The growing unrest in Sri Lanka due to countrywide protests in an economic crisis has raised doubts over Australia’s upcoming tour of Sri Lanka. Cricket Australia is keeping a close eye on the situation but are confident the tour in June will go ahead.
The situation in Sri Lanka continues to get worse by each passing day as the nation is going through its worst economic crisis in history. A nation-wide curfew has also been imposed on top of the state of emergency that was declared last week. Cricket Australia is monitoring the situation but are confident the tour of Sri Lanka will go ahead.
Prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has resigned to make way for a unity government that would try to find a way out of the crisis, but protesters demand his brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation as well.
Following Rajapaksa’s resignation, the government supporters attacked protesters, which led to the curfew and the troops being deployed in Colombo. According to reports, a ruling party member and three other people died in the stand-off.
Australia are slated to tour Sri Lanka for three T20Is, three ODIs and two Tests from June 7 to July 12. The Aussies are supposed to arrive in Colombo in three weeks time, where the current violence is taking place.
CA officials had been confident of the tour until this point. They will now monitor the situation more closely following the recent violence. There have been power cuts and food shortages in the country. There’s a feeling Australia’s tour could help the island in this economic crisis.
The tour of Sri Lanka will mark the beginning of a packed 18-month schedule for Australia. They’re scheduled to tour India for three T20Is before the T20 World Cup, of which they are the defending champions and will be hosting.
The home summer will include Test series against West Indies and South Africa. Australia also have a much anticipated Test tour of India and away Ashes next year, followed by the ODI World Cup later in 2023.
