The

England cricket team The England cricket team represents England and Wales in international cricket. Since 1997, it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club (the MCC) since 1903. Engla ...

toured Sri Lanka in January 2021 to play two

Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

. The Test series formed part of the inaugural

2019–2021 ICC World Test Championship The 2019–2021 ICC World Test Championship was the inaugural edition of the ICC World Test Championship of Test cricket. It started on 1 August 2019 with the first Test of the 2019 Ashes series, and finished with the Final at the Rose Bowl, Sou ...

. Originally, the tour was scheduled to take place in March 2020, but the series was postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. In December 2020, the

England and Wales Cricket Board The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is the Sports governing body, national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was formed on 1 January 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test and ...

(ECB) confirmed the dates for the tour, with both Test matches played in

Galle Galle ( si, ගාල්ල, translit=Gālla; ta, காலி, translit=Kāli) (formerly Point de Galle) is a major city in Sri Lanka, situated on the southwestern tip, from Colombo. Galle is the provincial capital and largest city of Souther ...

. England won the first Test match by seven wickets to take a 1–0 lead in the series. England won the second Test by six wickets to win the series 2–0. The win was England's fifth successive victory overseas, their best away streak since touring South Africa in 1914.

Background

Originally England's tour to Sri Lanka was scheduled to take place in March 2020. However, on 13 March 2020, the two-match Test series was postponed due to the

. At the time of the announcement, England were mid-way through a four-day match against the Sri Lanka Board President's XI team, which was ended abruptly. On 1 May 2020, Sri Lanka Cricket announced that the tour would be rescheduled to be played in January 2021, although the ECB did not confirm the fixtures at the time. In July 2020, the

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its members are List of International Cricket Council members, 108 national associations, with 12 List of Internation ...

(ICC) confirmed it was their priority to reschedule the matches, along with the five other World Test Championship series that had been postponed due to the pandemic. In October 2020, Sri Lanka's head coach

Mickey Arthur John Michael Arthur (born 17 May 1968) is a South African-Australian cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer, who played in South African domestic cricket from 1986 to 2001. He has served as the head coach of the Derbyshire County Crick ...

said he was "really positive" that the rescheduled tour would go ahead. In November 2020,

Sri Lanka Cricket Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is the governing body for cricket in Sri Lanka. It was first registered with the Sri Lankan Ministry of Sports (Sri Lanka), Ministry of Sports as the Board of Cricket for Sri Lanka (BCCSL) on 30 June 1975 as a national spo ...

's CEO

Ashley de Silva Ashley Matthew de Silva (born 3 December 1963) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who played in three Test matches and four One Day Internationals from 1986 to 1993. He is, , CEO of Sri Lanka Cricket. De Silva was born in 1963 in Colombo into ...

announced the dates for the tour, subject to agreement by both cricket boards. In December 2020, the ECB confirmed that the tour would go ahead as planned in January. In December 2020, a new strain of the COVID virus was discovered, prompting concern from Sri Lanka Cricket's medical staff regarding the tour. Despite a travel ban from Britain due to the new variant, the England cricket team were given permission to fly to Sri Lanka. On 3 January 2021, the England cricket team arrived at

Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) ( si, මත්තල රාජපක්ෂ ජාත්‍යන්තර ගුවන්තොටුපළ, translit=Mattala Rājapakṣa Jātyantara Guvantoṭupaḷa; ta, மத்தல ரா ...

Squads

England also named

James Bracey James Robert Bracey (born 3 May 1997) is an English cricketer who plays for Gloucestershire County Cricket Club. He is a left-handed batsman, who also plays as a wicket-keeper. He made his first-class debut for Gloucestershire against Susse ...

Mason Crane Mason Sidney Crane (born 18 February 1997) is an English cricketer who plays for Hampshire. He is a right-arm leg break bowler and right-handed batsman. He also played for the England national cricket team in 2017 & 2018. Domestic career Cra ...

Saqib Mahmood Saqib Mahmood (born 25 February 1997) is an English cricketer who plays for England and Lancashire. Primarily he is a right-arm fast bowler. He made his international Twenty20 debut for England in November 2019, with his Test debut in March 2 ...

Craig Overton Craig Overton (born 10 April 1994) is an English cricketer who plays for Somerset and England. He is an all-rounder who bowls right-arm medium-fast and bats right-handed. He made his international debut for England in December 2017. His twin bro ...

, Matt Parkinson,

Ollie Robinson Oliver Edward Robinson (born 1 December 1993) is an English professional cricketer who plays internationally for the England cricket team, England Test cricket team. In domestic cricket, he represents Sussex County Cricket Club, Sussex, havin ...

and

Amar Virdi Amar may refer to: People Given name * Amar (British singer) (born 1982), British Indian singer born Amar Dhanjal * Amar (Lebanese singer) (born 1986), born Amar Mahmoud Al Tahech * Amar Bose (1929–2013), Founder of Bose Corporation * Amar Gup ...

as reserve players for the tour. Upon arrival in

Hambantota Hambantota ( si, හම්බන්තොට, ta, அம்பாந்தோட்டை) is the main town in Hambantota District, Southern Province, Sri LankaThe prominent Malays (මැලේ) most part of the population is to be partly des ...

, England's

Moeen Ali Moeen or Moein or Moien is a given name and surname. It is a Quranic name which means: helper, supporter, or provider of refuge. Notable persons with the name include: Persons with the given name * Moein (singer) (born 1951), Iranian singer * Mo ...

tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, and was placed into isolation for ten days.

