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South African cricketer Beuran Hendricks packs his gear into a car at Protea’s Cape Town hotel after the cancellation of the England cricket tour. (Photo: Shaun Botterill / Getty Images)
The remainder of the short cricket tour from England to South Africa was canceled after breaches in the bio-bubble allegedly led to five positive Covid-19 tests in the past three days.
In an unsurprising move, Cricket South Africa (CSA) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) decided to cancel the ill-fated tour as relations between the countries continued to deteriorate.
In a joint statement, CSA and the ECB took a cordial tone, but the decision cost CSA more than R30 million in lost broadcast revenue and also caused reputational damage, although it is unclear how two members of the touring group England tested positive. for Covid-19.
Daily maverick He has learned that when they were retested, those two individuals, a member of the England coaching staff and a player, returned negative results. False positives are a fairly common occurrence.
The three scheduled one-day internationals (ODI) have been “postponed” and could be played at any time during the next three years as part of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s Super League.
Officially, the decision was made jointly by the two boards to ensure the health and mental and physical well-being of the players of both teams. Unofficially, the situation is more complex.
“CSA and the ECB will now work together to determine when the three-game series, which is part of the ICC Men’s Super League of Cricket, may take place in the future,” a statement read.
CSA Acting CEO Kugandrie Govender said: “Concern about the impact of recent events on the mental health of all involved is not something that we, as the CSA or the ECB, take lightly and decide to postpone. The tour is the most responsible and reasonable course of action for us.
“I would like to thank the ECB for the continued positive relations, and we look forward to welcoming the England team in the near future.”
Tom Harrison, Executive Director of the ECB, said: “We have always held that the well-being of our players and leadership is paramount. We were concerned about the potential impact that recent events could have on the well-being of the touring group, so after consulting with Cricket South Africa, we have made the joint decision to postpone the remaining matches of this series, in the best interest of the tour group. well-being of the players.
“I would like to thank Cricket South Africa for their support and understanding in this matter and I look forward to working with them to identify a time when we can play these games again in the future.”
Fascinating developments
England will leave the country on a chartered flight on Thursday. If members of the touring group still test positive for Covid-19 before then, it is unlikely that they will be able to leave, as they will have to enter a quarantine period.
But the fact that the ODI did not go ahead is a matter of growing intrigue.
Daily maverick He has learned that after a three-hour meeting between England’s players and the ECB on Monday, it was the players who refused to go out on the pitch despite being urged to do so by the ECB.
Considering that the Covid scare at the England camp was a false alarm and despite England sending the samples from the “positive” tests for further independent laboratory tests, which also came back negative, the players did not budge. .
It has left the ECB embarrassed, because it appears that despite claims of a biobubble rupture, CSA did its best to maintain a safe environment.
It also doesn’t quite compare, considering that England players played golf five times and had an unscheduled practice at Newlands outside of the designated training area in the center of the field. That training session violated Covid protocols.
It is also understood that, as a gesture of goodwill, the ECB will support CSA’s handling of the bio-bubble to ensure that Sri Lanka, Australia and Pakistan honor their tour commitments with South Africa this summer.
The consequences of canceling one or all of these excursions as a result of this situation would be catastrophic for the CSA, which is in financial difficulty.
The ECB, which appears to be facing a revolt from its own players who are feeling the work of months on bio-bubbles, could also pay the entire hotel bill, which amounts to R8 million.
Why would England want to cancel the tour?
One theory why England players refused to go out on the pitch is that several of them are heading straight from South Africa to Australia to take on lucrative Big Bash League (BBL) contracts.
The Australian national T20 tournament kicks off later this month and foreign players must spend 14 days in quarantine in Australia before they can play in the BBL.
If any England player comes out with a positive test between now and Thursday, when he is scheduled to leave South Africa, he will be forced to stay in Cape Town and isolate himself for 10 days. It would mean losing the BBL.
Current tourists from England to South Africa – Sam Billings, Jason Roy, Liam Livingstone, Jake Ball and Lewis Gregory – are scheduled to play in the BBL. But Tom Curran and Tom Banton have withdrawn from the BBL, citing bio-bubble fatigue as a problem.
Whether England plays ODIs against Proteas or remains locked up in the hotel, they won’t leave until Thursday, raising the question of why they couldn’t play at least one ODI.
To reiterate, the Covid-19 tests subsequent to the original false positives from the swabs taken last Saturday are negative, meaning the bubble is safe.
Mental health
The mental well-being of the players, coaches and also employees of the Vineyard Hotel, who have been under virtual lock and key, must be taken seriously.
After a South African player returned a positive test last Thursday, England raised concerns, which was confirmed by CSA Medical Director Shuaib Manjra at the time.
The implication has been that initial positive tests at the England camp may have come from two Vineyard hotel employees who tested positive. But that connection has not been proven.
What has become very clear is that CSA did everything reasonably possible to accommodate England. CSA never guaranteed the ECB a “zero risk” tour. They could not.
England could point to the fact that in months of biobubbles during its own summer there was not a single positive test for Covid-19, while there have been three at Proteas camp in three weeks.
However, there was a breach in the English biobubble earlier this year when fast pitcher Jofra Archer left the safe environment and attended a party. He did not contract the virus, but was suspended for his actions.
As for the positive results of the Proteas, two were diagnosed when the squad first met, that is, the Proteas had not yet been in the bio-bubble, and one occurred last Thursday.
Sources have confirmed that the player who tested positive last Thursday had undergone four previous tests, all negative. It is a situation that has perplexed medical personnel.
Before the start of the T20I series, a South African player (whose identity is known Daily maverick) tested positive when the players arrived at camp. As a consequence, the Proteas canceled all practice matches and split into groups of three to limit contact between team members.
It made their preparation difficult, but it was seen as a necessary precaution to keep England happy. But inside Proteas sources say that despite their best efforts, England’s players were “looking for every excuse” to retire. DM
