A much anticipated slug-out between two rival spinners on the infamous pitch at Galle has been aborted after England’s cricketers called off their Test tour of Sri Lanka which local officials say was done due to concerns back at home.
The first Test was to start on March 19 and Sri Lanka Cricket now hopes England will be able to finalize new dates for rescheduling the tour by next week.
“It was not due to any concerns over their stay in Sri Lanka that England decided to halt the tour,” said Sri Lanka Cricket Chief Executive Ashley de Silva.
“There were concerns for them back at home in England where the virus was spreading and hopefully they will be able to tell us by next week when they’ll be able to come back.”
The English team management in a statement said they had to ensure the players were in the right frame of mind to focus on the Test series in Sri Lanka.
“Due to the Covid-19 pandemic worsening globally, and after discussions with Sri Lanka Cricket, we have made the decision to return our players to the UK.
“At this time, the physical and mental well being of our players and support teams is paramount. We will now look to bring them home to their families as soon as possible.
“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 fulfill this important Test series,” the statement said.
More than Sri Lanka, England were looking forward to another clean sweep of the series after wiping out the host team 3-0 the last time they toured in 2018.
Interestingly both teams were down to just one front-line spinner who played crucial roles when the two teams met in 2018 with Sri Lanka’s Dilruwan Perera and England’s Jack Leach bagging 22 wickets each in the three-match series.
The pull-out of the England team has also forced Sri Lanka to incur a financial loss, but De Silva said it was “not a big amount” that went towards seating arrangements and food for the two Test matches.
Sri Lanka Cricket was expecting to make a kill from England’s tour with as many as 4000 fans from their cheer bandwagon known as the Barmy Army listed to visit Galle and Colombo where the two Tests were to be played.