Yesterday, a private charter carrying twenty-five West Indian cricketers arrived in Manchester for the start of their 2020 Tour of England. The West Indies are answering an SOS call from the England Cricket Board (ECB) which is desperately trying to salvage this summer’s cricket season. Should this tour be taking place, given the current backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic?
Three players, who were selected for the tour, have opted not to make the trip, and they have been reassured by Cricket West Indies (CWI) that the board “fully respects their decision” and there will be no recriminations as regards future selection. The players are Darren Bravo, the middle order batsman, a veteran of 54 Tests and arguably the team’s best batsman, and the upcoming dynamic Guyanese duo of middle order bat Shimron Hetmyer and all-rounder Keemo Paul.
The trio, who were members of the team which surprisingly regained the Wisden Trophy from England last year in the West Indies, has decided, in spite of the forthcoming 50 percent pay cut for players as of 1st July, and the promise of 15,000 pounds for the tour, that the risk/reward factor is not worth the trip.
The ECB have gone to great lengths to try and recoup as much as possible of the 220 million pound per year television broadcast deal, and are hoping to demonstrate to Pakistan, Ireland and Australia, who are all slated to visit England later this summer, that the plan for bio-secure matches is plausible.
On Monday, two planes, courtesy of the ECB, picked up the players from the various Caribbean Islands, and flew them to Antigua, where they joined the private charter, also compliments of the ECB. The 25 man squad – 14 players in the Test squad and 11 reserves – will be tested again for COVID-19 (they were tested prior to departure) and quarantined. Over the course of the seven-week tour, originally scheduled for May and June, the players will live, train and play in bio-secure environments.
Strict protocols are in place to limit the players’ movement in and out of the selected venues, Southampton (First Test) and Old Trafford (Second and Third Tests), which have hotels attached or nearby that were easily converted into secure venues. The three-match series will be conducted over the relatively short time frame of three weeks.
England is among the countries hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, and lots of questions are still being asked of its leader’s initial response to the pandemic warning. According to the BBC World News website, as of writing, there have been 40,597 deaths with a positive test result, 48,106 deaths where the death certificate mentions COVID-19, and 61,895 deaths over and above the usual number at this time of year (as of May 22), along with almost 290,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the UK. However, these numbers only include those people who have been tested and are likely to be higher.
Yesterday, the world recorded its highest daily jump of cases (136,000), according to the WHO chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who stated, “More than six months into the pandemic, this is not the time for any country to take its foot off the pedal.”
Is this tour a desperate act by two cricket boards? Is the ECB trying to save a multi-million pound television deal, whilst the CWI, which recently admitted that it is in a dire financial position, urgently trying to put some pounds into its coffers? Is England, bearing in mind the COVID-19 numbers, the right location at this time, to kick-start the international cricket schedule? Have Bravo, Hetmyer and Paul made the correct decision to skip the tour?
Win or lose, West Indies cricket is still dear to all of us in the Caribbean. Has the risk of sending this team into that environment been properly assessed? As the players venture into new uncharted waters, there are more questions than answers, which only time will resolve. At the end of the day, participating in a Test series is secondary to the safety and well-being of our players.
