England cricketers told to return home

London, March 13: England’s ongoing tour of Sri Lanka was on Friday called off in view of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the ECB said, calling the situation unprecedented.

The decision was announced while the English cricketers were playing the second day of their final warm-up fixture in Colombo.

“Due to the COVID-19 pandemic worsening globally, and after discussions with Sri Lanka Cricket, we have today made the decision to return our players to the UK and postpone the forthcoming Test series between Sri Lanka and England,” the ECB said in a statement.

AUSTRALIA WOMEN’S TOUR OF SA SUSPENDED Australia women’s limited overs tour of South Africa, starting on March 22, was suspended, Cricket Australia said.

Australia were scheduled to play six matches including three ODIs and as many T20s. “Australia’s three-match ODI and three-match T20I Qantas tour of South Africa has been suspended,” CA said.

FOREIGN PLAYERS IN PSL TO RETURN HOME Nine foreign cricketers, including the English trio of Jason Roy, Alex Hales and James Vince, have decided to leave the Pakistan Super League and return home on Friday The PCB said the PSL will continue as scheduled despite the withdrawal of the overseas players. “What is paramount is we are giving options to all the players and support personnel to withdraw from the league if they want too as ensuring they feel comfortable remains top priority of the PCB,” PCB CEO Wasim Khan said.