Push comes to shove for England tour

“We are deeply regretful of the situation we find ourselves in after the amount of time and energy that has been put in place to host a successful tour.” - Graeme Smith

TELFORD VICE | Paarl

THE future of the ODI series between South Africa and England hangs in the balance in the wake of the match in Paarl on Sunday being abandoned because of the discovery of Covid-19 at the teams’ shared Cape Town hotel.

The series was to have started at Newlands on Friday, but that match was postponed to Monday because of a positive test among the South Africans on Thursday, the third in their camp announced since England arrived on November 17.

The third and last match is set for Newlands on Wednesday. But Sunday’s news will force a rethink about the rest of the tour, which started with England winning a T20I series 3-0. *

A joint CSA and ECB release said the boards had mutually “agreed to cancel” Sunday’s game.

“The decision was taken after two hotel staff members testing positive for Covid-19,” release said. “As a precaution, the England players and management underwent an additional round of PCR [Polymerase chain reaction] tests on Saturday evening. Following the test results, two members of the England touring party have returned unconfirmed positive tests for Covid-19. The players and management are now self-isolating in their rooms until further advice from the medical teams. The medical advice from both CSA and ECB is that the match cannot take place.

“A decision on the remaining matches in the series will be taken once the results of the tests are ratified independently by medical experts.”

Ashley Giles, the ECB managing director for men’s cricket, was quoted as saying: “We regret that we are unable to play in today’s ODI, but the welfare of the players and support staff is our primary concern and whilst we await the results of further tests the medical advice from both teams was that this game should not take place. We remain in constant dialogue with CSA and will continue to work closely with them to determine how best to move forward.”

Graeme Smith, CSA’s director of cricket, was quoted as saying, “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. With that in mind, we have made the joint decision to cancel today’s match. We are deeply regretful of the situation we find ourselves in after the amount of time and energy that has been put in place to host a successful tour. We are in continuous talks with the ECB as we navigate the situation under the guidance of our combined medical teams.”

*Monday’s match was cancelled, leading to speculation that games could be played at Newlands on Tuesday and Wednesday.

First published by Cricbuzz.