21 April 2021 12:00 am
By Bipin Dani
The Sri Lankan cricket team, which is scheduled to travel to England in June this year, will not play matches against county sides, it is learnt.
Sri Lanka will be playing three T20Is and three ODIs on this tour.
As planned earlier, the team was to play two practice games against Kent and Sussex on June 18 and 20 respectively.
However, according to sources, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), in consultation with Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), had agreed to cancel their scheduled men’s tour matches against first-class counties.
Sri Lanka’s men’s teams will instead play intra-squad matches to allow them suitable preparation for their international matches on this tour.
This decision has been taken to allow the ECB to focus on delivering the safest possible environment in the current coronavirus pandemic for the international matches scheduled to take place during the period.
Sri Lanka will play the first two T20Is at Cardiff on June 23 and 24, and the third T20I at Southampton on June 26.
Both teams will play the longer limited over format on June 29, July 1 and July 4 at Chester-le Street, London and Bristol.