Let us look at some of the most-discussed cricket stories on the news on 30 July.
South Africa to tour Sri Lanka in September
Cricket South Africa have confirmed they will tour Sri Lanka for three ODIs and as many T20Is in September. The ODIs will be played on 2, 4 and 7 September, and they will be followed by the T20Is, on 10, 12 and 14 September.
All six games will take place at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
South Africa last played a bilateral series in Sri Lanka in 2018. The tour included five ODIs and a solitary T20I, and also had two Test matches.
Gunathilaka, Mendis, Dickwella handed one-year bans
Sri Lanka Cricket suspended Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, and Niroshan Dickwella from all forms of international cricket for one year for breaching Covid-19 safety guidelines during last month’s limited-overs tour of England in Durham.
They have also been handed six-month suspensions from domestic cricket and been fined LKR 10 million (USD 50,000) each.
SLC’s executive committee further mentioned the trio will be on probation for another two years, during which the first 12 months’ suspension will hang over their heads. The board has mandated counselling with a doctor for them as well.
Rajasthan Royals owners take over Barbados franchise in CPL
The Royals Sports Group, owners of Rajasthan Royals, acquired a majority stake in the Barbados franchise in the Caribbean Premier League. The team, which was previously called Barbados Tridents, will now be known as Barbados Royals.
The RSG is the third IPL team owners to expand their stake in CPL. Red Chillies Entertainment, who own the Kolkata Knight Riders, bought the Trinbago Knight Riders back in 2015, while KPH Dream Cricket Private Limited, Punjab Kings’ stakeholders, acquired St Lucia Zouks last year.
Barbados are one of the three CPL franchises to win the competition twice, which came in 2014 and 2019.
Shaw, Suryakumar to travel the UK from Colombo on 31 July
Suryakumar Yadav and Prithvi Shaw will fly to the UK from Colombo on 31 July, despite Sri Lanka being a Red List country under the UK Government's travel advisory. The BCCI and the ECB have made use of a special provision to make this happen.
Shaw and Suryakumar will have to undergo a ten-day quarantine once they reach England. This effectively rules them out of the first two Tests of the five-match series.