London, March 13 (IANS): The English and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has decided to postpone England's tour of Sri Lanka in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

"Due to the Covid-19 pandemic worsening globally, and after discussions with Sri Lanka Cricket, we have today made the decision to return our players to the UK and postpone the forthcoming Test series between Sri Lanka and England.

"At this time, the physical and mental wellbeing of our players and support teams is paramount. We will now look to bring them home to their families as soon as possible. These are completely unprecedented times, and decisions like this go beyond cricket.

"We would like to thank our colleagues at Sri Lanka Cricket for their outstanding support and assistance throughout this situation. We look forward to returning to Sri Lanka in the very near future to fulfil this important Test series," the ECB said in a release.

England was playing Sri Lanka President's XI in a 4-day match at the P. Sara Oval in Colombo when the decision was made and the match was thus ended on the second afternoon.

The BCCI also decided to postpone the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League on Friday till April 15 as the government on Wednesday cancelled all visas, except for a few official categories, till April 15 in the wake of the growing scare.