No handshakes and high fives for England cricketers on Sri Lanka tour

London: England captain Joe Root on Monday said his players will not be shaking hands on their tour of Sri Lanka in a bid to avoid the coronavirus.

Quizzed on the coronavirus on Monday as England prepared to depart for their two-Test tour, the Yorkshire batsman said instead of shaking hands, England players will greet each other with fist bumps.

England 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.

"Apart from not shaking hands, 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."