It’s just not cricket

Pakistani cricketers are on their ‘‘final warning’’ after breaking managed isolation rules in Christchurch.

The Ministry of Health said ‘‘several’’ members of the Pakistan men’s cricket team were seen breaking the rules on CCTV cameras, but the ministry did not provide detail of what rules were broken.

The breaches happened despite ‘‘clear, consistent and detailed communication of expected behaviours’’, a spokeswoman said.

Yesterday was their third day in isolation at the Chateau on the Park hotel in Christchurch.

The Canterbury District Health Board’s medical officer of health has now sent a letter to the squad’ s management saying all teammembers must stay in their rooms until further advised. Training privileges have been revoked.

Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said the rule breaking was being taken very seriously. ‘‘It is a privilege to come to New Zealand to play sport, but in return teams must stick to the rules that are designed to keep Covid-19 out of our communities and keep our staff safe,’’ he said.

The warnings came as the Ministry of Health confirmed six of the 53-member squad had tested positive for Covid-19. A statement from New Zealand Cricket said two of the cases were historical and four were new.

The positive tests were from the team’s day one testing on Tuesday. All members of the team returned negative tests before flying to New Zealand.

The positive cases have been moved to separate quarantine rooms in the hotel and all players will be tested at least four times before leaving the facility. The rule breaking and positive cases were confined to the hotel and the ministry was confident there was no risk to the public.

Pakistan’s firstmatch against the Black Caps is a T20 at Auckland’s Eden Park on December 18.

‘‘It’s a privilege to come to New Zealand . . .’’ Ashley Bloomfield