The England tour of Sri Lanka, which was postponed due to the threat posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, has been rescheduled for January 2021, Sri Lanka Cricket chief executive Ashley de Silva has claimed.

The tour was interrupted during England’s second warm-up game, before the two-Test series, part of the World Test Championship, could commence. No official word has yet come from the ECB about a mooted return date. “We are in the process of rescheduling the tours that have been postponed,” de Silva told Sri Lankan newspaper Daily News. “England has been already rescheduled for the month of January next year but the dates have not been finalised.”

“At the same time, we are also looking at exploring the possibility of rescheduling postponed tours and looking at the windows which are available and alternatives too. South Africa is one of the tours which we are looking at rescheduling. We are engaged in discussions with the member countries and see how it can be planned out.

“There are also two other tours which are scheduled to take place, with India and Bangladesh due to tour Sri Lanka in June-July and July-August respectively. We will explore the possibility of playing those two tours in another week or two.”

England are currently set to begin a five-match WTC series against India in January, though with the dates for that tour not yet announced, a delay could be possible. With the inaugural WTC final set for Lord’s in June 2021, and no date for the resumption of international cricket in sight, time is scarce for England especially, due to play two more WTC series against West Indies and Pakistan in the English summer, to complete their schedule before then.