NZC sweats on summer’s biggest tests

You could just picture the ashen faces and flurry of activity at New Zealand Cricket headquarters on Thursday, the eve of a much-awaited home international season.

Having carefully negotiated the West Indies’ arrival, and charted their negative tests and release from managed isolation in quarantine (MIQ) in time for last night’s Twenty20 opener before an unrestricted crowd, news of Pakistan’s six Covid-19 positives would have caused parts of the home summer to flash before chief executive David White’s eyes. Mainly, visions of dollar signs cascading down a drain if this tour was to be cancelled due to a widespread outbreak among the touring side’s 34 players.

Hysterical calls to send Pakistan home for what appear minor isolation breaches miss the point that this tour means a lot more to NZC than captain Babar Azam’s men, who along with West Indies, completed lockdown tours of England in a massive favour to their cricket-starved hosts.

When the home schedule was confirmed, after receiving Government approval of MIQ facilities and training bubbles, White said: ‘‘It’s a huge boost for us. It’s our financial lifeline. International cricket funds the whole game of cricket in New Zealand so it’s very, very important for us.

‘‘Our adherence to the Government protocols is very important. Managed isolation for teams is going to be important and we’re conscious of the opportunity that the Government has given us and the responsibility we’ve got as a sport to follow all rules and regulations. We totally understand that.’’

Already, NZC faces a bill of $2 million-plus for MIQ for West Indies, Pakistan (who brought 34 players and 20 support staff), Australia and Bangladesh, plus Australia and England’s women sides.

In NZC’s annual report, outgoing chair Greg Barclay said it had budgeted for a $3.5m loss this season due to the increased cost of inbound tours and MIQ. After cost-cutting at head office it clawed back a $1.5m surplus for 2019-20.

Throw in the potential loss of commercial and broadcast income and ticket sales if, hypothetically, the three Pakistan T20 internationals and two tests (including Boxing Day at Bay Oval) were canned, and would be damaging.

Black Caps internationals draw between 80-90 per cent of NZC’s revenue, which last year totalled $59.24 million. Even matches in empty stadia to fulfil broadcasting contracts, if there was an upgrade in alert levels, would limit the damage.

For now, NZC is tightlipped apart from insisting the Pakistan schedule is not under threat. The situation will become clearer in the coming days, and their bloated tour squad is a plus.

Yesterday marked day three of Pakistan’s stay and they all underwent mandatory testing, the results of which will be known today.

That’s the biggest worry for NZC now, how widely the virus has spread within the squad at Christchurch’s Chateau on the Park. Four of the day one tests were fresh positives, the other two weak positives which suggests historical infection. it

Assistant coach Shahid Aslam was diverted to quarantine on landing in Auckland after declaring a sore throat, but since tested negative and will rejoin the squad when he completes his 14 days MIQ. Batsman Fakhar Zaman was scratched from the tour after reporting a fever before the squad departed.

Yes, some broke isolation protocols and received a dramatic ‘‘final warning’’ from the Ministry of Health, along with a firm, measured tune-up from Pakistan’s highly regarded chief executive Wasim Khan.

These breaches were understood to be minor, but careless, and exacerbated an already tenuous situation.

The message, hopefully, got through, as it did with West Indies from their CEO.

Under the original plan, assuming everyone tested negative on day three, Pakistan would have been permitted to split into four bubbles of 13-14 and train behind closed doors at NZC’s high performance centre at Lincoln from today.

That’s now on hold, but if the virus is contained, some bubbles could potentially start training on Tuesday after a further negative test on day six.

If there are more cases, Pakistan’s first training will be delayed further and warmup matches may need to be pushed back, their buildup severely compromised.

They at least are fresh from their domestic T20 competition. As it stands the first T20 international against the Black Caps is scheduled for Eden Park on December 18.

It’s not panic stations yet, and today’s test results will be anxiously awaited. NZC’s balance sheet, and a host of expectant cricket fans in both countries, depend on it.

‘‘Visions of dollar signs cascading down a drain if this [Pakistan] tour was to be cancelled due to a widespread outbreak.’’