Last Updated on 4 years by Charbel Coorey

England blame “unacceptable” facilities amid COVID outbreak | COVID outbreak forces cancellation of South Africa-England ODI series

The South Africa vs England ODI series has been postponed due to a COVID-19 outbreak. According to the investigations done by the England Cricket Board, there are chances that the net facility at Newlands could be the main source of the virus outbreak. The England team was using the nets facility which was adjoining a construction site at the Kelvin Grove End of the ground.

“England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket South Africa (CSA) have agreed to postpone the remaining matches in the current men’s ODI Series. The decision was taken jointly by the two Boards to ensure the mental and physical health and welfare of players from both teams. The ECB and CSA will now work together to determine when the three-match series, which forms part of the ICC Cricket Men’s Super League, can take place in the future”, said ECB in their official statement.

According to ESPNCricinfo, an email was exchanged between CSA, ECB and Charemont Police who managed the bio-secure bubble. “Please be advised that the England cricket team has not adhered to the arrangements as agreed by all in the ESSPC [Event Security and Safety Planning Committee] meetings,” the email read.

“The practice nets next to the construction site is not allowed to be used on practice days. Three cages of nets were set up on the square on the field. This serves to inform you that the England Cricket Team has accessed and used the nets today (3 December 2020) at their own risk. WPCA and the ESSPC will not be held liable or responsible for the safety and health of the England Cricket Team.”

In response to the allegation, an ECB spokesperson told ESPNCricinfo that “the session had arisen due to the “unacceptable” standard of the three practice pitches provided on the square at Newlands, and that CSA had accepted England’s request to put up a security cordon to facilitate the use of the nets as per similar arrangements during the T20I series on November 28.

Tom Harrison, ECB CEO, said in his statement, “We have always maintained that the welfare of our players and management is paramount. We were concerned about the potential impact that recent developments might have on the wellbeing of the touring party, and so after consultation with Cricket South Africa, we have jointly made the decision to postpone the remaining matches in this Series, in the best interest of the players’ welfare.”

When the England team arrived in SA, there were not satisfied by the net facility provided by CSA on the main pitch and the standards were not appropriate. “We requested with CSA that we would like to use the practice nets and that we would create a security cordon to ensure the players and coaches could enter the facility safely, as done previously on 28 November. This was confirmed by England’s Security Team, the Team Operations Manager, and the Team Doctor. We were satisfied with this outcome and we were able to practice in the net facility safely”, said ECB.

The series was reduced to two matches after the first was called off due to two separate batches of positive COVID-19 tests. However, the series has since been postponed after further cases.

Written by Anjali Jha. Follow Anjali on Twitter today.