Sri Lanka sports minister asks SLC to reconsider terms after BCB threatens to cancel tour

Sri Lankan Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa has asked Sri Lanka Cricket to reconsider the COVID-19 measure directives provided to Bangladesh Cricket Board on players’ quarantine terms.

With the BCB chief making the board’s stance clear on the matter, Minister Rajapaksa on Monday tweeted:

“As we all know the Covid-19 pandemic is still at large globally, prevention measures are a high priority. However, given the significance of cricket in the region, I have asked SLC to consult the Covid-19 task force and reconsider the BCB’s matter.”

Earlier, Bangladesh Cricket Board chief Nazmul Hassan said ‘no’ to Sri Lankan cricket board’s COVID-19 protocol of making players go through 14-day quarantine upon their arrival in the island nation ahead of the World Test Championship matches.

The Sri Lanka Cricket or SLC had earlier said that the Tigers would have to stay in quarantine for a week before beginning their training.

A total of 65 people, including the Tigers, the BCB High Performance team and the support staff, are supposed to travel to Sri Lanka.

On the condition of testing negative for coronavirus, players would be allowed to train from the third day of arrival, according to BCB’s discussions with SLC.

However, after receiving instructions from Sri Lanka’s health directorate, SLC sent a letter to BCB mentioning the 14-day quarantine measures, restrictions against having more than 30 people in the squad and several other conditions.

"We cannot play World Test Championships with these terms and conditions," Hassan was quoted by ESPNcricinfo as saying. "Until their letter yesterday, both boards were having discussions along the lines of a seven-day quarantine,"

"But now their terms and conditions are nowhere near those discussions, and neither are they anything close to what other countries hosting cricket in the pandemic are doing.”

Bangladesh squad is scheduled to travel to Sri Lanka at the end of this month.

With the team out of match practice for over six months, they are supposed to spend almost a month in preparation. The first Test is supposed to kick off at the end of October.