Johannesburg: South Africa’s tour of Sri Lanka in June was on Monday postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic which is still not under control.
South Africa were set to play three ODI and three T20 Internationals during their short trip of the island nation in the first half of June, Cricket South Africa stated.
“Our Proteas would not have been able to prepare properly taking our own lockdown situation into account and, more importantly, health considerations for our players, which are always paramount, were the over-riding factor,” CSA’s Acting Chief Executive Dr. Jacques Faul said.
The ODI leg would have been South Africa’s first commitment in the ICC’s new one-day league. “It is very sad that we have been forced to take this step and we will re-schedule the tour as soon as cricket returns to a sense of normality and our international fixture list allows,” Faul said.
He admitted that the postponement of the tour will hamper South Africa’s preparations for the T20 World Cup to be held in October-November in Australia this year. “It is very frustrating for the players who want to build on the good form they showed at the backend of our home summer against Australia,” Faul concluded. South Africa are currently ranked fourth in ODI and fifth in ICC ranking where as Sri Lanka are ranked eighth in both ODI and T20. (PTI)
