Cricket amid coronavirus: the latest global news

Surrey players self-isolate

Six Surrey players are self-isolating as a precautionary measure over coronavirus fears, the English county cricket club announced Monday.

A club statement said that while not all six had reported symptoms, close proximity meant they had all been instructed to stay at home this week.

The club did not name the six players.

The rest of the squad will continue to train at the club's Oval ground in London.

The cancellation of England's tour of Sri Lanka, and Jason Roy's return from the Pakistan Super League, mean Sam Curran, Ben Foakes, Ollie Pope and Roy will re-join the Surrey squad for training from next week.

Last week, Surrey announced the cancellation of their pre-season training camp in Dubai, which was due to begin on Tuesday.

But the club said all pre-season fixtures, starting on April 2, were scheduled to go ahead.

Irish postpone Zimbabwe trip

Ireland's tour of Zimbabwe has been postponed due to the global coronavirus pandemic, cricket chiefs announced on Monday.

The two sides were due to play three Twenty20 internationals and three one-day internationals next month.

A joint statement from Cricket Ireland and Zimbabwe Cricket said a safety-first approach was required to protect the health of players, coaching staff and fans.

"We were looking forward to hosting Ireland in Bulawayo next month, but with the world in the throes of a public health emergency on a scale not witnessed in over a century, postponing the tour was the only reasonable decision," said Zimbabwe Cricket managing director Givemore Makoni.

He said the aim was to reschedule the tour.

Warren Deutrom, chief executive of Cricket Ireland, said the body had taken the advice of the Irish and British governments and it was the "only reasonable decision" in the circumstances.

Cricket cancelled in South Africa

Cricket South Africa announced on Monday that all cricket activities had been called off for the next 60 days following the declaration of a state of disaster in the country because of the coronavirus situation.

The announcement came less than four weeks before the scheduled end of the season.

Two of the country's main domestic competitions remained incomplete. The franchise one-day cup had reached the semi-final stage, while two rounds remained in the four-day franchise competition.

A scheduled tour by the Australian women's team had already been called off and an Over-50 men's World Cup tournament ended abruptly midway through the third round of fixtures on Sunday.

The South African men's team were on their way home from India after the cancellation of the remaining two matches of a one-day series. A planned arrival media conference on Wednesday was cancelled.

Cricket South Africa held a meeting on Monday following the announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday of a state of a disaster during which he announced a raft of measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, including a ban on gatherings of more than 100 people.

Jacques Faul, acting chief executive, said: "We at CSA take this pronouncement by the President and the cabinet very seriously and we will most certainly use our leverage to ensure that we minimise the impact of the virus in our spaces."

Tigers postpone Pakistan tour

Bangladesh's upcoming cricket tour of Pakistan was postponed on Monday as the coronavirus pandemic plays havoc with sports events across the globe.

Bangladesh were due to play a one-day international on April 1 followed by a Test, as Pakistan slowly re-emerges as a host for international cricket after a decade of isolation.

"The Pakistan and Bangladesh cricket boards have decided to postpone the upcoming one-day International and Test in Karachi for a later date," said the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in a statement.

The PCB has also indefinitely postponed the domestic Pakistan Cup tournament, which was scheduled to start on March 25.

The announcement comes days after Pakistan began holding the remaining matches of its T20 Super League in empty stadiums to prevent the transmission of the virus.

Pakistan has recorded fewer than 100 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, and no deaths.

Officials have tested fewer than 1,000 potential cases in the country of about 215 million people, where healthcare is frequently inadequate.