Just a day after England and Wales Board announced a 55-man list of cricketers to return to training as the board eyes a July resumption, Sri Lanka and South Africa are slated to follow the suit.
A select group of players from Sri Lanka, especially bowlers, will resume training on Monday as confirmed by the cricket board on Sunday, amid efforts to restart the sports post the coronavirus break.
Sri Lanka have lost their home series against England and South Africa owing to the pandemic that has halted all international cricketing action since March.
“The players taking part in the camp represent a general squad chosen from across all formats, and primarily consist of bowlers, as they need more time for conditioning before going into active competition,” it said.
The training session will also have four coaching and support staff while that players will be kept inside hotel rooms which will serve as quarantine centres. The cricket board will also ensure that all government-issued rules are followed.
Sri Lanka are currently looking to host India for a limited-overs fixture in July. Although, BCCI is yet to agree to the fixture and will only wait for international travel restrictions to be eased before allowing players for the tour.
Meanwhile, in South Africa, training and playing of professional non-contact sport has been allowed, bringing about new hope for the cricket board.
“This is a big boost for the operational side of our cricket,” Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) acting chief executive, Jacques Faul, said in a statement.
CSA’s COVID-19 steering committee will meet on Monday to chalk out the plans and regulation for players for returning to training.
