England confirm tour in January; 2 Tests in Galle

The Galle International Cricket Stadium will be the venue for England’s two Tests against Sri Lanka

England captain Joe Root and Ben Stokes during a practice session at the P. Sara Oval during their tour of Sri Lanka in March that was postponed. 

• Sri Lanka to play 4 Tests within a period of one month

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said that England has confirmed their tour of Sri Lanka for two Tests in January 2021, with both games being played at the Galle International Cricket Stadium to create a bubble.

“England will arrive around 3 January and they will have about 11 days before the first Test, which will be played from 14-18 January. The second Test will take place from 23-27 January,” said SLC CEO Ashley de Silva confirming the dates.

England will not play any warm-up games against any Sri Lankan opposition, but according to De Silva they will play two warm-up matches amongst themselves. De Silva said that the England team would quarantine themselves for 14 days in the UK prior to leaving for Sri Lanka.

“They would be coming on a chartered flight and will undergo the required PCR test before going into a bubble,” he said.

The series is part of the World Test Championship. It was postponed from March this year following the outbreak of COVID-19.

Bangladesh’s tour to Sri Lanka for three Tests in August was postponed because the team was asked to undergo a 14-day quarantine period on arrival in Sri Lanka, which is not the case with England.

NO QUARANTINE FOR SRI LANKA IN SOUTH AFRICA  

Meanwhile the Sri Lanka team that will make a two-Test tour to South Africa next month will not be required to undergo a quarantine period when they arrive in South Africa.

“Sri Lanka won’t have to go into a quarantine period because the majority of the players would be taking part in the LPL, which ends on 16 December and the team will be leaving on a chartered flight on 17 December,” said De Silva.

“It is bubble to bubble. First, they will take two days off, then they will start training and then play a 3-day warm-up match in Benoni (against a South African Invitation XI from 20-22 December), before going into the Test match at Centurion on 26 December,” he said.

The second Test will be played at Johannesburg from 3 January. Both Tests are part of the World Test Championships.

In preparation for the tour, the 22 players picked will leave for Pallekele today to undergo a 10-day training camp. The Sri Lankan Cricket Team, which has not had any international cricket since the first week of March, will suddenly have a surge of Test cricket ahead of them as they will play four test matches within a period of one month from 26 December to 27 January.

LANKA PREMIER LEAGUE

Sri Lanka Cricket said that they have received the health guidelines from the Ministry of Health for the Lanka Premier League (LPL) which will be held at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium in Sooriyawewa from 26 November to 16 December.

“We have got the clearance from the Health Ministry and we have got the health guidelines, which we have shared with all the franchise owners,” said De Silva.

30 overseas players will be joining the Sri Lankan cricketers, who will play in a 23-match tournament competed for by five teams.