Cricket: England will fly as planned to Sri Lanka on Saturday

England will fly as planned to Sri Lanka on Saturday for their two-Test series after all the touring party tested negative for coronavirus, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said in an AFP report.

The squad will immediately undertake two weeks of quarantine and training in Hambantota, during which they will be tested every two days, according to AFP.

They will then travel to Galle for the first Test and be in a bio-secure bubble there too.

“Following the COVID-19 testing on Dec. 30, the touring party for the Sri Lanka Test tour have all tested negative. We fly tomorrow (Saturday) evening,” said an ECB spokesperson.

The tour was originally scheduled for last March but had to be postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The first Test is scheduled from Jan. 14-18 and the second from Jan. 22-26, both in Galle, according to AFP.

There were fears for the re-scheduled dates following the identification of a new and highly contagious strain of the virus.

The recent white-ball series in South Africa was also cut short after a handful of positive cases at the team hotel.