West Indies’ Rovman Powell looks dejected after losing his wicket against England. Action Images via Reuters / Jason
Cairnduff, File
By Azad Ali
England fast bowler James Anderson
has given credit to the West Indies team
for taking the “scary decision” to go ahead
with the three-match Test tour amid
the COVID-19 pandemic that has so far
claimed more than 41,000 lives in the UK.
The regional team arrived in Manchester
two weeks ago ahead of the historic
three Test series, which will be played in a
“bio-secure” environment and will be the
first series to be played since the pandemic
put sports across the world on hold about
four months ago.
“ I think it’s great for the game, brilliant
that we’re closing in on getting some Test
cricket played after a decent lay-off,” said
Anderson during a conference call with
the media.
“Certainly, from our point of view, we’re
very grateful the West Indies are coming
over here. I can imagine. A scary decision
for a lot of them, for all of them, to
make the journey over, so we’re grateful,”
Caribbean L 32 ife, June 26-July 2, 2020
he said.
A Jason Holder-captained 25-man
squad, including 11 reserves, is in Old
Trafford, Manchester, where they will be
quarantined for two weeks, during which
time they will continue to train in a bid
to defend the converted Wisden Trophy
which they won in the Caribbean last
year.
The tour will be historic not only for
the circumstances under which it is being
held. It is the first series in which players
will have to abide by an International
Cricket Council (ICC) ban on the use of
spit to shine the ball. Sweat, however, will
still be allowed under the interim regulation
changes that have been implemented
to stop the spread of the coronavirus
disease.
England’s James Anderson celebrates
the wicket of South Africa’s
Keshav Maharaj. REUTERS / Mike
Hutchings
Sir Andy
Continued from Page 31
land and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)
stood to save 380 million pounds
sterling by convincing teams to honor
commitments during the summer.
“I don’t have a problem with them
negotiating to go to England. What I
have a problem is that there are talks
about West Indies not going to benefit
from this tour financially, which I
think would be a mistake because the
chances we’re going to take I don’t
know much more countries are willing
to take that chance,” the 69-yearold
Sir Andy said. He snatched 202
wickets from 47 Tests between 1974
and 1983.
West Indies was scheduled to tour
England last month but the three-
Test series was postponed as the United
Kingdom wrestled with the fallout
from the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a bid to rescue their summer
schedule and hundreds of millions of
dollars in in television revenue, the
ECB proposed staging the series in a
radical “bio-secure” environment.
Players will be isolated for the
duration of the seven-week tour and
play each Test behind closed doors
at “bio-secure” venues with hotels
on site.
Recently, CWI Chief Executive
Officer, Johnny Grave said while the
ECB had covered the “costs of all the
mitigating factors” of the tour, the
regional governing body would pick
up the tab for player match fees and
other allowances.
Further, he said, the EBC would
keep all revenue as was the norm for
bilateral tours.
However, Sir Andy reiterated that
the “risk” undertaken by West Indies
on the tour should have accompanied
by some special compensation.
“We can’t go to places to play
Test cricket where you’re going to
make any money. We can play One-
Day games in some of these places,
which would be much better for West
Indies instead of taking them to places
where you know that nobody is
going to come for the four or five
days. Cricket is very expensive so we
have to look at all these things, Sir
Clive said.
CWI, already in a tough financial
situation, has been significantly
impacted by the pandemic which has
forced the postponement of some
revenue-generating series that are
now in jeopardy of being called off.
Recently CWI President, Ricky
Skerritt said the situation had
plunged CWI’s “already poor financial
state into ICU” and the urgency
of the situation required cost-cutting
and not simply coast-saving.
Thomas and Rovman Powell, both
rising stars in the West Indies and
world cricket” he said.
He said Chadwick Walton brings
a wealth of leadership experience to
the team and has been a dominant
player over the years in the CPL.
International retentions and signings
will be announced at a later
date.Miller said this year teams can
retain as many players from their
2019 squads as they wish but they
could also transfer players to other
teams and sign emerging players.
The CPL is scheduled to take place
between Aug. 19 and Sept. 26 but
the tournament organizers are currently
monitoring the current situation
with COVID-19 closely and are
liaising with medical advisers and
governments.
A decision on whether the tournament
can proceed as planned or at a
different time will be made as soon
as possible.
Continued from Page 31
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Clive Lloyd
English fast bowler praises Windies decision
/date.Mil