It was a rather sad end to what had been an absorbing series. Few Test series, save the Ashes, had generated as much interest in England in recent decades as the one against India, who came to Manchester for the fifth and final Test with a 2-1 lead post an embarrassing performance and some riveting comebacks.
The series finale had been sold out for the first three days, fans from across England spending a fortune to witness a potential humdinger. They were in for a rude shock when, less than two hours before the toss, the match was called off due to fears of a Covid outbreak in the Indian camp following a positive test on the team’s assistant physio Yogesh Parmar, who had treated several players at the end of the Oval Test. This was the fourth positive case in the Indian contingent after head coach Ravi Shastri, bowling coach Bharat Arun and fielding coach R Sridhar while the main physio Nitin Patel was in isolation as a close contact of the trio.
Though the first round of RT-PCR tests on the rest of the Indian contingent returned negative, the players were understandably apprehensive in taking the field together, given the incubation period of the virus. The fear was genuine, for even if one player had tested positive, he could have easily passed it on to his team-mates as cricket isn’t a sport like tennis where close contact is avoidable. No one is going to benefit if players step on the field with a mindset that constantly worries about being infected.
The cancellation has cost the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) heavily, besides denying a bumper revenue for the Lancashire County Cricket Club, the host. It will now have to refund tickets, but what about the money spent by fans on travel and stay? While ECB Chief Executive said there were no winners in this situation, fans - the biggest stakeholders in the game - were the real losers here.
Also, spare a thought for the vendors inside the stadium, who had stocked up beverages and food to be sold to spectators but had to incur heavy losses. Fans could have swallowed the disappointment if it was a weather-related interruption, but how do you accept it when one team is ready to play and the other refuses to take the field?
While their frustration is understandable, they were a collateral in this unfortunate but unavoidable development. Or was it really? Could better sense and appreciation for each other’s concerns have helped avoid this mess? Could both the BCCI and the ECB have come out with a mutually beneficial arrangement of their bilateral engagements that might have negated this farcical finish? The answer could be yes and no depending upon which side of the fence you sit.
Blaming the Indian players or the BCCI’s eagerness to get its players to the UAE, where the remaining part of the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League starts on September 19, is a bit harsh. While IPL could be one of the factors, given the quarantine rules in the UAE, BCCI aren’t the only party to be held accountable. Once the IPL’s second phase was rescheduled after its suspension due to Covid outbreaks in bio-secure bubbles in India in April, the BCCI reached out to the ECB, requesting it to advance the five-Test series by a week so that they could get the players to the UAE well in time to avoid the exact situation that has arisen now. The ECB refused to budge as they felt that the overlapping of the Test series with the inaugural edition of The Hundred would dilute their ambitious project.
If it was fair for them to protect their product, why shouldn’t BCCI do the same with regard to the IPL? While one can empathise with the ECB, which is expected to suffer a loss to the tune of $27 million in broadcast deals, why not extend the same courtesy to the BCCI, who fear losing out on USD290 million if the IPL is affected? If the ECB, the so-called conscience keeper of Test cricket, can prioritise The Hundred over Tests, so can BCCI the IPL. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander, right?
That said, it’s nothing more than a lazy charge at best and an ill-informed opinion at worst that the BCCI doesn’t value Test cricket. There are many things that you can criticise BCCI for. They are undemocratic in their approach and opaque in their functioning. But it’s grossly unfair to accuse them of placing the money-spinning event above the traditional format.
Despite Covid restrictions, India have already played 13 Tests between December 2020 – and the tour of Australia – and now. This is more than any other team; they are scheduled to take on New Zealand at home for two Tests in November-December immediately before touring South Africa for three more Tests. Everyone wants a series with the Indian team because of their financial pull. But it’s only the BCCI that’s greedy if they want to make money. Some double standards that.
It’s funny how some former English cricketers are accusing the BCCI of letting down English cricket. Not too long ago, England did the same to South Africa over less serious concerns. Two SA players had tested positive in what was a bio-secure bubble, but while those results proved false later, the English players had flown out of the African country by then.
“There’s clearly a concern when infections spring up in what is supposed to be a bio-secure environment. It wasn’t one case. There were a couple of (hotel) staff members, a couple of South African players. That’s the bit that really affected our touring group,” Ashley Giles, the ECB director, had said.
There was no talk of forfeiture then.
Australia refused to travel to South Africa at the last minute for their Test series, citing safety concerns despite the hosts having already spent millions to set up a bio-secure bubble as specified by Cricket Australia.
There was no forfeiture despite SA’s insistence.
The ECB’s demand for forfeiture, insensitive as it is given the times we live in, isn’t driven by the fact that they would be potentially losing out on 12 World Test Championship points but because they will lose millions of pounds as the match isn’t insured against cancellation for Covid-related reasons.
In England, there was no bio-secure bubble - wearing a mask isn’t mandatory, there is no bar on social gatherings, hotel staff and ground staff aren’t staying in one place. Basically, it’s free for all. It’s a surprise that this series progressed smoothly for as long as it did, given the fact the country is reporting over 35,000 cases on a daily basis.
It’s unfortunate that such an exciting series had to end this way, the fate of which is still undecided. While ECB says the International Cricket Council will adjudicate the matter, BCCI’s offer to play the cancelled Test at a later date is a welcome decision and must be seriously explored. The cricket boards should function for mutual benefit in these uncertain times and not indulge in blame game because we are going to face such situatuions as long as the virus is lurking around us. And make no mistake, it’s going to be here for a while.
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