The second ODI between West Indies and Australia in Barbados was suspended due to a coronavirus case in the Windies camp and both teams are in isolation.
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The second ODI between West Indies and Australia at the Kensington Oval in Barbados was suspended after a coronavirus positive case emerged from the Windies camp. The toss in the second ODI had just finished, with Australia choosing to bat. Shai Hope was in the Windies team while Australia handed a debut to Riley Meredith. Initially, the match was delayed due to some operational issues. Later on, the true picture emerged.
In a statement by Cricket West Indies, it said, “The second ODI between West Indies and Australia has been postponed due to a positive COVID-19 test result from a non-playing member of the West Indies staff. This decision was taken after the toss at Kensington Oval once the result was known. The established COVID-19 protocols stipulate that all members of both teams and match officials will return immediately to the team hotel and will be re-tested later today. All the members, players, and match officials will be re-tested today and a decision on when the match will be replayed will be made at a later date once the test results are known. They will remain in isolation in their hotel rooms until their PCR-Test results are returned.”
Cricket West Indies CEO Johnny Grave said the results of the new round of tests conducted would be known soon. All the Australian players are in their hotel rooms and in isolation. Apart from the players, the match officials and TV crew are also in isolation. Barbados has seen a spike with 17 cases in the last 24 hours.
With the status of the second ODI not known, the rest of the series is in jeopardy. Australia will play the last ODI on Sunday in Barbados before flying out to Bangladesh on July 29. However, this latest development puts Australia’s tour to Bangladesh in jeopardy.
Apart from Australia, even West Indies might suffer. Pakistan is the next team to play a series that will include five Twenty20 Internationals and two Tests. The five-match T20I series begins on July 27 with the first two games in Barbados. If the test returns positive, then the status of the Pakistan series is also in doubt.
This is the first time that Australia has been involved in a coronavirus bubble breach in a series. The five-time world champions had toured England and the series went off without any incident. Australia also hosted India successfully in the home summer and traveled to New Zealand. The tour to South Africa was canceled due to the pandemic but many players went to the IPL. However, the IPL 2021 bio-bubble was breached and the tournament was suspended.
For West Indies, Hayden Walsh Jr, who was the star of the T20I series and the first ODI, had tested positive for the coronavirus during their tour to Bangladesh. This is the first time that the bio-bubble at home has been breached. West Indies had successfully hosted Sri Lanka and South Africa but this has come as a big disappointment for them.
The status of the remaining matches will only be confirmed on Friday evening Indian time. Until then, everyone in Australia vs West Indies series will remain in isolation in their hotel rooms.
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