CANCELLED TEST TOURS	Reason	Circumstances of cancellation
England to South Africa 1890-91	Political tension in South Africa	A proposed tour of South Africa in 1889-90, which would have included Lancashire professional Johnny Briggs, had come to nothing. Then in February 1890 James Lillywhite and George Lohmann started to organise a team to tour South Africa during the next winter. Lillywhite assured the South Africans that the team 'will be much more powerful than Major Warton's'. He continued that tourists 'in all probability … will have been secured' before his letter arrived 'as possibly an attempt to get a team for Australia might be made'. Yet in September 1890 the proposed tour was abandoned due to the ongoing political tension in South Africa.
		In January 1891 Cricket reported that George Lohmann was again making preparations to take a powerful side and the South African Cricket Association had voted in of such a tour. However, on 26 February it was announced that the project had been abandoned having 'passed out of the scope of practical politics'.  From 'The Beau Ideal'  (Ric Sissons).  Rival W W Read took his own English side in 1891-92.
South Africa to England 1911 Australia to England 1913	The Triangular Tournament	To accommodate the Triangular Tournament, South Africa deferred its visit in 1911 to 1912 while Australia brought forward its visit to England from 1913 to 1912.  The 1912-13 series between South Africa and Australia was dropped.
Australians to South Africa 1914-15 (link)	Outbreak of the First World War.	A touring party had already been chosen to go under Warwick Armstrong’s captaincy, but after the declaration of war on Germany, the South African Cricket Association sent a cable on 13 August to Sydney Smith, secretary of Australia’s Board of Control, advising that the tour should be pushed back. They requested for it to be held in 1915-16 instead, in the hope that the Great War would be quickly over but, because the Australians planned to invite M.C.C. in that summer, this was never likely.
Six wartime series	First World War	1915                       South Africa to England 1915-16                                England (M.C.C) to Australia 1916                       Second triangular contest 1916-17                                South Africa to Australia 1917                       Australia to England 1917-18                                England (M.C.C.)  to South Africa
Australia to England 1920		In February 1919 the Australian Board of Control inquired whether the Marylebone Cricket Club (M.C.C.) would send an English team to Australia in 1920-21 if the Australians sent a team to England. M.C.C. considered the question of hosting an Australian team but decided it was unable to do so but might obtain the English counties’ agreement to a tour in 1920.
Postponed I.C.C.  tours in the 1920s	Postponed	The Imperial Cricket Conference set down a programme of Test tours at its meeting on 6 June 1921: 1923  South Africa to England 1923-24   England to Australia 1925  Australia to England All three tours were subsequently deferred for one year. At its meeting (at Lord’s) on 1 June 1926 it set down a further programme of Test tours, one of which (South Africa to England 1928) was subsequently deferred for one year to 1929 to allow new ICC member West Indies to tour England
South Africans to India 1929		Anthony De Mello (who became Indian Board secretary) and the Board’s first chairman R.E..Grant-Govan were in England in 1928 making plans for tours to India by South Africa in 1929 and by England in 1930-31. Meanwhile so little progress was made forming an Indian Board of Control that by the time it was done in 1929, the momentum had gone, and South Africa never went to India until 1992 (for a one-day series) or 1996 (for Test matches)
Rearranged I.C.C. tours in the 1930s	Postponed to accommodate a full Indian tour of England	The ICC meeting at The Oval in 1929 drew up a programme of tours      New Zealand and possibly India to England 1931 :  the Indian tour was deferred to 1932      West Indians to England 1932 was deferred to 1933      South Africa to England 1933 was deferred to 1935
England (M.C.C) to India 1930-31	Civil disturbances	M.C.C. was forced to put off its visit to India in 1930-31 in the face of civil disturbances arising from the independence movement.  The Maharajkumar (Prince) ‘Vizzy’ organised a replacement team, Vizianagram’s XI. “The cancellation of the M.C.C. tour gave the greatest disappointment to Indian cricketers,” he said. “I was fired with a passion to compensate India.” His team included Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe, who had earlier declined a tour of India with Gilligan in 1926-27.
