Bangladesh tour of Sri Lanka postponed again over coronavirus quarantine terms

The Bangladesh Cricket Board has postponed the national team's tour of Sri Lanka after failing to break a deadlock over a proposed 14-day COVID-19 quarantine term for players.

Speaking to the media on Monday, BCB President Nazmul Hassan said the Sri Lankan health ministry had not changed its position on quarantine conditions.

The two boards had been at a stalemate over the stipulation, with the BCB threatening to pull out of the tour as it believes the quarantine protocol would hamper the players' preparations for the three-match Test series.

The BCB has now asked its Sri Lankan counterparts to reschedule the revised tour, which was slated to start with the first Test on Oct 23.

The tour was originally scheduled for July but was later postponed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The Tigers were later set to travel to the island nation in late September but the tour hit a snag over the Sri Lankan cricket board’s COVID-19 protocol of making players go through 14-day quarantine upon their arrival.

But on Sept 14, the BCB chief Hassan said 'no' to the quarantine protocol and asked the SCL to revise the term.

Sri Lankan Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa had also asked SCL to reconsider the COVID-19 directives but it ultimately came to no avail.

"Their cricket board, their sports ministry have tried a lot to resolve the issue. We sent our minimum demand. They have agreed to all but one of them. But that is the real one -- the 14-day quarantine term,” said Hassan.

"It's not just that for us but the same rules apply to any tourist. At this point they said they couldn't do anything about it. I got their message yesterday and today I asked them to revise the schedule again later. We will go when no such conditions are applicable."