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England’s cricket team arrive at the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport yesterday as the team returned to Sri Lanka to play two Tests abandoned in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic – AFP
The England cricket team arrived in Sri Lanka yesterday to play two a Test series against Sri Lanka in Galle, a development widely welcomed by sports enthusiasts and tourism industry.
A special British Airways charter flight carrying 40 passengers – players and support staff arrived at Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport yesterday afternoon.
The first test match begins on 14 January, followed by the second on 22 January. The matches will be played behind closed doors.
The England team last did a full tour in Sri Lanka in 2018 playing three Tests, five One Day Internationals and one Twenty20 International match.
However the presence of the English team marks the resumption of a tour in early March last year with the eruption of COVID-19 forcing abandonment and the Englishmen rushing back home.
The British High Commission said due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the team will remain isolated and will not be able to interact with the public.
A spokesman for the England team told AFP that yesterday’s on-arrival tests returned negative, but players will isolate themselves in rooms before another round of testing tomorrow. The England cricket board confirmed their players and support staff had tested negative for the coronavirus prior to leaving too.
“We will be tested again on Tuesday morning,” the spokesman said. “If all tests return negative on Tuesday, we will be able to train Tuesday afternoon for the first time.”
The English tour is seen as a massive boost for both cricket and tourism, both activities which the Government is keen to resume despite COVID challenges.
“We are very excited about the Galle Tests,” England Captain Joe Root told a small group of cameramen allowed into the terminal for their arrival.
In a statement, England Men’s Cricket Managing Director Ashley Giles said: “Sri Lanka is a beautiful country. To play in Galle will be very special – it is one of the iconic venues in world cricket. The past 10 months have been uncertain for us all, but having international cricket returning to Sri Lanka will be a massive boost for cricket fans all over the world.”
British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Sarah Hulton said: “We welcome the England team to Sri Lanka. Cricket embodies so many great things about the people-to-people links between the UK and Sri Lanka. Cricket brings us together, connecting countries and communities, which couldn’t be more important during these unprecedented times.”
The England contingent were driven in busses to a nearby luxury hotel, officials said, adding that a second hotel has been reserved to isolate and treat any of the visitors who may test positive for the virus.
Sri Lanka Cricket said the team’s hotel in Hambantota will be off limits for locals as part of quarantine regulations.
During their tour, the England team will sign cricket bats, which will be auctioned by two local organisations committed to the elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls. Funds from the auction will go towards supporting victims of sexual and gender-based violence in Sri Lanka.
During their last tour in 2018, they visited a demining site in the north-west of Sri Lanka, run by the Mines Advisory Group, a British charity supported by UK Aid. A year after their visit, the village was cleared of landmines.
The England team’s aircraft was permitted to enter Sri Lanka despite a ban on all flights and passengers from the UK following the discovery of a new, infectious coronavirus strain.
Sri Lanka had just six reported cases when England pulled out in March, but the team returned to an island which now has over 44,000 infections and 211 deaths, AFP reported.
The World Health Organization has said that a new strain found in Sweden and Denmark had entered Sri Lanka since mid-September. The island began its second wave of infections from early October.
