Cricket West Indies (CWI) Chief Executive Officer, Johnny Grave has expressed optimism that the body can resume cricket within the scheduled timeframe.
“We are hoping that cricket can restart in time for the U17s and U19s to be played as planned in July and August,” Grave told Stabroek Sport.
The Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic has already impacted a number of tournaments in the region forcing the cancelation of the final two rounds of the West Indies Championships as well as the cancelation of the under-15 boys’ tournament and the under-15 tour of England. Also, the boys’ under-19 tour of England scheduled for August and September.
The female under-19 and Women’s Super50 regional tournaments, which were scheduled for Guyana are also postponed.
However, for the youth tournament, Grave stated, “We will look to rearrange during one of the school holidays before the World Cup in January 2021.”
Grave placed a high priority tag on the tournament, confirming that the tournament is of importance since, “[it is] in order for us to prepare and select our U19 squad ahead of the inaugural WC [World Cup]”
Chairman of the CWI’s medical advisory committee, Dr. Donovan Bennett, stated, “We are acting based on medical best practice as well as in an abundance of caution. The ongoing gathering of even small groups of spectators, cricketers and match officials could pose a risk to some persons of contracting the virus and being stranded in quarantine in a non-resident country for a prolonged period. Clearly this pandemic is still evolving, and we will continue to monitor the situation throughout the Caribbean”.
Meanwhile, CWI’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Israel Dowlat stated “the health and safety of our players, officials and staff, are of paramount importance to CWI and we have advised the Board of Directors to take proactive policy steps to decrease the growing risk of contamination and spread of the virus”.
CWI President, Ricky Skerritt reiterated a call for unity in the face of the pandemic.
He stated, “There is no live cricket available, because all around the world we are in a new battle to prevent the spread of the deadly COVID-19 virus. As such, we all now need to join the same team as we unite in this global battle with each other, for each other. We must now couple our passion for cricket with our love for the health and safety of our family, friends, community, and ourselves.”
