Watch: England cricket team arrives in Sri Lanka, goes through COVID-19 norms
The England cricket team arrived at the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport in Hambantota on Sunday to play a two-match Test series against Sri Lanka.
The English players were seen going through various sanitisation norms in videos shared by England's Head of Team Communication Danny Reuben.
With a new COVID-19 strain appearing in the UK, there were some concerns regarding England's tour to Sri Lanka. However, both teams are confident about the biosecurity bubble, and the England cricket team will go through stringent quarantine norms.
The English players went through COVID-19 tests at the airport. England captain Joe Root also addressed some of the local media upon his team's arrival. Root and the media members followed social distancing norms.
England were scheduled to play Sri Lanka in March last year. However, that tour was cancelled due to the pandemic. The two teams will square up against each other for two Tests in Galle, which will be played without spectators.
Joe Root assures tour will not end if positive cases are found
Recently, England cricket team's tour to South Africa was cut short when some positive cases emerged in the hotel where the teams were staying. However, Joe Root assured that a situation like that is unlikely to be repeated.
"I don’t think it [COVID-19 cases] will end in an automatic end of the tour. The reality is, look around the rest of the world – Pakistan in New Zealand – teams, have had to deal with positive cases on tour. That might be the case for us and if so we have to manage it as best as possible," Joe Root said.
The England cricket team will first undergo a three-day quarantine in isolation. After that, the visitors will be allowed to train once they return negative PCR tests.
The English players will train from January 5 to 9 in Hambantota, following which they will travel to Galle to play the two Tests starting January 14.