CWI ponders COVID risks ahead of busy 2022

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):

FACED WITH a busy 2022 schedule amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Cricket West Indies (CWI) says managing risk will be a key factor for the organisation over the coming months in determining the success of its international commitments.

Both the senior men and women’s Caribbean side have been active throughout 2021, and will be confronted with an even busier schedule in 2022, with the Women’s 50-over World Cup set for New Zealand and the men’s Twenty20 World Cup scheduled for Australia.

The Under-19 side, dubbed the Rising Stars, will also compete at the ICC Under-19 World Cup starting next month in the Caribbean, further adding to an already complex international itinerary for CWI.

However, chief executive Johnny Grave said the regional governing body was already braced for the challenges associated with staging multiple tours during a pandemic but believed it could do so while protecting the health and safety of players and officials.

“We’ve got a lot of cricket coming up in January,” Grave pointed out.

“We’ve got the Under-19 Cricket World Cup where we’ll be hosting 16 teams from all around the world coming to the Caribbean, as well as Ireland who are coming into Jamaica for some white ball cricket, and also England in late January into Barbados for five T20s.

“So the start of the year is going to be very, very busy for us, so again, we’ll be managing the risk of COVID the best we can, working closely with the governments of the region, especially the ministries of health, to ensure we keep our players and support staff and visiting teams as safe as possible, and also those communities who are kindly hosting our cricket.”

He continued: “Clearly COVID is still around and all the players and support staff are fully vaccinated, which clearly does manage and mitigate the risk in terms of anyone getting seriously ill.

“But we need to be highly vigilant at all times to protect ourselves and protect our colleagues, and our friends and families and communities.

“So it’s going to be another busy year for Cricket West Indies, particularly the start of the year, and we just hope that we can get through the cricket as safely and successfully as we possibly can.”

Only last week, CWI was forced to abort the One-Day International phase of the Pakistan tour, after nine members of the West Indies touring party tested positive for COVID-19 during the three-match Twenty20 series.

Among the positive cases were six players, leaving tour selectors struggling to string together a meaningful squad for the December 18-22 matches.

Only weeks earlier, West Indies Women found themselves with a difficult trip home after the ICC 50-over World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe were abruptly cancelled, following the emergence of a new COVID-19 variant in southern Africa.

With major nations like the United States, United Kingdom and the European Union bloc slapping travel restrictions on southern African nations, it meant West Indies Women were forced to fly to Oman, spending 10 days in the Gulf state before being allowed to return to the Caribbean.

“It’s been a difficult few weeks for us with the women’s team having to come home from Zimbabwe after the ICC Qualifiers were abandoned due to travel disruption and uncertainty caused by this new variant,” Grave said.

“Luckily, the women’s team are all now back in the Caribbean … and I want to thank them for their understanding in what has been a very difficult situation.

“They had to spend 10 days in Oman going through a period of time outside of southern Africa before they could fly back through the UK or US, depending on what visas they had, and flight availability.”

He added: “But it’s a big relief to us and I’m sure to them, and their friends and family that they’re now safely back in the Caribbean and can get a bit of a break as we look ahead to next year.

“And now having qualified for the New Zealand World Cup in February-March, we can begin our plans to prepare the team for an exciting World Cup.”