Indians to England 1931	Postponed	After cancelling its visit to India in 1930-31 because of civil disturbances, M.C.C. decided instead to invite an Indian team to England in 1931 but a postponement until 1932 to allow more time for arrangements to be made meant the tour was not confirmed until 31 August 1931.
England to India 1939-40 (link)	Outbreak of the Second World War	For what would have been England's second Test tour of India, three Test matches - at Bombay, Calcutta and Madras - were arranged, but Britain was moving closer to war with Germany On 25 July 1939  M.C.C. said "While none of the arrangements for the tour of India this winter have been cancelled, views are being exchanged at present between M.C.C. and the Indian Cricket Board of Control to ascertain if a postponement of the tour of India to the winter of 1941 might be desirable."  On 2 August  M.C.C. decided not to alter its plans at present, and announced the names of those invited to tour. But War was declared on 3 September 1939, and the tour was finally cancelled next day.
Australians to New Zealand 1939-40	Second World War	The Australian Cricket Board of Control was understood to be planning a full tour of New Zealand as soon as 1939-40 but the outbreak of the Second World War put paid to the proposal. A team was sent to New Zealand as soon as feasible after the War in 1945-46.
Eight other wartime series	Second World War	An Imperial Cricket Conference meeting at Lord’s on 14 June 1939 between representatives of all the six Test-playing nations had announced the following programme of future Test series:   1940                       South Africa in England 1940-41                                England ( M.C.C.) in Australia 1942                       Australia in England 1942-43                                England ( M C C) in West Indies 1943                       India in England 1943-44              England ( M C C) in South Africa 1944-45                                England ( M C C) in Australia 1945                      South Africa in England
Postponed I.C.C. tours in the 1940s	Postponed	On 15 January 1946 the Imperial Cricket Conference met at Lord’s to draw up the programme for the next 8 years which happened except      1946-47     West Indies to India   (deferred to 1948-49)       1949-50     England to India      1952           Australia to England   (swopped with India 1953)
Australia to West Indies 1948-49		Australia did not accept an invitation from the West Indian Board to tour in the spring of 1949.  Firstly, difficulties with obtaining return passages from England in 1948 compelled shifting domestic first-class matches to the second half of the 1948-49 Australian season, so that the cricketers who toured England could participate. Secondly, it was known that the leading players would be absent for the whole 1949-50 season in South Africa, meaning the top players would not not have been seen playing in Australia for two years.
England (M.C.C.) to India 1949-50	To reduce player workload	In July 1948 M.C.C. cancelled their 1949-50 tour of India. This was a first step in reducing the number of tours made abroad by M.C.C.  India arranged a replacement series of five unofficial Tests against a Commonwealth team made up largely of players from the league cricket (notably Frank Worrell, Bill Alley, skipper Jock Livingston and George Tribe).
India to Pakistan 1950-51		The first Asian Cricket Conference was held in Bombay on 6 March 1948. Delegates from India, Pakistan, Ceylon and Burma attended. The conference agreed a programme including an Indian visit to Pakistan in 1950-51 but this did not take place until January 1955. The Pakistanis’ first Test tour of India was arranged for 1951-52 but was later postponed by one year.
Australia to New Zealand 1951-52		At the Australian Board of Control annual meeting in September 1949, there was an offer to send an Australian side of Test staus to New Zealand in February 1952, in addition to the non-Test party being sent in 1949-50.  There might also be a New Zealand visit to Australia in 1953-54 but neither of these tours materialised.
West Indians to India 1965-66 (link)	Foreign exchange	The Indian Cricket Board was already questionning West Indies' financial demands for its forthcoming series but, fatally, on 3 June 1965 the Indian government rejected the Indian Board’s plan to invite them. The Finance Ministry gave a ruling that it was impossible to release $168,000 of foreign exchange. The Indian Board attempted to lower their costs by reducing the three-month programme to an eight-week tour beginning on 22 December 1965 but the West Indies Board rejected that idea. The tour was ultimately cancelled because of unsettled conditions
West Indians to Pakistan 1965-66	War	The government of Pakistan had also been unable to sanction foreign exchange for a tour by West Indies and that part of the visit had been cancelled on 31 August. When the new Indian eight-week tour was rejected, West Indies’ Board then hoped to re-arrange a tour limited to Pakistan in 1965-66;  but only two days later on 4 October it, too, had to be called off because of the India-Pakistan War.
