Since the past week, the reports of a new strain of Covid-19 which is said to be more infectious and communicable than its initial predecessor have been coming from the United Kingdom. As a step of precaution, many countries from around the world have declared the prohibition of commercial flights to and from the U.K and have begun meticulous testing of the passengers who have recently arrived from the region. Despite the danger posed by this new strain, Sri Lanka has given a green light for the test series with England .

The England team will be facing Sri Lanka on a 2 match test series which will begin from January 14 and will be held at Galle. This series is one of the ICC World Test Championship games that rescheduled to take place in January 2021 after they were postponed in March due to the Covid-19 surge throughout the world.

Only a few weeks prior to commencement of the series, Sri Lanka banned all the commercial flights to and from Britain putting all the safety protocols in place. However, the English cricket team will arrive at Sri Lanka on 2nd of January on a private plane.

“Yes, anxiety is high at this stage from everybody. But when you look at the scientific evidence, I don’t think we should stop it,” quoted Daminda Attanayake, physician for Sri Lanka Cricket.

“We might have to take extra precautions, but we don’t need to stop the tour,” he added.

After their arrival in Sri Lanka, the English team will stay quarantined for three days in Hambanota before reaching Galle to start preparation for the first game which is going to held behind closed doors.