CAPE TOWN – England Cricket Board chief executive Tom Harrison is facing the intricate task of trying to convince his England cricket team to remain in South Africa to complete the ODI leg of their tour.
The ECB and Cricket SA called off the first ODI in Boland Park in Paarl on Sunday after two hotel staff members tested positive for Covid-19. The two cricket boards have since announced that the second ODI, set for Newlands on Monday has also been postponed to Tuesday, leaving the future of the entire tour on a knife’s edge.
The England team were engaged in a tense meeting with management on Sunday afternoon to decide whether the tour would be completed.
As a precautionary measure, the England players and management underwent an additional round of PCR tests on Saturday evening. Following the test results, two members of the England touring party returned unconfirmed positive tests. The players and management are now self-isolating in their rooms until further advice from the medical teams.
The English medical team have since retested the two players through rapid testing mechanisms and the results have returned negative. The English team have insisted that the two squad members test again on Monday, which has led to postponement of Sunday’s second ODI.
While Harrison is extremely sympathetic towards his players’ welfare and safety in regards to the risk Covid-19 poses, he understands the significance of cancelling the ODI leg of the tour altogether.
The six-match tour, which included the completed three-game T20 segment, is understood to be worth US$4.2 million (R63million) to Cricket SA. Harrison was in a similar precarious position earlier this year with the ECB losing almost £100m due to Covid-19.
“The entire cricket network has pulled together to get us through this challenge so far and overcoming it will mean continuing to work in partnership and continuing to make tough decisions as we have done this year,” Harrison said back in September.
The England players have become increasingly wary of the integrity of the bio-secure environment at the Vineyard Hotel after a South African player tested positive just two days after the squads moved into the hotel.
This was after the first player tested positive prior to entering the Vineyard Hotel on November 18, after which he was accommodated separately from the rest.
A third South African player tested positive last Friday which caused the most concern among the tourists, particularly the English contingent set to fly off to Australia for the Big Bash after the scheduled conclusion of the tour on Wednesday.
The Australian government has enforced a two-week quarantine period that will see Jason Roy, Liam Livingstone (both Perth Scorchers), Lewis Gregory (Brisbane Heat) and Tom Curran (Sydney Sixers) possibly miss the first three BBL games of the season.
Dawid Malan has already left for the Hobart Hurricanes after the conclusion of the T20I leg last Tuesday, while reserve batsman Tom Banton has withdrawn from the BBL due to spending an elongated period spent in a bio-bubble environment.
Although Australia and India are currently playing a T20I series before stadiums filled with spectators, Cricket Australia has also suffered a Covid-19 setback with Brisbane Heat's Afghanistan recruit Mujeeb Ur Rahman testing positive while in quarantine at a hotel in Queensland.
Cricket SA Director of Cricket Graeme Smith, though, remained hopeful on Sunday that the remaining two matches of the ODI series will be played after the testing has been completed.
"CSA is doing everything in our power to ensure that our top priority, which is the health, safety and welfare of players, support staff and all involved in this series is safeguarded," Smith said in a statement.
"We are deeply regretful of this situation given the amount of time and energy that has been put in place to host a successful tour. We will continue to give the England team all the support that they need. We are in continuous talks with the ECB as we navigate the situation under the guidance of our combined medical teams."
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