Sporting events to continue unaffected despite coronavirus outbreak: "Talk of cancellation is very premature"

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden has downplayed suggestions matches could be curtailed as the government consider the next step in fighting the virus

• BCB places restrictions on tickets for Zimbabwe T20
• ICC postpones World Cup qualifying event

Major sporting events will not be cancelled or postponed in the near future as the government consider their next move in the battle against the coronavirus.

Culture Secretary Olivier Dowden says there are no plans to take such measures but that conversations with governing bodies and broadcasters are ongoing.

The United Kingdom has seen 280 confirmed cases of the virus, 18 of which have recovered and three that have died.

Cricket has been largely unaffected by the global outbreak, which has seen more than 111,000 confirmed cases, with international tours still going ahead including England's Tests in Sri Lanka.

Nepal's Everest Premier League and a World Cup qualification tournament in Malaysia have both been shelved but high-profile competitions such as the Pakistan Super League and the recently concluded Women's T20 World Cup have been unaltered.

Other sports have been hugely impacted, however, with this week's Indian Wells tennis tournament having been cancelled two days before the main draw was due to get underway.

Meanwhile, the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix and football matches across Europe will be played behind closed doors to prevent the spread of disease.

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The English domestic cricket season gets underway on April 13 and it remains to be seen how the virus impacts on the fixtures. England's international scheduled does not begin until June 4 against West Indies at The Oval.

An emergency Cobra meeting on Monday chaired by Prime Minister Boris Johnson will decide whether the country will shift its approach to tackling the coronavirus, which could include "social distancing".

But Culture Secretary Olivier Dowden says measures such as shutting down sporting events are still off the table.

"I continue to engage with the sporting organisations," he told BBC Radio Five Live. "They came into the department last week and met with the deputy chief medical officer.

"At this stage, we are not in the territory of cancelling or postponing events and I don't expect that to be the case after today.

"I was at Twickenham (England v Wales Six Nations match) with the Prime Minister yesterday, a huge crowd of people there. There is no reason why people should not be going to those sorts of events. It is premature to be talking about that sort of thing.

^{England players have curtailed handshakes in Sri Lanka}

"We are engaging on a daily basis with organisers of such events. It is very premature indeed to be talking about that sort of thing. We are clear that those sorts of events should continue to go ahead.

"Any talk of cancellation is very premature indeed. At the moment there is no evidence that suggests that we need to be doing that and we have no plans to do so."

While major international tours are set to go ahead, including the Indian Premier League, cricket boards have taken swift action to protect players.

England players will not shake hands during their tour of Sri Lanka, which includes Tests in Galle and Colombo, while the squad have been provided with medical kits.

Cricket South Africa have decided to fly players between venues during their three-match one-day international tour of India to avoid exposure to the outbreak.

Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Cricket Board have sold tickets for their first T20I against Zimbabwe in Dhaka on a one per person basis.