Cricket West Indies announces itinerary for Sri Lanka tour of West Indies

All the games will be conducted in a bio-secure bubble to ensure the safety of the players in the view of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Published - 17 Feb 2021, 18:57 IST | Updated - 17 Feb 2021, 18:57 IST

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West Indies is finally going to host cricket matches after more than a year as Sri Lanka is all set to tour West Indies for three T20 Internationals followed by three One Day Internationals and two Test matches. After an unexpected halt in the cricketing activities due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Caribbean side has toured England, New Zealand, and Bangladesh but is yet to play at home.

Cricket West Indies (CWI) issued an official statement on Tuesday, February 16 as they confirmed that they will conduct all-format matches between West Indies and Sri Lanka, starting from March 3 at the Coolidge Cricket Ground (CCG) in Antigua. This will be the first time that the West Indies cricket team will play at CCG and Antigua will host a T20 International for the first time since 2013.

“We are pleased to be able to finally confirm this tour. A number of COVID-19 related logistic hurdles have now been overcome and I want to thank Sri Lankan Cricket President, Shammi Silva and his team, for their cooperation in honoring their obligation to tour under the ICC FTP Agreement.

“It is regrettable that we are unable to include St. Lucia as part of this home series as we had originally hoped to due to the delay in Sri Lanka arriving and the need for the tour to end before the start of the Indian Premier League,” CWI President Ricky Skerritt said in a statement as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo.

Further, the president reckoned that all the games will be conducted in a bio-secure bubble to ensure the safety of the players in view of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Also, the cricket board is expecting to attract a lot of attention from the home fans after West Indies scripted a terrific win in Bangladesh.