Last Updated on 3 years by Charbel Coorey
Cricket News: Tahlia McGrath played Commonwealth Games Final despite being COVID-19 positive | Reactions to Tahlia McGrath playing with COVID-19
The Australian women’s team clinched the gold medal after defeating India by nine runs in the Final of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) in Birmingham on Sunday.
However, Meg Lanning’s women stirred up controversy by confirming midway through the innings that their all-rounder Tahlia McGrath had tested positive for Covid-19 on the morning of the summit clash.
Australia open can of worms after selecting Tahlia McGrath despite her testing positive for COVID-19
The toss was delayed by 12 minutes as McGrath secured the go-ahead of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Commonwealth Games Foundation (CGF) to feature in the finale.
She was isolated from her teammates during the batting innings was required to wear a mask during the game.
It is important to note that the 26-year-old would have hypothetically been unable to play if the match was held in Australia given the Covid-19 norms and precautions. However, the regulations are relatively more relaxed in the CWG to match the English laws.
“We were all happy to play, she was happy to play. She feels absolutely fine so I think the positive result was a bit of a shock to her, but that’s Covid isn’t it – we’re all going to live through it,” pacer Meghan Schutt was quoted in a report by the Guardian.
McGrath had ensured that she didn’t get involved in team huddles during the course of the game. But she jumped in amongst her teammates after Australia dismissed the final Indian batter in Yastika Bhatia. McGrath was completely masked when she stepped on the podium to receive her medal eventually.
Schutt added, “We didn’t want to get in trouble, we felt bad for Tahlia at the end there. Obviously when you’re part of a game that’s so thrilling like that, that’s all you want to do [is celebrate] and at the end screw it, if we get Covid, so be it.”
The Aussie women’s thorough support for their teammate didn’t really find resonance on social media though. Here are some reactions on Twitter to this incident. Several users drew parallels with the Australian authorities deporting Novak Djokovic for the Serb’s refusal to take the Covid-19 vaccine ahead of the Australian Open earlier this year.
Reactions to Tahlia McGrath playing with COVID-19: Comparisons made to Novak Djokovic
Even Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur didn’t sound overtly supportive of the nod granted to McGrath in this case. However, she rued the side’s inability to do something about the situation. “Before the toss we got to know … that was something which was not in our control and whatever the decision the Commonwealth had, we had to follow it,” Kaur was quoted by the aforementioned publication.
Eventually, McGrath didn’t really contribute significantly to her team’s victory. She scored two runs off four deliveries before being dismissed by Deepti Sharma in the 12th over.
With the ball, McGrath conceded 24 runs in her two overs. However, her inclusion in the XI certainly served up a burning debate amidst cricket’s re-introduction to the CWG. Do you think it was right on Australia’s part to include the Covid-19 positive player in their playing XI? Let us know your thoughts on Twitter by tagging us @cric_blog.
