The news has emerged following the postponement of both series due to the coronavirus outbreak, with England’s tour of Sri Lanka suspended midway through in March.
England were also scheduled to host the West Indies in three Tests in June, which were last week postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak which has caused lockdown in the United Kingdom and more than 28,000 deaths.
Sri Lanka Cricket chief executive Ashley De Silva revealed to the Daily News that they’d practically locked in a January 2021 tour with England.
“We are in the process of rescheduling the tours that have been postponed,” De Silva said.
“England has been already rescheduled for the month of January next year but the dates have not been finalised.”
The English are currently scheduled to play India in January 2021 in five Test matches, while short-form matches between the countries are pencilled in for September and October this year.
The concept may be for England to add the Sri Lanka matches on to their tour of India and make it a lengthier subcontinental trip, amid the increasingly hectic international cricket schedule caused by the squeeze from the coronavirus outbreak.
The ECB confirmed that they had also met with Cricket West Indies and said there had been “positive discussions” although no decisions were made.
An ECB spokesperson said: “Meetings will be ongoing over the next few months to reach an outcome of when international cricket could potentially return.
“This is a long and detailed process and is very much in the early stages of planning. The guidance from the Government will emphasise what we can do.”