BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - CRICKET WEST INDIES (CWI) has confirmed the first region international series to be played since the onset of the pandemic, and it would be against the Asian giants, Sri Lanka.
In announcing the series, CWI said it has today (Feb. 16) confirmed the all-format International tour between West Indies and Sri Lanka starting in March, which would see the two teams playing three T20Is, three One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and two Test matches in a bio-secure environment in Antigua from Wednesday, March 3 to Friday, April 2.
According to the regional body, “The T20I Series will create history as the first official international matches to be played by the West Indies Men’s team at the Coolidge Cricket Ground (CCG) and the first West Indies Men's T20Is to be played in Antigua since 2013. As reigning ICC T20 World Cup champions, West Indies will use these matches as important preparation for the defense of their T20 World Cup title which is scheduled to be held in India later this year.”
The schedule of matches will see all of the CG Insurance ODI Series games being played at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium on March 10, 12 and 14, with the third one being a day/night encounter.
The two Test matches will be played at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium, with the first match starting on Sunday, March 21 and the second starting on March 29.
The West Indies Men’s team have not played a home series since last January when Ireland’s team was featured in the region.
Since the sport resumed in August last year, the Caribbean side has been playing games primarily on the road, touring England and New Zealand - losing both series but taking out the recent Test series against Bangladesh.
“As a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, both teams will stay and play in bio-secure bubbles with all the matches being held in Antigua to accommodate a later arrival date by Sri Lanka. Fans will not be able to attend matches,” CWI announced in a media statement.
Ricky Skerritt, CWI President, was quoted in the statement as saying: “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 co-operation in honouring their obligation to tour under the ICC FTP Agreement. We are also extremely grateful for the support we received from the Governments of Antigua & Barbuda, and St. Lucia in planning this tour.”
Skerritt lamented his disappointment that St. Lucia would be unable to be included in the hosting of the games.
That territory, over the last several weeks, has confirmed growing numbers of COVID-19 cases.
It was just last month that health officials confirmed the UK variant of the COVID-19 strain on the island, which is being pointed to as the cause for several days of more than 200 confirmed cases of the virus.
“But it is regrettable that we are unable to include St. Lucia as part of this home series as we had originally hoped due to the delay in Sri Lanka arriving and the need for the tour to end before the start of the Indian Premier League,” Skerritt added.
Also commenting on the tour was CWI’s CEO Johnny Grave: “We are delighted to be able to re-start international cricket in the West Indies, with the announcement of the tour by Sri Lanka. We have a full schedule featuring all three formats, which is sure to attract lots of attention from our fans, especially following on from the terrific Test Series win in Bangladesh. A lot of detailed planning has gone into the hosting of this tour and we are confident it will be a success.”
