Sri Lanka and England Agreed to Postpone Sri Lanka’s Tour of England 2009

Cricket boards of England and Sri Lankan have agreed to postpone Sri Lanka’s tour of England in 2009 recently in the aftermath of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC)’s stand to let some of Sri Lanka’s key players take part in the second season of IPL. However, the schedule of IPL second season clashed with Sri Lanka’s pre-schedule tour of England in 2009. SLC is seeking to make a US$70 million bailout deal with BCCI, but to materialize the deal, SLC has to ensure full support for IPL, a BCCI-organized tournament.

So, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has recently agreed to postpone the series, because a second-string Sri Lankan team would not bring out the satisfactory ticket sales. In stead, England is now trying to convince West Indies to come on a tour during that time in England. However, West India also has players who have contracts with IPL and if West Indies cricket board lets them take part in IPL, despite going on a tour to England, then Digicel, the sponsor of West Indies cricket team, might cause problems. So, it is not yet sure if West Indies will go on a tour to England next year in order to fill up the void created in the calendar of England cricket team upon the postponement of Sri Lanka’s tour of England.