- Two-test series comes before a full tour of India
- England employ psychologist to ease player anxiety over virus
England fly to Sri Lanka on Saturday evening with a psychologist in their ranks and an insistence from their captain, Joe Root, that the emergence of any Covid-19 cases will not automatically trigger an end to the tour.
The two-Test series that begins on 14 January – rearranged from March when the pandemic cut short the trip – kickstarts nearly three months on the subcontinent for the men’s national teams, with a full tour of India to follow that features four Tests, five Twenty20s and three one-day internationals.