Scotland-Ireland women's series in Spain called off due to Covid-19

Scotland women's limited-overs series against Ireland, slated to be played from next week in Spain, has been postponed amid continued concerns about the prevalence of Covid-19.

The teams were due to play two 50-over matches and three T20Is at the La Manga resort, in what was believed to be the first-ever international cricket to be staged in Europe in November.

"Despite significant work and planning from Cricket Ireland, Cricket Scotland, the venue and sports bodies in both nations to mitigate risks in regard to Covid-19, Cricket Scotland advised that the decision to withdraw from the series was made due to concerns at the continuing and evolving high levels of the virus in Scotland, and in light of updated specialist advice received in the last 24 hours on the risks to the players in the current circumstances," Cricket Ireland said in a statement on Tuesday.

Cricket Scotland CEO Gus Mackay said: "Organising this series was always going to be a challenge within the current environment. Our priority has always been for the safety of our players and, as a national governing body, we have a responsibility to react to the changed circumstances."

Richard Holdsworth, Cricket Ireland's performance director, said they are disappointed for the squad which had been training hard while preparing for the series.

"The tour was important to start building the players' loads as preparation for next year's World Cup Qualifier, particularly given the lack of international playing time for the squad this year. We shall take stock of the situation, and look to re-engineer our plans as soon as possible," Holdsworth said.