Coronavirus fear sees England outlaw hugs and handshakes

The coronavirus has made its presence felt on cricket, with England cricketers banning handshakes on their tour of Sri Lanka in an attempt to prevent spreading germs and bacteria.

England captain Joe Root addressed the issue of the coronavirus on Monday as the team prepared to depart for their two-Test tour, saying players will greet each other with fist bumps instead.

The threat of illness is a sensitive issue for England, who were hit by a series of gastroenteritis and flu problems before and during the first Test on their recent tour of South Africa.

"After the illnesses that swept through the squad in South Africa, we are well aware of the importance of keeping contact to a minimum and we've been given some really sound and sensible advice from our medical team to help prevent spreading germs and bacteria," Root said.

"We are not shaking hands with each other, using instead the well-established fist bump, and we are washing hands regularly and wiping down surfaces using the anti-bacterial wipes and gels we've been given in our immunity packs.

"There is no suggestion that the tour will be affected, but of course it is an evolving situation so we are in regular contact with the authorities and will proceed as advised, but at this stage we fully expect the tour to continue as planned."

England won 3-0 in Sri Lanka two years ago but Root is anticipating a tougher challenge this time. They will play the first of two practice games against a Sri Lanka Board President's XI in Katunayake on Saturday ahead of the Tests, which will form part of the ICC World Test Championship.

"The conditions will be a bit different with the time of year we are going this time," he said.

"The three games we played out there last time were all very close with less than 60 runs between the teams in the last two Tests.

"It was an exceptional performance last time and I think we can take a lot of confidence from that in terms of how to play out there.

"We respect how good a side they are in their own conditions and we'll find ourselves up against a stiff challenge."

Fast bowler Mark Wood was ruled out of tour with a left side strain picked up at the end of the South Africa tour and replaced in the squad to travel to Sri Lanka by seamer Saqib Mahmood.

Wood will now "commence an injury rehabilitation programme, working with England and Durham medical teams" after the 30-year-old sustained "a small tear to his left side", an ECB statement said.

Wood was troubled by a similar problem following the World Cup, which saw him miss the 2019 Ashes series.

Lancashire opener Keaton Jennings and Surrey wicketkeeper-batsman Ben Foakes have been recalled to the squad.

Jonny Bairstow, though, is not in the 16-man touring party while England's record wicket-taker James Anderson is another high-profile absentee, with Moeen Ali remaining unavailable for Test selection.