Coronavirus strikes cricket again: South Africa postpone June 2020 tour of Sri Lanka

The coronavirus pandemic was won the battle over another international cricket even in 2020 as Cricket South Africa and Sri Lanka Cricket mutually announced a postponement of their proposed bilateral series in Sri Lanka. The South Africa cricket team were initially scheduled to tour the island nation in June 2020 for a limited-overs series. However, on April 20, both cricket boards decided to postpone the tour until further notice.

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Cricket South Africa on postponed Sri Lanka tour

In a statement issued by Cricket South Africa Acting CEO Dr. Jacques Faul, the tour will be rescheduled to a date when a “sense of normality” will return to the ICC’s international calendar. He also said that with a nationwide lockdown situation in South Africa, the Proteas would not have been able to prepare themselves for the tour. He added that an over-riding factor was the health and safety of their players, which is of paramount importance to them.

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ICC halts cricket amid coronavirus scare

In wake of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has already halted worldwide cricketing activities. South Africa’s tour of Sri Lanka was originally scheduled to include three ODIs and three T20Is. While the ODI matches would have formed a part of the inaugural 2020–22 ICC Cricket World Cup Super League, the three T20Is would have provided both nations an ideal platform to prepare for the ICC T20 World Cup scheduled in Australia later this year.

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ICC stance on T20 World Cup amid coronavirus scare

Even though ICC has halted all cricketing affairs till June until further notice, the T20 World Cup scheduled to be played between October and November is also clouded with much uncertainty at the moment. However, recent media reports have claimed that ICC is in no hurry to make a call right away and a final decision on the tournament might be taken by the end of August.

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