After Australia and England planned to resume training sessions for cricketers, Sri Lanka had also joined the bandwagon after Island’s coach Mickey Arthur informed about arranging practice sessions from the 1st of June. The Sri Lanka Cricket had proposed the idea to a government which is subjected to permission.
Since March, when the number of cases started increasing globally, no competitive matches have been held. The last that everyone witnessed was between New Zealand and Australia Sydney Cricket Ground. The first ODI match was played behind the close doors while the remaining matches were postponed. Sri Lanka last played the series against West Indies.
During an interaction with ESPN Cricinfo, Mickey Arthur claimed that their management had a quick meeting about getting their plans in place from the 1st of June.
“Last Wednesday we had a quick meeting because we are starting to get our plans in place for June 1. Once we get the official go-ahead from the ministry of health I will start putting meat into that structure with the captains and my support staff.”
It will be a smaller group: Mickey Arthur
Mickey Arthur further added that fast bowlers would probably first join the practice session because they would need time to get into the rhythm. The players will be trained in a biosecure environment. It is understood that once the clearance comes from their ministry of health, they would resume cricket activities.
Mickey Arthur was appointed as Sri Lankan chief coach in December 2019:
“It is looking good with the health ministry, but it will be a smaller group. We’ll probably prioritise our fast bowlers because they are the ones who are going to need more time to get back into it. Once we get some assurances from the medical staff around the world that biosecure (environment) is fine and what the virus could do to you potentially if you got it. And then hopefully after the first 20 days of June we could virtually have our whole squad back training.” the South African-born added.