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The decision to postpone the series came after five COVID-19 cases were potentially flagged within the teams’ biosecure environment in Cape Town: a player from South Africa, two hotel employees and two members of the England tour group. .
With cricket tours requiring players to be away from their families for weeks or even months, the sport has to carefully watch how teams handle the strict conditions imposed on them by host countries.
Some have found that the price of moving from one bubble to another is too much. England’s Tom Banton and Tom Curran have already withdrawn from Australia’s T20 Big Bash League this month.
With England players restricted to bio-bubbles all summer at home, and some spending more time locked up while playing in the Indian Premier League, the boards of England and South Africa agreed to create a ‘biosecure environment’, where some movement under strict guidelines.
“Golf was a key request for the tour to go ahead and we are comfortable with that because some concessions must be made for the mental well-being of the players,” South African team doctor Shuaib Manjra said in the Daily Mail.
“A lot of England’s players have been in a kind of bubble for months and they can’t be expected to sit in their rooms all day. We will have to make such concessions if we want to continue playing cricket.”
The teams managed to play a three-game Twenty20 series before the ODI games, which England won 3-0, but the postponement will be a massive financial blow to Cricket South Africa.
It also casts doubt on its ability to host future planned tours with Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Australia, all set to arrive in the coming months.
DIFFERENT APPROACH
Manjra says there will be changes to the biosecurity environment for the Sri Lankan visit, which begins a two-test tour in Pretoria on December 26.
“The Sri Lankan series was going to be very different because the hotel is very different,” he said.
“Once again, we were looking to try to balance mental wellness with strict COVID-19 protocols. But now we may need a different approach.”
ECB Men’s Cricket Managing Director Ashley Giles said there were initial concerns about the biosecure environment and that this build-up of anxiety among players led to the decision to suspend the remainder of the tour.
“Clearly there is a concern when infections arise in what is supposed to be a biosecure environment,” BT Sport said. “That definitely creates a level of anxiety and nervousness.
“At the moment, I don’t think there is anyone who can tell us where these cases have come from. In our group it created great anxiety. In the end, it came down to a question of well-being.”
Giles said the South African tour was likely simply the turning point for the players.
“I don’t think it’s the last three weeks, it could be the last eight or nine months,” he added. “These guys have been living in bubbles for long periods of time and their mental health and well-being is the top priority for us.”
