Cricket series, IPL on a sticky wicket
West Indies and Pakistan are to tour England in July — for Tests and limited overs matches — signaling the return of international cricket after more than three months. The last match was an ODI between Australia and New Zealand, played in front of an empty stadium in mid-March. By then Covid-19 had struck everywhere.
However, the remaining matches of that series got scuttled as Australia also went into ‘lockdown’, and since then, cricket has been comatose till the announcement last week by the England Cricket Board that West Indies and Pakistan, after some dithering had confirmed they’ll tour.
Expectedly, there is widespread relief across the cricket world at the development. Yet till July certainly, and most likely for several months after, the authorities will have to move gingerly as there are hitches and pitfalls ahead.
The biggest hurdle is the Coronavirus disease itself. While countries across the globe are emerging out of lockdown, this does not mean that the threat has been nullified. Most governments have opened up to prevent the economy from tanking completely. The World Health Organisation still calls it a pandemic situation.
If there is a sudden and massive spike in cases, and particularly in England where the two series’s are to be played, resumption of cricket action could be scuttled. Not just that, it would have a cascading effect on the international itinerary already being reworked.
Reductions in number of cases and fatalities is imperative to convince that life returning to some normalcy. Sporting action resuming is a thrust in that direction, but federations/boards can’t treat the situation cavalierly. All said and done, health must override all other issues.
However, this is not the only hurdle in making the return of sport successful. Not all players may be enthused to get on to the field right now. This could be a big dampener for sports bodies and team managements.
For instance, the 25-member squad announced by the West Indies to tour England in July does not include three players who were considered certainties: Darren Bravo, Shimron Heymeyer and Kemo Paul. All three declined to go on the tour for fears related to Covid19. Cricket West Indies had announced that no action would be taken against players who decline to go to England, which spares the trio punitive action. But their reluctance reveals the apprehension in the minds of all players, even those agreeable to go on the tour.
Likewise, the Pakistan Cricket Board has given its players the liberty to travel to England or not. According to informal reports, there are quite a few who are unwilling to leave even base camp in Lahore, leave aside jetting it to England.
This inevitably brings the Indian Premier League into discussion.
If the league does take place in September/October/November, it is almost certain the matches will be played without spectators in the stadia. But that is not such a major financial blow since the broadcast rights itself for the IPL bring in fantastic revenue.
Worry is that some overseas recruits of the franchises may not want to come, irrespective of the monetary rewards that come with it. Those vehemently in favour of the IPL argue that the tournament should go ahead even if with only Indian players. Nothing to prevent this, but the aura of the tournament will be diminished.
Finally, there is the red flag raised by former India captain Rahul Dravid, who exercised caution in jumping headlong into international cricket. Despite all the steps taken to make the playing environment `bio secure’, Dravid believes dangers still lurk.
In a media interaction recently, he asked what would happen if in the middle of a Test match a player tests positive? Will that match and the series be cancelled because health safeguards put out by governments the world over say that the particular play and those directly associated with him have to be quarantined?
That is an unnerving, and not an impossible scenario. For the moment though, everybody has their fingers crossed that nothing goes wrong in England in July.