Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Cricket West Indies (CWI), Johnny Grave has expressed his disappointment with the decision by several players in the West Indies camp to breach the COVID-19 protocols in New Zealand.
The CEO appeared on a late-night press conference Tuesday to inform the media of the ongoing situation and has acknowledged that CWI is supporting the decision taken to bar the players from training during the remaining quarantine period.
“Yes we are disappointed, yes we are surprised that the players would, having gone through so many months of playing in a bio-secure environment that they would have let themselves down and let Cricket West Indies down and potentially put the tour at risk and the New Zealand population at risk albeit from the information we received the risk is extremely low because of the fact that the players were tested three times before they left the Caribbean all negative and had already undertaken two negative tests in New Zealand,” said Gayle
“From the information we have received so far, we have been told that the incidents in question included some players compromising the bubble integrity by mixing between two separate West Indies bubbles into which the touring party had been split, by sharing food and socialising in hallways,” he added.
The CEO’s expectation for the current arrangements also remained intact.
“There was no mention of any change to the bio-secure measures and protocols that will take place tomorrow when our players from the IPL land in Auckland and make their way to the same facility in Christchurch…At this stage we are expecting negative results tomorrow (yesterday) from the entire touring party and they would be able to leave on Friday as planned and make their way to Queenstown,” he stated.
Grave indicated that an internal investigation has already been launched and will be led by team manager, Rawl Lewis. The investigation will include getting information from New Zealand Cricket and the country’s Ministry of Health as well as individual interviews to understand exactly what took place.
The Englishman explained that it was made clear prior to the tour that if anyone left the quarantine facility without permission, they would be sent home immediately.
“There is no evidence at this stage that any member of the touring party left the facility or any unauthorized person accessed it or any members of our touring party interacted with anyone who may be at that managed isolation facility outside of obviously support staff or medical practitioners from the New Zealand authorities who are managing the facility,” he said.
From a preparation perspective, Grave pointed out that some 20 percent of the team’s training ahead of their first practice match has been lost.
“We would have lost four days, around 20 percent of our training period before going into the match scenarios with the three-day game due to take place next week in Queenstown. Look it’s a blow to our preparation plans especially for the players that haven’t taken part in the Caribbean Premier League and, therefore, haven’t played any competitive cricket or professional cricket since the end of the England tour that ended in July so it’s a really significant blow to our preparations,” he stated.
