Last Updated on 4 years by Charbel Coorey
ENG tour of SA on a knife-edge after 2nd ODI postponed | ENG tour of SA looks in big doubt due to rise in COVID-19 cases
The second one-day international between England and South Africa has been postponed due to the Covid-19 scare. Cricket South Africa and England Cricket Board have issued a joint statement stating that the second 50-over match will not be played due to positive cases in the South African squad. The names of the players have not been disclosed but the whole group has been isolated for further safety.
“The decision has been taken by Cricket South Africa (CSA) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) whilst they await the outcome of the independent ratification of the two unconfirmed positive COVID-19 tests from the England camp and the continued health and wellbeing of both playing groups”, said ECB in their joint statement.
Both the teams are aiming to have full schedules as planned before, even after the first ODI match was shifted to Sunday after a case was found on Friday just two hours before the game was about to start. CSA says no breach of bio-bubble has been noted and England’s players and the coaching staff have also been isolated in their rooms.
“Once the findings of this review have been received, CSA and ECB will then discuss how best to proceed concerning the remaining two matches of this ODI Series”, said ECB.
Even if the tests come out negative, concerns about further spread can be taken into consideration especially when all the players were under a bio-secure bubble. If any of the England players test positive they will have to stay in SA for the next 10 days which means they will miss their charter plane home on Thursday.
England has won the T20I series against South Africa. Most of England’s squad are expected to join the Big Bash League as well and any kind of isolation can delay their arrival in Australia. Moreover, Australia holds a 14 days quarantine rule before joining any cricket match which would rule them out of the tournament.
Written by Anjali Jha. Follow Anjali on Twitter today.
