CSA s chief medic ’ devastated at cancellation of tour

England ’ s astonishing accomplishment in completing their full summer of international cricket without a single positive test for the coronavirus may have set the bar of expectation unreasonably high, if not impossibly so, for the rest of the cricket-playing world to match.

The man in charge of creating SA’s bio-secure bubble”, Cricket SA chief medical officer Dr Shuaib Manjra, said he was “personally devastated ” that England’s tour had been cancelled after three members of the home team and two members of the Vineyard Hotel staff tested positive.

I could not be more disappointed, but I said before the tour that we should expect some positive tests and the question would be how we treated and managed them. The ECB [England Cricket Board] created a ‘ vacuum’ for their international season at enormous cost — and at two venues perfect for the requirements, with on-site hotels,” Manjra said.

It was suggested to me that the term ‘ bio-secure’ is revisited because I don’t believe it is financially or logistically possible for any other country to create the environment that the ECB did in their summer, without enforcing a virtual police state. Even in New Zealand recently there were six positive tests among the Pakistan squad while they were in managed quarantine’.

I believe we reacted timeously and operated safely when we had positive tests and I am also confident the two venues and the hotel did all they could to keep a secure perimeter around them. But this is a virus that the whole world has struggled to contain and control,” Manjra said.

News that the England team had been playing golf during the 10-day quarantine period before the tour started, and on days between games, has raised some eyebrows, but it was never a secret. Eoin Morgan’s squad were filmed pushing golf clubs on trolleys through Cape Town airport on arrival.

“Golf was a key request for the tour to go ahead and we were comfortable with that because some allowances have to be made for the players’ mental well-being. Many of the England players have been in some sort of bubble for months and you cannot expect them to sit in their rooms all day,” Manjra said.

They were transported in accredited vehicles as close to the first tee as possible and never visited the pro-shop or clubhouse. They didn’t interact with anyone at the golf course and there were no other golfers near them. The England team played many rounds of golf and the SA team also had one round of golf. I am completely confident that they, and the bubble, were not compromised.

Such concessions, I believe, will have to be made in future if we want to continue playing professional cricket. We will soon run out of players willing to live in a vacuum in order to play the game,” Manjra said.

The “Covid command centre” run by the local police, the Vineyard Hotel management and Manjra himself are all still unaware of how the virus entered the bubble, but he said investigations will continue.

“I am unaware of any significant breaches of protocol. There were very minor breaches by both squads but nothing that points to a cause of infection. It is unreasonable to expect 100% compliance from everyone at all times, and it is equally unreasonable to expect zero infections. We are human beings, and once in a while we might forget to use hand sanitiser. I’m not suggesting anyone left the hotel or committed any serious breach. I am absolutely certain that nothing like that happened.”

Manjra praised his counterparts on the ECB medical team for their collaborative approach and cooperation. “They were open, tolerant and understanding. So many of us put a great deal of energy, labour and resources into making this a successful tour so, personally, I’m devastated that we have not been able to complete it.

But I know that we did everything possible with the resources at our disposable and there were no details we missed in the months of planning we undertook before England arrived,” Manjra said.

Former England captain and current Sky television pundit Nasser Hussain said even if the positive tests were safely dealt with, as Manjra says, the lastminute cancellation of two matches was the “final straw” for many of England’s players

They have this window to get to Australia [for the Big Bash] and sit in quarantine, or a window of getting home, seeing family and have a bit of time where you’re not passing Covid tests and everything is on top of you,” said Hussain.

This was the final straw when the bubble was breached. The players must have just gone enough’. The last thing any player would have wanted in the next two or three days is to pick up Covid from a bubble which has been breached. That ’ s the worst-case scenario.

There is no good time to get Covid. But getting it now before Christmas and taking it back home to relatives is an absolute nightmare and they were not willing to risk that,” he said.