The precarious nature of cricket’s return post a COVID-19 induced hiatus was revealed late on Monday after three Pakistan players tested positive for the virus.
Given how hard both India and Pakistan have been hit, the positive test results of Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf and Haider Ali are barely surprising. Worryingly, however, they were three of only five players whose results have been declared so far. The results of the rest of the squad set to travel to England are to be declared on Tuesday and it is likely that we might see another handful of positive tests.
The news of the setback to the three Pakistan players came just hours after the PCB’s director of sports medicine issued a reminder of the risks involved in the team’s upcoming tour of England.
“It is a big risk. We can’t really say it’s not a risk,†Dr. Sohail Saleem said in a video conference.
“We are trying to build a new normal, redefining etiquette – respiratory marks, hand washing. It is a combination of many things to make sure that we are keeping safe or reducing the risk factor to the minimum.â€
Shadab Khan is among three Pakistan players to test positive.
On the same day, Cricket South Africa announced that seven positive results had been determined in a series of mass testing conducted on its personnel. The South African cricket board has refused to reveal if any of the players were among the group to test positive, citing medical ethical protocol.
“We were definitely going to have people testing positive. Having conducted over 100 tests, the number of seven is actually quite low,†CSA action chief executive Jacques Faul was quoted as saying by Sport24.
Despite the latest setbacks in Pakistan and South Africa, cricket is set to resume on Tuesday in England, as the sport adjusts to a new normal. The West Indies squad have long arrived in the country for a three-Test series which begins next month, and will take to the field for an intra-team warm-up clash to mark the end of their isolation period.
The Sir Frank Worrell Test series between the two countries will be the first international cricket fixture in over three months, and will be closely followed by Pakistan’s visit to England for clashes in all three formats.
Elsewhere, uncertainty still prevails with the fate of the 2020 T20I World Cup in Australia, and the Indian Premier League (IPL) still hanging by a thread. The two marquee events are still expected to go ahead at some point, though it could be a while before either of them get under way.
Across the Trans-Tasman Sea in New Zealand, the Blackcaps have called off August’s tour of Bangladesh due to COVID-19 concerns. The pandemic is a delicate situation to handle for most boards who have to consider the financial implications of no cricket as well as the health of their players and staff.
At a time where even a deep-pocketed board like Cricket Australia is bearing the brunt of reduced cash-flow, it is hardly a surprise to see Windies and Pakistan give the green-light to tour England this summer. Cricket Australia has already announced a budget cut of 40 million AUD, while also laying off as many as 40 staff members over the past week.
No cricket for an extended period of time is simply not an option for many countries involved in the game. With the virus set to stay for the foreseeable future, the game will need to adapt to new realities in order for its sustainability.
West Indies players take part in an intra-squad clash in Manchester on Tuesday.
Few countries, if any, can afford to take the financial hit of the virus as well as India and the BCCI have so far. Even the world’s richest cricketing body is starting to feel the heat, with BCCI president Sourav Ganguly warning of massive losses in case of an IPL no-show.
Frequent testing, matches behind closed doors and the ban on the use of saliva to shine the ball are just some of the temporary measures that will pave the way forward for cricket. Much more will become clear after England’s upcoming clashes against Windies and Pakistan, although the latter’s proposed tour could yet be in jeopardy following Monday’s news.
Other sports such as football and golf have already resumed under the blanket of extensive restrictions, while Formula One will follow suit shortly.
Meanwhile, in cricket, teams such as Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and several associates like the UAE have begun training behind closed doors.
Even as the repercussions of COVID-19 continue to unfold, the game must go on for its own good. While the health of the people involved in the sport’s functioning needs to be paramount, cricket will have to find innovative and novel methods to find a footing in slippery times.
Clearly, a few countries in the world are doing better than others in combating the virus, with New Zealand being the biggest success story. It could well be that cricket will be concentrated in a few select locations over the next months while other countries get up to speed. An IPL in the UAE, Sri Lanka or even New Zealand is not out of the question in the future.
The entire world is trying to adapt to a new normal and sport is no different. Cricket will have to find its own way forward to survive.
Know more about Sport360 Application