England tour going ahead despite new variant of COVID-19, says SLC

England cricket team at training 

• Civil Aviation Authority bans flights from the UK to Sri Lanka from today

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

The new variant of the COVID-19 virus in the United Kingdom that has led to the Civil Aviation Authority banning flights from the UK to Sri Lanka from today is not likely to affect England’s cricket tour to Sri Lanka next month, Sri Lanka Cricket said.

The Civil Aviation Authority said flights from the UK will not be permitted to enter Sri Lanka from 2 a.m. Wednesday.

The decision has been taken due to the emergence of a new variant of COVID-19 in the UK and Europe.

“England is coming on a charter flight and at the moment there is no change to the tour plans as such, it is going ahead as scheduled,” said Sri Lanka Cricket CEO Ashley de Silva. 

England’s tour of South Africa was called off early this month following the outbreak of COVID-19 among both teams’ camps and staff at their hotel. 

Since returning home the England players have gone back to their respective homes and families.

De Silva said that prior to the commencement of the tour to Sri Lanka, England’s tour squad will go into a new bio-secure bubble by going through 10 days of quarantine before coming to Sri Lanka.

“We will assess the situation from time to time but right now as it is our doctors are engaged in discussions with their (England) doctors today (Tuesday). As it is the tour will go ahead there will not be any changes. If there is anything we will make a statement,” said De Silva.

The focus of those discussions is likely to be the new strain, and what precautions are being taken to prevent it from being introduced to Sri Lanka via the touring group.

England’s players and support staff are scheduled to fly to Sri Lanka on a chartered flight on 2 January and on arrival they would be required to undergo a three-day isolated quarantine before they are allowed to begin training.

Sri Lanka and England are due to play a two-Test series in Galle from 14-26 January.

Due to the new variant of COVID-19 more than 40 countries including India have blocked flights or travel links with the UK.