Cricket: Sri Lanka pushes for India series delay

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka are expected to delay a one-day international series against India by at least four days because of a Covid-19 outbreak in their team, a top cricket official said.

The first match was scheduled to start next Tuesday. But the series will now open on Saturday after batting coach Grant Flower and a team data analyst tested positive for coronavirus, the official said, according to AFP.

Several players and officials have been put into isolation because of the positive tests, the cricket board has said.

“We have proposed the new dates to the Indians and it is almost certain that the tournament will be pushed back by at least four days,” the official said.

The other one-day games were to be played on July 16 and July 18, AFP reported.

A three-match Twenty20 series was originally due to start on July 21 and end July 25, but board sources said they were still working on new dates.

Flower, 50, had returned from England —where Sri Lanka played a one-day and Twenty20 international series — and was preparing for next week’s games when he showed coronavirus symptoms.

“Immediately upon identification, Flower was isolated from the rest of the team members who are undergoing quarantine following their return from England,” the board said in a statement.

It said Flower showed “mild symptoms.”

Data analyst G. T. Niroshan also tested positive and was isolated, the board said.

Soon after the Sri Lanka team’s return, three players and four support staff members of the England team also tested positive for COVID-19.

Three Sri Lankan players who violated their bio-secure bubble in England were sent back to their home country and now are facing disciplinary action.