England (M.C.C.) to South Africa 1968-69 (link)	England team not accepted	Firstly, the customary two matches in Rhodesia were dropped from the tour itinerary on British government advice because of Rhodesia Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI). On 17 September 1968 the South African Prime Minister, John Vorster, announced that he would not accept Basil d'Oliveira as a member of the M.C.C. team, and a week later the South African tour was called off. The M.C.C had made it clear in public statements that the touring side would be picked on merit and there could be no restrictions on who would be selected but behind the scenes Lord Cobham and Alec Douglas-Home strived not to force the issue, which could cause South Africa’s isolation from sporting contact with the rest of the world. They hoped that, if D’Oliveira made himself unavailable by taking a coaching job, the tour could go ahead. When the touring squad was announced and Basil D’Oliveira was omitted, despite scoring 158 for England in the Oval Test match, it was regarded as deeply suspicious. However, the tour would have gone ahead but for Tom Cartwright withdrawing and D’Oliveira receiving a call-up as his replacement. Vorster’s response was that South Africa was not prepared to receive a team thrust upon it by people with political objectives, saying it was not the MCC team but that of the anti-apartheid movement.
England (M.C.C.) to India 1968-69	Foreign exchange	Replacing the South African tour, M.C.C. hoped to play one three-day match and three Tests against India in a four-week period, and then the same programme in Pakistan. This was agreed at the end of September but on 24 November the Indian section of the tour was cancelled. Guarantees of £6000 for each Test and £2.000 for the other match were needed and the Finance Ministry, responsible for granting the foreign exchange, would not release it.
West Indians to Pakistan 1969-70	Financial guarantees	The tour was agreed at the annual meeting of the International Cricket Conference at Lord’s on 12 July 1968  but on 27 March 1969  the West Indies Cricket Board of Control announced that its Pakistan tour plan had broken down. Peter Short, the Board secretary, said the Pakistan cricket authorities had failed to agree to the required financial guarantee. The proposed return visit by Pakistan to West Indies in 1971 also fell through and instead India were invited to tour the Caribbean in 1970-71.
Australia to Pakistan 1969-70	Financial terms	The Australian Board was negotiating to take in India on its 1969-70 tour of Pakistan, but it was the Pakistan section that was cancelled.  The Test matches against Pakistan which would have followed a Test series in India were called off in December 1968 because agreement could not be reached on financial terms. As soon as this was known, the Australian Cricket Board of Control wrote to the South African Cricket Association (SACA) about making a short tour of South Africa instead. Having lost their M.C.C tour a year ago, SACA readily agreed.
South Africans to England 1970 (link)	Threatened disruption by anti-apartheid protesters	Despite the D’Oliveira affair a few months before, on 23 January 1969  the M.C.C. committee  voted to invite South Africa to tour in 1970. On 20 May the Cricket Council voted for the tour still to go ahead but pressure was maintained on them to abandon the tour until two days later on 22 May 1970 when the Home Secretary, James Callaghan, directed that the tour should be cancelled.  John Vorster, South African Prime Minister, accused the British government of caving in to blackmail.
Amended I.C.C. tours programme in the 1970s	To bring more Test matches to India, Pakistan and the West Indies.	The annual meeting of the International Cricket Conference at Lord’s on 12 July 1968 authorised an increased programme of cricket tours to bring more Test matches to India, Pakistan and the West Indies. These included : 1971: Pakistan to West Indies  (subsequently cancelled). 1973-74: England (MCC) to West Indies  (brought forward by two years) 1977-78: England (MCC) to India and Pakistan (brought forward by four years) In the original schedule England would make a full tour of India and Pakistan every ten years, ie 1951-52, 1961-62, 1971-72, 1981-82. Thus the 1977-78 proposal brought the tour forward by 4 years, but was then advanced by a further year. .