Chris Woakes Christopher Roger Woakes (born 2 March 1989) is an English cricketer who plays internationally for England in all formats. In domestic cricket, he represents Warwickshire, and has played in multiple Twenty20 leagues, including for Kolkata Knigh ...

was identified as a close contact to Ali, and so was forced to self-isolate for seven days. Ahead of the tour, Sri Lanka made several changes to their squad. Dhananjaya de Silva and

Kasun Rajitha Chandrasekara Arachchilage Kasun Rajitha (born 1 June 1993) is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer, who plays all formats of the game in international level for Sri Lanka. He is an old boy of St. Servatius' College, Matara. Early and domestic ...

were ruled out of the series after being injured in the first Test at

Centurion A centurion (; la, centurio , . la, centuriones, label=none; grc-gre, κεντυρίων, kentyríōn, or ) was a position in the Roman army during classical antiquity, nominally the commander of a century (), a military unit of around 80 ...

during the

tour of South Africa The Tour of South Africa was a stage cycling race in South Africa that was only held once, in 2011. It was part of UCI Africa Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by th ...

Avishka Fernando Weerahandige Inol Avishka Fernando (born 5 April 1998), commonly as Avishka Fernando, is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer, who currently plays limited over internationals for Sri Lanka national team. He plays for Colts Cricket Club in dom ...

Ashan Priyanjan Subasinghe Mudiyanselage Ashan Priyanjan (born 14 August 1989) is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer who plays for the national side in limited over formats. He is a middle-order batsman and occasionally a right-arm off break bowler. Persona ...

Ramesh Mendis Wanigamuni Ramesh Tarinda Mendis (born 7 July 1995) is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer who plays for the Sri Lanka cricket team. He was part of Sri Lanka's squad for the 2014 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup. He made his international debut f ...

Roshen Silva Athege Roshen Shivanka Silva, commonly known as Roshen Silva (born 17 November 1988) is a professional Sri Lankan Test cricketer who plays for the Sri Lanka national cricket team. He also plays first-class cricket for Colts Cricket Club. Domes ...

Angelo Mathews Angelo Davis Mathews, (Tamil: அஞ்செலோ மத்தியூஸ்; born 2 June 1987) is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer and a former captain in all formats. Even though he represented Sri Lanka in all three formats, Mathews cur ...

Nuwan Pradeep Aththachchi Nuwan Pradeep Roshan Fernando ( si, නුවන් ප්‍රදීප්; born 19 October 1986), commonly known as Nuwan Pradeep, is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer. Despite being a national cricketer, he had never actually p ...

and

Lakshan Sandakan Paththamperuma Arachchige Don Lakshan Rangika Sandakan, commonly known as Lakshan Sandakan (born 10 June 1991), is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer who plays for the national team in all three formats of the game. He is a past pupil of De Maz ...

, who were not part of the Test tour of South Africa, were initially called up as reserves for the series for

Oshada Fernando Bodiyabaduge Oshada Piyumal Fernando, commonly as Oshada Fernando (born 15 April 1992), is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer who plays all formats of the game. He plays for Chilaw Marians Cricket Club in domestic cricket, and he made his intern ...

, Dhananjaya de Silva,

Dinesh Chandimal Lokuge Dinesh Chandimal ( si, ලොකුගේ දිනේෂ් චන්දිමාල්; born 18 November 1989) is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer who captained the Sri Lanka national cricket team. A handy and agile right-handed ba ...

, Kasun Rajitha,

Wanindu Hasaranga Pinnaduwage Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva (born 29 July 1997), better known as Wanindu Hasaranga, is a Sri Lankan international cricketer who plays for the Sri Lanka cricket team in white ball cricket as a bowling All rounder. He is a Right-arm leg ...

and

Lahiru Kumara Chandradasa Brahammana Ralalage Lahiru Sudesh Kumara, commonly as Lahiru Kumara (born 13 February 1997), is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer, who plays for the Sri Lanka national cricket team in all three formats of the game. He was selected ...

. Later, Avishka Fernando and Ashan Priyanjan were left out from the squad. Dinesh Chandimal captained Sri Lanka in the first Test due to Dimuth Karunaratne's injury. Prior to the second Test match, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis, Minod Bhanuka, Lahiru Kumara and Nuwan Pradeep were all released from the Sri Lankan squad. Dinesh Chandimal was again named as captain in Karunaratne's absence.

Warm-up match

Ahead of the Test series, England played a two-day intra-squad warm-up match in

Ollie Pope Oliver John Douglas Pope (born 2 January 1998) is an English professional cricketer who plays for the England cricket team and Surrey County Cricket Club. He is a right-handed batsman who occasionally plays as a wicket-keeper. He made his Test de ...

took part in the match as preparation for England's tour of India, despite not being named in the Test or reserve squads for the matches against Sri Lanka. No play was possible on the second day of the match due to heavy rain.

Test series

1st Test

2nd Test

Statistics

Most runs

Most wickets

Sri Lankan cricket team in the West Indies in 2020–21 The Sri Lanka cricket team toured the West Indies during March and April 2021 to play two Test matches, three One Day International (ODI) and three Twenty20 International (T20I) matches. The Tests formed part of the inaugural 2019–2021 ICC Wor ...

Notes

References

External links

Series home at ESPN Cricinfo
{{DEFAULTSORT:English cricket team in Sri Lanka in 2020-21 2021 in English cricket 2021 in Sri Lankan cricket International cricket competitions in 2020–21 English cricket tours of Sri Lanka Cricket events postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic