coaches, staff and their families is absolutely paramount in this situation," said Nixon. "Based upon this, we do not think it would be wise for the squad to travel to Spain for their tour.

“We would like to thank the resort, our travel partners, the ECB, the PCA and all of the coaching and playing squads for all of their support and understanding. We have already spoken about the possibility of returning next year.”

More than a dozen counties have seen their pre-season plans disrupted by the coronavirus, with tours across the world cancelled at short notice.

The ECB are preparing for the upcoming domestic campaign, which is scheduled to begin on April 12, to be affected though the UK government have yet to ban mass gathering or sporting events.

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.