South Africa to Australia & NZ 1971-72 (link)	Threatened disruption by anti-apartheid protesters	The New Zealand part of the tour was cancelled first, as leading South African players said they would not be available. When it became clear that political groups, the church and trades unions would boycott the Australia visit or deprive the tourists of the use of facilities, the  Australian Cricket Board decided on 8 September 1971 “with great regret” to cancel the forthcoming tour of Australia.The reasons given included that it would create internal bitterness and provoke vociferous disruption from minority groups, as well as place extreme demands upon the police force.
England to India & Pakistan 1971-72	State of emergency	In late July 1971 M.C.C. postponed the tour for a year until 1972-73 because of the political situation in Pakistan.
		The annual meeting of the International Cricket Conference at Lord’s on 12 July 1968 authorised an increased programme of cricket tours and this tour was provisionally agreed but in the end India toured West Indies instead.
Australia  to Pakistan 1973-74	Player allowances	Australia planned to make a tour of Pakistan in 1973-74 but it was cancelled on 6 March 1973 because of a disagreemant with the Pakistan Board over inadequate players' allowances. In its place the Australians made their first tour of New Zealand since 1946.
South Africans to England 1975 (link)	South African team still chosen on racial grounds	Having cancelled the South African tour of England in May 1970, the Cricket Council said that England would no longer play Test matches against South Africa until multi-racial cricket was introduced.  The 1975 tour was formally cancelled by the Cricket Council on 11 September 1973. The South African board was disappointed that what they regarded as progress in making cricket multi-racial was insufficient. At its two-day meeting in July 1974, the International Cricket Conference approved a programme of tours including the next South African visit to England scheduled for 1980, but contingencies were already being made for its cancellation.
Australians to South Africa 1975-76 (link)	South African team still chosen on racial grounds	On 18 February 1975 the Australian Cricket Board withdrew its invitation to South Africa in the face of pressure from the federal government which was opposed to Australian sports teams playing teams from other countries selected racially. After withdrawing from the invitation to tour, the Australian Board held discussions with its counterparts in India, Pakistan, New Zealand and the West Indies about touring there instead, or them making a tour of Australia, and in the end West Indies came to Australia for a six-Test tour.
England (M.C.C.) to South Africa                                  1976-77   (link)	(South African team still being chosen on racial grounds	The Cricket Council called off the M.C.C. (in reality England) tour visiting South Africa in 1976-77 after a meeting at Lord’s on 12 September 1975. It acknowledged the progress made towards multi-racial cricket but regretted that “our requirements for the resumption of Test cricket with South Africa have not yet been fully met”. The ICC tours schedule drawn up in 1968 had England visiting India and Pakistan in 1977-78 so the Indian section of the tour was now brought forward by one year to 1976-77 and Tony Greig took a side there.
Indians to West Indies 1979-80 (link)	Financial	The tour was planned for the Spring of 1980 with the Indians due to reach West Indies on 4 March and return on 5 May. Financial difficulties put the tour into difficulty from the start. The Indian Board wanted guarantee money for each of the four Test matches planned, but the West Indies Board could afford to pay only expenses.  The W.I. Board had suffered considerable losses over the Australian tour in 1978 and the Packer court case settlement.  On 3 January Mr Harold Burnett, secretary of the W.I.Board announced that the tour had been cancelled. Yet Ghulam Ahmed, on behalf of the Indian Board, denied this, saying that the tour plans would be complete in a week's time.  The Indian Board approached the Government to release foreign exchange and and meet the expenses of the trip. But, to the general relief of those who considered the Test programme as already overcrowded (India had played 13 Test matches in the space of five months), the West Indian Board finally cancelled the tour on 6 February 1980. Because tours have to be on a reciprocal basis, and the Indian Board wanted the West Indies to return soon to India where they were always a popular draw, it was planned to send a team out to the Caribbean as soon as possible, which turned out to be in Spring 1983.
New Zealanders to West Indies 1981-82	Springbok rugby tour	A planned New Zealand tour, of the West Indies in 1982 was cancelled as a result of the tour of New Zealand by the Springbok South African rugby union team in 1981. Despite the New Zealand prime minister appealing to the NZ Rugby Union not to invite the Springboks, and the NZ Cricket Council dissociating themselves from the rugby tour, the West Indies Cricket Board of Control said it was  was unable to host the New Zealanders
Australians to Sri Lanka 1987-88 (link)	Threat of terrorist activities in Sri Lanka.	This three week-long tour of Sri Lanka was to be made en route to the World Cup competition in India and Pakistan, but was cancelled on 14 August 1987.  (Andrew Zesers had postponed his wedding, which was to be held on 20 September, before he learned that the tour was cancelled). The tour was re-scheduled for April 1988 – provided the island was peaceful – and this arrangement was subsequently cancelled, too, by the Australian Cricket Board in February 1988.
Australians to West Indies 1987-88	(Assume) to avoid too much cricket against the West Indies with ten Test matches in one calendar year.	The tour was cancelled on 8 January 1987.  The chief executive of the Australian Cricket Board, Mr David Richards, said the West Indian Board had called it off but undisclosed sources said that West Indian officials were most disappointed the tour would not go ahead. The sources suggested that, with the Windies scheduled to tour Australia in 1988-89, the Australian Cricket Board was reluctant to have Border's young side exposed to the West Indies in ten Test matches in one calendar year.  Australia had won only one of the past 10 Tests against the West Indies.
England to India & Sri Lanka 1988-89 (link)	Sporting links with South Africa	Firstly, the proposed autumn tour of Sri Lanka was called off in June owing to political unrest on the island. There were already signs that the England team might not be acceptable in India owing to the South African connections of several English players. Graham Gooch was appointed tour captain on 29 August during the home Test against Sri Lanka at Lord's. However, when Indian politicians learned that he needed to obtain release from a winter contract with Western Province, the Indian government accused him of misleading them at the time of the 1987 Reliance World Cup about his intentions of playing again in South Africa.  Consequently, he was regarded as unacceptable as captain. The tour was probably already doomed by then but the TCCB went ahead and chose a team. When the names were announced, eight of those selected including Gooch were on the United Nations 'blacklist' because of their sporting links with South Africa.  While Chief Executive Alan Smith admitted he could not see how the tour could proceed because eight of the team would be refused entry visas, the TCCB delayed cancelling it for a further two weeks. The tour was finally cancelled on 7 October. In due course an alternative tour to New Zealand to start in late February was substituted. The England party was to remain unchanged, although discussions had taken place about changing the composition of the original team which had been picked for Indian conditions. The New Zealand tour itinerary included two Test matches and a one-day triangular series, for which the Pakistan Board soon announced it was refusing to let its players play against England. This rendered the whole tour financially unviable. On 22 December the New Zealand Cricket Council called it off.  The Pakistanis then arranged their own separate tour of New Zealand. The Sri Lankans agreed in principle at the Asian Cricket Conference in Dhaka to tour India in place of England but, with no word from the Indian Board (BCCI), most of the Sri Lankan players took up ccontracts to play club cricket in Australia, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh and became unavailable
New Zealanders to Pakistan 2001-02 (link)	Threat of terrorism	As the world was taking in the enormity of the terrorist attack that destroyed the World Trade Centre in New York on 11 September 2001, a New Zealand team was already on its way to tour Pakistan. The New Zealand Cricket Board stopped its team from flying beyond Singapore until it could appraise the risks of touring Pakistan.  Of particular concern was playing at Peshawar, venue for the first Test match, in the North-west Frontier Province which was adjacent to Afghanistan, now identified as Al Qaeda’s centre of operations. Chief Executive Martin Snedden said the tour was ‘temporarily postponed’ and the team would go to Pakistan when the international situation eased but on 27 September, under advice from New Zealand’s Department of Foreign Affairs, New Zealand Cricket finally cancelled the tour.
Australians to Zimbabwe 2001-02  (link)	Concerns about safety.	This tour was planned to follow after the one-day series in South Africa. On 20 March the Australian Cricket Board Chief Executive,  James Sutherland, was cautious because of tensions in Zimbabwe following its presidential elections two weeks before. He said that the cricket tour of Zimbabwe would go ahead subject to concerns about safety. A week later, once the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade had issued travel advice warning Australian nationals against visiting Zimbabwe, the tour was cancelled on 27 March. The Board felt there were unacceptable risks to the players and officials of encountering political violence, possibly stemming from the Australian government’s part in having Zimbabwe suspended from the Commonwealth. The Zimbabwe Cricket Union would not consider rescheduling the tour in a neutral country as this would amount to admitting that it was unsafe to tour Zimbabwe - where World Cup fixtures were to be held in a year’s time - and no other countries were available to take Australia’s place.
Australians to Zimbabwe 2004 (link)	Players’ safety	Early in May 2004, accommodation, transport, training facilities and fixtures were all in place and Cricket Australia expressed its confidence that the tour would proceed.  The selected players had been briefed on the human rights situation in the country, as well as the refusal by fifteen Zimbabwe Test players to participate because of their opposition to the selection system.  Because of this the Test matches would inevitably be a huge mis-match. Stuart MacGill was alone in deciding not to take part in the tour, saying that he didn't feel he could go with a clear conscience. Cricket Australia said it would carry out its obligations to the ICC's Future Years Programme, though spokesman Peter Young dismissively described completing the tour as ‘ticking a box’. Malcolm Speed, chief executive of the International Cricket Council, flew to Zimbabwe to urge that it would not be appropriate to afford Test status to the two scheduled matches.  However, the Zimbabwe Cricket Union would not meet him in person. Meanwhile the ICC planned to hold a teleconference on 21 May between the cricket boards of the ten Test-playing nations, to decide whether to proceed with the Test matches or cancel them or downgrade them to tour matches. Cricket Australia chairman Bob Merriman arrived in Harare ready to brief the players after the teleconference. When it was clear that the ICC was going to strip the matches of Test status, the Zimbabwe Cricket Union offered to call them off. The ZCU and Cricket Australia agreed to postpone the matches but they have never been played. The three one-dayers were rearranged, all to be played in Harare as soon as possible, and they went ahead in place of the Tests.
Zimbabweans to Pakistan 2004  (link)	I C C withdrew Test status	A one-sided mismatch against Sri Lanka in May 2004 brought pressure on the Zimbabwe Cricket Union to withdraw from Test status. On 10 June the International Cricket Council ruled that Zimbabwe would lose Test status for the rest of the year and Zimbabwe's visit to Pakistan was cancelled. The Pakistan Cricket Board faced a financial crisis but Sri Lanka offered to fill the gap and play a three-Test series and a triangular tournament with Zimbabwe who were still allowed to take part in one-day internationals.  The I C C ruled that exisiting tour commitments had to be fulfilled and in November the ECB, facing a £1 million fine and suspension from the I C C, reluctantly went  ahead with its ODI tour of Zimbabwe.
Australians to Pakistan 2007-08 (link)	Concerns about the threat of terrorist activities	Australia were set to arrive in Pakistan on 29 March 2008 for three Test matches and five one-day internationals but the four-week tour was postponed (on 11 March) because of government advice that travelling to Pakistan was unsafe with recent outbreaks of violence. Rearranging it meant a split tour was necessary, because of the difficulty of finding a long enough run of free dates for the entire tour. Five ODIs and a Twenty20 would be played in April 2009 on the way back from South Africa; before returning to Pakistan in August 2010 for the Test matches. In the end the Test matches had to be played on neutral territory in England. The Pakistan Board had since 2002 opposed playing on neutral territory because of the loss of income from spectators and damage to development of the game in Pakistan but it became unavoidable.  Australia had not played in Pakistan since 1998.
West Indians to Pakistan 2008-09	Security reasons / touring terms.	In September 2008 Pakistan invited the West Indians for a two-Test series in Pakistan in place of the cancelled Champions Trophy. Because of unwillingness by senior players to go to Pakistan for security reasons West Indies declined but it was hoped that the two matches might take place in Abu Dhabi following three ODIs there between Pakistan and West Indies. This plan, too, was scrapped on it  28 October, because the tour was not part of the official FTP and West Indies Board had insufficient time to negotiate touring terms with the players. With Australia having cancelled their tour in March, there was no Test cricket in Pakistan in 2008.
Zimbabweans to England 2009	UK government would not issue visas to tourists	On 25 June 2008 the England & Wales Cricket Board severed bilateral ties with Zimbabwe Cricket in response to government advice. Gordon Brown’s government made clear that, if the I C C would not “reconsider its rules to allow teams to forfeit tours to countries, such as Zimbabwe, where serious human rights abuses are occurring”,  it would not issue visas to touring cricketers from there, and so the April-May 2009 tour was cancelled.
Sri Lankans to England 2009	To accommodate the Indian Premier League	The Sri Lankans were lined up to take Zimbabwe’s place and a programme of fixtures had been agreed, but their board (SLC) had not obtained agreement from players who were expecting to participate in the IPL and could do so according to their contracts. The West Indians toured England in 2009 instead. Arjuna Ranatunga voiced disapproval of SLC for withdrawing from the Test series He was part of a government-appointed body which ran cricket at the time, but could not influence the decision and later stepped down from his position.
West Indians to England 2010	Knock-on effect of the 2009 Zimbabwe tour cancellation	Brought forward to 2009.  When the Sri Lankans withdrew from the tour of England in 2009 the West Indies Board filled the gap. The West Indians had thereby foregone touring England in the later, probably warmer part of the summer in 2010 in order to provide a Test team that would enable the ECB to fulfil their 2009 Sky TV contract. The tourists’ performances in 2009 in temperatures that at times fell as low as 7°C during the Chester-le-Street Test suggested they were far from comfortable with their Board’s decision and they lost the two Test matches heavily.
Indians to Sri Lanka 2012 (link)	Financial problems	India’s tour went ahead in July but Sri Lanka Cricket had cancelled the two Test matches against India. A series of three one-day internationals and a Twenty20 were substituted, later becoming five one-dayers and a T20, which would improve revenue further. SLC  badly needed to boost income following the construction of new stadiums in Pallekele and Hambantota for the 2011 World Cup.  Indian players gained a five-week break after the IPL as a result of cancelling the Test matches.
Sri Lankans to West Indies 2012-13	To accommodate the Indian Premier League	Both boards agreed to scrap the two Test matches from Sri Lanka's programme in the West Indies in May 2013 and instead arranged to play a triangular ODI series involving India. Thus players from both Sri Lanka and West Indies would remain available to appear in the Indian Premier League.
South Africans to Sri Lanka 2013	To accommodate the Sri Lanka Premier League	Three Test matches were scheduled for July and August 2013 but Sri Lanka Cricket asked to postpone them in order to host a triangular one-day series with West Indies and India instead With the Sri Lanka Premier League starting in early August, the board decided that it would rather not host the Tests, and CSA agreed to postpone the Test series until 2015, this arrangement allowing them to manage players’ workload better. But in the end the SLPL was cancelled for lack of sponsors. Scrapping three Test series in quick succession contrasted with the 1980s and ‘90s when for five years there were no Test matches on the island owing to the civil war because other countries would not visit.
Sri Lankans to Zimbabwe 2013  (link)	Financial problems	Sri Lanka Cricket confirmed on 23 August 2013 that it would take part in Test match series in Zimbabwe in October. However, within a week Zimbabwe Cricket asked for a postponement of the tour owing to some “challenging issues” the Board was facing (namely, severe financial problems amounting to $18 million of debt, according to ESPNcricinfo) and could not afford to mount the Test matches.

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