Judge Zak Yacoob, chairman of the CSA interim board, suggested there was “no justification” for England to abandon its tour of South Africa and defend the effectiveness of the Covid protocols imposed by the board.
Speaking at a virtual press conference on Thursday, Judge Yacoob said he was “95% certain” that Sri Lanka would arrive in South Africa next week before its series of tests, which begins December 26, and suggested that the ‘ Big Three ‘The boards of directors (BCCI, Cricket Australia and ECB) act as “laws unto themselves”.
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“What I want to deny is an idea that our provision of services was deficient and that there is some justification for the English to say that they did not want to participate and go home,” Judge Yacoob said. “The facts are that they were ultimately negative. We have entered into protocols and we believe that our protocols have been very good.
“There may have been a problem of psychological problems. People may have been nervous about the false positives. Our position is that we do not want to blame the English, but we want to say absolutely and completely that any notion that they left because it was somehow our fault is completely wrong.
“The only criticism that I can make, and I’m not even authorized to do so, is that we were too lax with the English and their desire to do things that, in our strict opinion, they should not be doing.”Judge Zak Yacoob
“There is an uncomfortable account that third world countries cannot handle these things properly. I can say that we have been handling the virus much better than England. There was some attempt to ensure that in relation to what happened with England, Sri Lanka did not I should come here. They will come next week, I hope. “
When the tour was canceled, Kugandrie Govender, Acting Chief Executive Officer of CSA, and Tom Harrison, Chief Executive Officer of the ECB, issued a joint statement saying they had made the decision “to ensure the health and mental and physical well-being of the players of both teams”.
The two cases of ‘unconfirmed positives’ on the tour of England were confirmed as false positives after independent ratification on Tuesday, a day after the ODI series was postponed, and less than 48 hours before England’s charter flight from return to the UK.
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Judge Yacoob also suggested that the protocols that the CSA imposed on the UK touring group were not strict enough. Reports in local media have highlighted the fact that England was allowed to play golf outside the Vineyard Hotel, while ESPNcricinfo revealed that the ECB had been warned by officials in the western province of a possible breach of agreements with a networking session on the eve of the first postponed. ODI.
“Many aspects of the operational side are not working and I do not want to go into details because then those who are in charge of the operational side will start running to the newspapers to say how bad the board is,” he said.
“The only criticism I can make, and I am not even authorized to do so, is that we were too lax with the English and their desire to do things that, in our strict view, they should not be doing. We were stronger in preventing our players from do things and we allow visitors a little more laxity. There is a courtesy thing, because they are visitors and so on. “
England’s withdrawal could affect the rest of the South African summer and has raised concerns in Sri Lanka and Australia, who will go on the next tour. Despite that, Judge Yacoob did not expect the ECB to clear South Africa’s name, saying the board would do it themselves. “I don’t think we want an apology from anyone, but if they tell lies about us, we will defend ourselves,” he said. “I am willing to leave it on the basis that we understand the sensitivity of the matter. We have this virus for the first time and therefore people may be discouraged.”
Sri Lanka has already asked for stricter protocols than England’s and Judge Yacoob said he was “95% sure” the tour would continue. “If I had a problem, I would have said so, I would have told Sri Lanka that they shouldn’t come,” he said.
CSA and SLC medical teams met earlier this week to finalize the logistics of the tour and, as things stand, Sri Lanka will depart for South Africa next week. They will play test matches during Boxing Day and the New Years period and return home to host England eight days later. The proximity of the two series means that Sri Lanka cannot risk its players returning home badly. A final decision on that tour is expected imminently.
Regarding the main summer series against Australia, scheduled for February-March 2021, ESPNcricinfo revealed a contingency plan to move the series to Perth following England’s withdrawal and Judge Yacoob indicated that Australia may still decide not to visit South Africa. “[On] Australia, I have no information, but my understanding of cricket politics is that the three most powerful nations in cricket (Australia and England are two of them, and I think you know who the third is) want to do things their own way and we want to make sure that less powerful nations play with them, “he said.
“Politically, it depends on what Australia thinks is in its political interest, based on what happened to England. I don’t know what Australia will do. Powerful people, and Australia is a power in cricket, are usually laws themselves. .
South Africa’s Cricket Director Graeme Smith confirmed that talks with Australia will begin next week. “We are only going to have our first operational planning meeting with Cricket Australia next week. So far there has only been engagement,” Smith said.
Last month, Smith told Australian newspapers that he was hopeful that South Africa could allow fans to return to the stadiums when the tour took place. Currently, all sport must take place behind closed doors, as South Africa remains locked in, albeit at the lowest level. That may change in the coming weeks with the country officially in a second wave of the pandemic, starting yesterday.
South Africa has recorded more than 800,000 coronavirus cases and more than 22,500 deaths and is the 18th most affected country in the world, according to government data. By comparison, the UK, which ranks seventh, has more than 1.7 million cases and more than 62,500 deaths. Australia has handled the pandemic better than those two countries with just 28,000 cases and 908 deaths.
Firdose Moonda is a correspondent for ESPNcricinfo in South Africa
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