Sri Lanka’s scheduled tour to West Indies has been postponed following head coach Mickey Arthur and batsman Lahiru Thirimanne being tested positive for COVID-19 on the 3rd of February.
The entire proposed travel contingent, including the net bowlers and support staff went through PCR tests on Tuesday following which the head coach and the opening batsman were found to have contracted the virus. The two individuals will be taken to quarantine hotels identified by the SLC and their close contacts were made to self-quarantine immediately.
“No idea how I got it, Thank you to everybody who has sent their wishes, not sure how I picked up Covid because I have not done much post the England series but just shows to everybody be careful and stay safe,” Arthur tweeted following the findings.
The SLC had scheduled a special fitness test for the cricketers today (5th) but that too will now be pushed back by a week with the date to be announced following another PCR test on the 10th of February.
SLC’s newly appointed trainer Grant Luden was in charge of the scheduled fitness program which required the national cricketers to run 2km in 8 minutes and 35 seconds. The particular fitness test has been adopted by several teams including Australia and India.
The two cricket boards will now have to check for other windows in the calendar to make the series happen while Sri Lankan cricketers will turn their focus towards preparing for their next assignment against Bangladesh in April.
