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England in South Africa: Cricket skating on thin ice amid Covid calamity


Juvenile and grown-ups alike couldn't get enough of Pocket Tanks Deluxe from the turn of the twentieth century. The video game featured a fully destructible environment, allowing players to position themselves on pedestals, in tunnels, or bunkers, and gunfire a slew of weapons to attack the rival's tank. The analogue supported 325 variations in armoury but none were as truculent as the jackhammer. If hurled with laser-guided precision, it yo-yoed upon the enemy like a mallet and grounded its poor soul to dust. Cricket South Africa find themselves at the mercy of one such jackhammer. 

The alarm bells started to ring with the perennial saga of racial injustice exploding in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement, as the administrational rifts culminated in the removal of the entire board. The hatchet was buried with the members' council acknowledging an interim board proposed by the government and the pact hence paved the way for the resurgence of international cricket in South Africa. Not that it kicked off on a sweet note, with England steamrolling the hosts for a series whitewash in the T20I tryst. 

You'd be forgiven for thinking that the rainbow nation would have hit the pain threshold and inflicting more misery on the cricket fanatics of the land would be a sin on the part of the almighty. But the universe seems to be holding personal grudges against them. Quinton de Kock's men were gearing up for possibly another leather hunt in the first ODI when CSA pulled the plug just a couple of hours before the scheduled beginning after a member in South Africa's squad had tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday. 

At what should have been toss time on Friday, a commentator stood alone in the middle of the pitch, no doubt informing his audience of the unfortunate developments. The scoreboard painted a sorry picture: "1st ODI: Match has been postponed". 

"In the interests of the safety and well-being of both teams, match officials and all involved in the match, the acting CEO of CSA, Kugandrie Govender as well as the CEO of the ECB, Tom Harrison, have agreed to postpone the first fixture to Sunday.", the official statement read. The latest victim is the third recorded in the Proteas camp since CSA announced the first on November 18.

Covid-19 snatches the smiles away

It was in the wee months of this doomed year that coronavirus ate cricket alive. On 13 March 2020, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced that the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League will be postponed from 29 March to 15 April. On 16 April, BCCI suspended the tournament indefinitely due to the pandemic later announced that IPL will be carried out overseas. On 13 March, BCCI cancelled the ODI rubbers between India and South Africa on 15 and 18 March, which were originally set to be played behind closed doors. On the same day, the two-match Test series between Sri Lanka and England, scheduled to be played in March, also fell prey to the invisible foe. On 14 March, the remaining two limited-over internationals of the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy along with the three-match T20I series between Australia and New Zealand were cancelled due to the stringent border restrictions imposed in New Zealand. 

On 9 April, the Test series between Australia and Bangladesh bore the brunt while on 20 April, Sri Lanka and South Africa cricket boards confirmed that SA tour to the island nation has been postponed. On 23 June, New Zealand's tour to Bangladesh, which was scheduled to take place in August, was postponed. A day later, on 24 June, Bangladesh's tour to Sri Lanka also copped the axe. On 30 June, Zimbabwe's ODI tour to Australia was postponed while on 9 July, the 2020 Asia Cup was postponed until the following July. On 4 August, the West Indies T20I tour to Australia was called off as Australia's one-off Test match versus Afghanistan too had its fate sealed.

A taxing tale of woeful wanderers and nasal swabs

England left no stone unturned in bringing the cricketing world back to its feet and their smoothly-conducted series against West Indies underlined the never-say-die spirit of the sport. Although the crack of leather on willow after what seemed like ages was greeted with a huge sigh of relief and desperation for more, the pathogen was only spreading its wings on other similar ventures. 13 members of the Chennai Super Kings contingent contracted the virus which comprised of players Deepak Chahar and Ruturaj Gaikwad, with the latter taking longer than the estimated recovery period to win the battle against the coronavirus which kept him out of contention for almost a three-fourth of the league span. 

The ordeals of a bio-bubble can give the sanest individuals a run for their money. Throw in frenzied, happy-go-lucky athletes into the picture and you're asking for trouble. And who else than the party animals of West Indies to lend the pot another stir. New Zealand’s Ministry of Health said CCTV footage from the team hotel showed players mingling in hallways and sharing food in violation of regulated isolation norms. The breaching of protocols bereft the Windies of training privileges in the lead-up to their ongoing trial against New Zealand. 

Pakistan ploughed the same furrow and the New Zealand health ministry found six players had tested positive, and four who had what was called historic infections. Sarfaraz Ahmed, Rohail Nazir, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Abid Ali and Danish Aziz are among the symptomatic victims.  With this many of the touring party found to be the carriers of Covid-19 at some point since landing in New Zealand, question marks arise on whether the PCB's procedures and processes before the squad departed met the necessary parameters. 

"Rather than being in their own rooms, which is a requirement for the first three days, there was some mingling in the hallways, chatting, sharing food and not wearing masks," Dr Ashley Bloomfield, the country's director-general of health slammed the Pakistanis. New Zealand follows a zero-tolerance policy in their bid to quash the pandemic's curve and any further negligencies from the visitors would warrant a return ticket home.

South Africa get a clean chit 

Cutting to the chase, officials in charge of CSA's bio-bubble state Covid-19 protocols have not been flouted, and that they are no longer investigating possible breaches. That's after South Africa's squad returned negative tests on Saturday in the wake of Friday's first ODI against England at Newlands being postponed due to a positive case for the virus being detected among the South Africans by Thursday's tests. The ball should thus be set rolling in Paarl on Sunday, as amended. 

"There was no breach to investigate from our team's point of view," South Africa's team management have cleared their stance. How the microscopic devil penetrated the cocoon remains a grave mystery in this case, but the aforementioned fiascos had unnecessary mischief written all over them. Human lives are at stake and players need to be vigilantly responsible for their actions at all times. Otherwise, the pandemic will keep bursting cricket's bubble every now and then. 

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