After weeks of speculation and uncertainty, the Australian team has finally agreed to tour Sri Lanka on Wednesday (June 1) and the tour will be going ahead as planned.
After weeks of speculation and uncertainty, the Australian team has finally agreed to tour Sri Lanka on Wednesday (June 1) and the tour will be going ahead as planned. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) also confirmed that the white ball games followed by three T20Is and five ODIs, starting from June 7 and it will be played under the lights.
“There is no disruption in the schedule and the white ball games will be night or day-night affairs,”
SLC secretary Mohan de Silva told Cricbuzz on Tuesday.
The uncertainty rose when the country is suffering from a shortage of food, fuel, and power. Besides the white ball series, the team will also take part in two Test matches and the tour will be concluded on July 12.
There have been reports coming from Australia that the players are ready to land in Sri Lanka if the security is reasonable because of the current situation on the island. But Cricket Australia (CA) said that the Australian team is looking forward to touring the country starting from the T20I series.
“We’ve been keeping in regular contact with the governments of both countries and SLC and all is good and there are no changes to the plans. The T20 squad is leaving Australia tomorrow afternoon. They’re looking forward to the tour, with the three T20 games an important part of the build-up to the ICC World Cup in Australia in October-November. The squad has great respect for the Sri Lanka team and is anticipating a hard-fought and exciting series,”
a spokesman for the CA told this website.
The series is important for some of the Australian coaching staff members – head coach Andrew McDonald, assistant coaches Daniel Vettori and Andre Borovec.
Although McDonald and Vettori had traveled together on the tour of Pakistan earlier in March it will be their first tour when they are confirmed as full-time coaches.
Asia Cup
Meanwhile, it has been learned that the fate of the Asia Cup in August-September will be decided depending on how the five-week Australia tour of Sri Lanka goes because initially Sri Lanka was given the task to host the Asia Cup this year.
SLC officials are understood to have spoken to Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president Jay Shah in Ahmadabad and it was decided that the continental event can go ahead in Sri Lanka if the Australia tour is held event-free in the troubled country. The ACC will be following the series closely.