Coronavirus outbreak: South Africa's tour of Sri Lanka postponed
What's the story
South Africa's upcoming tour of Sri Lanka has been postponed, owing to coronavirus outburst. The Proteas were due to tour the island nation in the first half of June to play three ODI and as many T20Is. Cricket South Africa's acting Chief Executive Dr. Jacques Faul reiterated that the players could not have prepared for the tour amid this lockdown. Here is more.
Quote
Health of players is of paramount importance: Jacques Faul
"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," Jacques Faul said in a statement.
Schedule
The tour will likely be rescheduled soon
While the tour has been postponed indefinitely, Faul revealed that it would be rescheduled at a later stage if their international calendar could accommodate it. "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," Faul said.
South Africa
South Africa are due to tour West Indies this year
Following the postponement of Sri Lanka white-ball leg, South Africa will be aiming for the West Indies tour. West Indies are set to host them for two tests and five T20Is in July and August this year. The T20I series will be a lead-up to the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia, which is scheduled to commence from October 18.
Impact
The fate of next few bilateral series looks bleak
The coronavirus pandemic has led to cancelation of quite a few bilateral series and tournaments. Australia's test tour of Bangladesh has been called-off. Also, ECB is unlikely to host West Indies for three-match Test series in June. Meanwhile, the BCCI has postponed the impending season of Indian Premier League indefinitely. The threat of cancelation now lies on the high-profile T20 World Cup.