Cricket South Africa on Monday announced the postponement of their tour to Sri Lanka amid the coronavirus pandemic.
South Africa were scheduled to play three ODIs and as many T20Is against Sri Lanka in the first half of June. The ODI leg would have been the Proteas first commitment in the ICC's new one-day league.
CSA Acting Chief Executive Jacques Faul expressed disappointment over the postponement but said they will reschedule the tour as soon as cricket returns.
"It is very sad that we have been forced to take this step and we will re-schedule the tour as soon as cricket returns to a sense of normality and our international fixture list allows," Faul said in a statement.
"Our Proteas would not have been able to prepare properly taking our own lockdown situation into account and, more importantly, health considerations for our players, which are always paramount, were the over-riding factor," he added.
Faul said the tour was important as the T20I series was a part of their preparation for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup.
"It would have been a particularly important tour for us with the three ODIs counting for the new ICC one-day league and the T20 programme being part of our preparation for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup scheduled for Australia later this year. It is very frustrating for the players who want to build on the good form they showed at the backend of our home summer against Australia," Faul said.
( With inputs from ANI )
