SL tour will be called off if BCB don’t agree to protocols

SLC (Sri Lanka Cricket) CEO Ashley Silva has said that if BCB are not willing to abide by protocols set by the country's Covid task force, the tour will be called off and rescheduled.

"Whatever the feedback which we would get from the Covid task force, will be shared with the Bangladesh Cricket Board. And once we get the response, if they [BCB] are not prepared to abide by those guidelines given by the task force, then we would be compelled to call off the tour and reschedule the tour during the same cycle maybe for next year or the following year," Silva said during an interview to ThePapare.com.

The SLC CEO reaffirmed that the concerned ministries they discussed the Bangladesh series and their domestic T20 league with, have been 'very supportive' but whoever comes in will have to go through the 14-day quarantine.

Bangladesh were due to travel to Sri Lanka on September 27 and SLC honorary secretary Mohan De Silva was hopeful that the Bangladesh team will arrive in Sri Lanka in due time, hoping for a quick resolution to the situation. He said negotiations were still going with the health authorities.

"We've been negotiating with them [BCB] and they have sent us their requirements. We've done extremely well to keep the pandemic under control and therefore there are strict health guidelines and protocols we have to follow. However, the authorities showed great encouragement in us resuming international cricket. We're discussing with them and I'm sure we will be able to resolve this and expect the Bangladesh team to arrive in Sri Lanka without much delay," Mohan said.

The BCB had earlier raised issue with the quarantine protocols and the tour party being restricted to 30 members. BCB had planned to send the HP side to Sri Lanka along with the national team but with the strict protocols, BCB president Nazmul Hassan said that it was going to be difficult to send even the national team, along with staff and management to a tour and added that the demands were 'historically unique'.

The BCB has already started a residential camp for its 27-member preliminary squad by creating a bio-secure bubble with frequent coronavirus testing. The Sri Lanka tour provided a chance for the Tigers to get back to international cricket after a six-month long break imposed by the coronavirus pandemic. With uncertainty now reigning on the fate of the series, if the two boards cannot come to a consensus, the players will have to extend their pause from international cricket during these uncertain times of the pandemic.