South Africa tour of Sri Lanka postponed amid coronavirus pandemic

The decision was jointly announced by Cricket South Africa and Sri Lanka Cricket; the sides were due to face each other in three ODIs and three T20Is

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

South Africa’s white-ball tour of Sri Lanka that was initially scheduled to take place in June has been postponed in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

The decision was jointly announced by Cricket South Africa and Sri Lanka Cricket; the sides were due to face each other in three ODIs and three T20Is, with the 50-over encounters acting as South Africa’s first in the ICC’s new ODI league.

South Africa’s next engagement is a planned tour to the West Indies for two Tests and five T20Is in July and August, with the latter part of that trip part of the Proteas’ preparations for the upcoming T20 World Cup. A decision on whether that trip is to go ahead has neither been made nor announced.

“It is very sad that we have been forced to take this step and we will re-schedule the tour as soon as cricket returns to a sense of normality and our international fixture list allows,” said CSA acting chief executive Jacques Faul.

“Our Proteas would not have been able to prepare properly taking our own lockdown situation into account and, more importantly, health considerations for our players, which are always paramount, were the over-riding factor.

“It would have been a particularly important tour for us with the three ODIs counting for the new ICC one-day league and the T20 programme being part of our preparation for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup scheduled for Australia later this year.

“It is very frustrating for the players who want to build on the good form they showed at the backend of our home summer against Australia,” Faul added.

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