(CMC) – Australia’s One-Day International series against West Indies was thrown into doubt yesterday after a member of the home side’s support staff tested positive for COVID-19, forcing the suspension of the second ODI at Kensington Oval.
The toss was spun in anticipation of a 2:30 pm (Eastern Caribbean time) start but a subsequent delay led to the eventual announcement of a positive COVID-19 case among the non-playing West Indies staff.
And Cricket West Indies chief executive, Johnny Grave, confirmed the development in a statement, saying both teams, officials and television crews had returned to their hotels to undergo isolation, and would be retested later yesterday.
“The second ODI … has been postponed due to a positive COVID-19 test result. That was confirmed today [as] a non-playing member of the West Indies staff,” Grave said.
“This decision was taken after the toss at Kensington Oval once the result was known and confirmed by the Ministry of Health officials.
“The established COVID-19 protocols stipulate that all members of both teams and match officials and all the TV crew will return immediately to the team hotel and will be re-tested later today.”
He added: “In the meantime, everyone will have to remain in isolation in their rooms until those PCR tests results are confirmed.
“We’ll make a further decision when the match can be replayed at a later date once all the test results are back in, which will hopefully be by tomorrow morning.”
Teams arrived here last weekend following a five-match Twenty20 series which was successfully staged at the Daren Sammy National Stadium in St Lucia.
They travelled on the same charter flight from St Lucia but have been staying on different floors of the team hotel here.
Tuesday’s first ODI came off uneventfully with Australia thrashing the hosts by 133 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
A decision was taken prior to the start of the series that matches would be played behind closed doors, especially with the small island experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases. Only last week, health officials tightened COVID measures, including the re-implementation of a 11 pm to 5 am curfew, to mitigate against the spread of the virus.
As of Wednesday, there were 173 persons in isolation, with 4319 cases recorded since the start of the pandemic last year, along with 48 deaths.
The third ODI was scheduled to be played tomorrow.
