Fifth Test called off as Covid hits India

ADMINISTRATORS from England and India moved into damage limitation mode after yesterday’s last-minute cancellation of the decisive fifth Test at Old Trafford.

Just a little over two hours before the match was scheduled to start, and only a few minutes before the gates were due to open to a sell-out crowd of 22,000 fans, the game was called off due to Covid worries in the Indian camp.

The England & Wales Cricket Board initially claimed India had forfeited the match, which would have led to a 2-2 draw in the series, but that wording quickly disappeared from a new statement. The tourists later issued their own assessment, suggesting that their “strong relationship” with the ECB meant they had opened talks around rescheduling the game.

That will not happen quickly, however, with the Indian Premier League re-starting on September 19 in the United Arab Emirates, with the likeliest window in a crammed calendar now next summer. India are already due to travel for a six-match white-ball trip and a five-day Manchester detour is under consideration.

That would be welcome news for Lancashire, who estimate a “multi-million pound loss” as a result of the cancellation and are already looking to the ECB to help them avert financial disaster.

The latest Covid case, possibly from a physio understood to have been in close contact with a large number of players, caused enough unrest to leave the tourists unable to field a side.