England Reschedule Sri Lanka Test Tour From January 14, Galle to Host Both Tests
England will return to Sri Lanka for a rearranged two-Test cricket tour in January, 10 months after leaving the Asian country as the coronavirus pandemic began to take hold.
England’s tour of Sri Lanka, which was postponed in March 2020 due to the sudden outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, has been rescheduled for January 2021 in Galle. The rescheduled matches that come after the series last March were postponed as the Covid-19 pandemic took its toll.
The visitors will have to serve the mandatory quarantine period in Hambantota on arrival in Sri Lanka. During that period, the players will able to train for five days from January 5 to January 9 at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium.
Joe Root’s side will then play two behind-closed-doors Tests in Galle in the New Year following the series postponement in March. The two Tests form a part of the ICC World Test Championship. England’s last completed Test tour of Sri Lanka was in November 2018, when they won a three-match series 3-0.
The new schedule of the two-match Test series, a part of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) is as follows:
January 02: Touring party departs from London to Hambantota
January 5 to January 9: England team training sessions, Hambantota
January 14 to January 18: First Test, Galle International Cricket Stadium
January 22 to January 26: Second Test, Galle International Stadium
January 27: Touring party departs Sri Lanka
This would be a crucial Test series for England to keep their hopes alive of making it to the finals of the inaugural edition of ICC World Test Championship at Lord’s in 2021 summer. At present, England is placed in third place behind India and Australia with 292 points and 60.8 %.