New Delhi: Former India captain Rahul Dravid expressed his concerns with respect to the bio-bubble safety plan put forward by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) recently.
England are trying to host a three-match Test series against West Indies in July and they have come up with the idea of keeping players and officials safe amid coronavirus pandemic by creating a bio-secure environment around them.
Dravid questioned what will happen to the entire plan if a player tests positive for the virus during a later stage of the Test match. According to Dravid, cricket won’t resume anytime soon considering the risks involved in the wake of COVID-19.
“A lot of these things are going to be dictated by the situation and how it evolves. In case of the bio-bubble, you do all the testing and quarantine and then on day two of the Test match, what if one player, for example, tests positive? What happens then?” Dravid said on a webinar organised by YUVA as per ESPNCricinfo.
“The rules, as they stand now, will see the Public Health Department coming in and putting everyone in quarantine, that ends the Test, that series, even though they may have incurred a lot of expense to create that (secure) environment.
“So we have to work with the health authorities and governments to work out ways in which, if someone tests positive, you don’t cancel the full tournament. If we are talking of the environment of sport, given the rules that exist now, it will be difficult for sport to resume,” he added.
Despite such risks involved, the ECB and CWI seem to be working towards going ahead with the series as earlier, Cricket West Indies CEO had said they are in the final stages of discussions with their English counterparts.
“We are in the final stages of discussions with the ECB and they are in the final stages of finalising their plans in order to get the UK government and ECB board support,” Johnny Grave was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
“We are expecting to get a formal offer to tour England probably by the end of the month so that we can get our board’s approval and the players can potentially leave the Caribbean in early June,” he added. (IANS)
