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Detailed planning key to safe tour - Grave

Published:Thursday | October 29, 2020 | 12:16 AM
Grave
Grave

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, (CMC):

Cricket West Indies has praised the work of its medical and planning teams for successfully coordinating with Cricket New Zealand to execute the upcoming tour, especially amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

West Indies left the Caribbean late Tuesday for the November 27 to December 15 tour, which will comprise three Twenty20 Internationals and two Tests played under strict bio-secure protocols.

The series will raise the curtain on New Zealand’s international home tours following the absence of cricket due to the global lockdown due to the coronavirus and CWI’s chief executive, Johnny Grave, said intense planning had been key to ensuring a “safe environment”.

“This itinerary and schedule took a lot of detailed planning and we want to thank everyone who played a part in putting it together,” said Grave.

ENSURING SAFE ENVIRONMENT

“In the present COVID-19 environment everything requires great attention to detail. Our medical and logistics teams here have been working very closely with their counterparts in New Zealand to ensure everyone would be in a safe environment which is also conducive to exciting and entertaining cricket on the field.”

New Zealand’s last home series was last March when they swept India in a two-Test series, just prior to the global cessation of the sport.

Following the West Indies series, New Zealand are scheduled to host Pakistan, Australia and Bangladesh stretching into the New Year.

West Indies will undergo a two-week quarantine upon arrival in New Zealand before beginning their training and playing warm-up matches in preparation for the series.

For the Caribbean side, the tour marks their second this year since the COVID-19 outbreak, following their historic three-Test series in England last July.

Grave stressed the tour of New Zealand was an important one, not only to ensure the strength of the game globally but to beef up West Indies’ preparation for major events next year.

“This is a very important tour for us as we build towards defending our ICC T20 World Cup title and also complete another series in the ICC World Test Championship.

“Fans all around the world have been missing their favourite sports, so we want to continue to play our part to bring joy and smiles to the faces of those who support and enjoy our cricket.”

Caribbean-based players from both the Test and T20 squads departed the region together and will be joined in New Zealand afterwards by players currently campaigning in the Indian Premier League.

All players and staff tested negative for COVID-19 prior to departure.