Ashley Giles rubbishes possibility of protocol breach; Pakistan get safety assurance from England board

After seven England members tested positive for COVID-19 just two days before the Pakistan series, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) director of men’s cricket Ashley Giles refuted the possibility of a breach in bio-bubble protocols. He attributed the predicament to the highly transmissible Delta variant.

England found themselves in a precarious situation on Tuesday (July 6) after three players and four members of the support staff tested positive, forcing the rest to go into isolation as well. However, the ECB named nine uncapped players in a refurbished 18-member squad - led by Ben Stokes - almost immediately. Giles expressed faith in the existing protocols.

“I’m very confident the players haven’t breached any of those protocols. We can’t say where it originated. The squad have been living under very tight restrictions. We haven’t gambled. I don’t believe we’ve gambled at all. We are fully aware of the risks and we are aware of the knife edge that we are working on all the time.

“This year we tried to operate in what we called ‘safe environments’, but from the nature of what we are doing this year – playing all around the country, travelling a lot, hotels that aren’t sole use – and given this variant, the risk of us catching infection in the group was obviously going to go up,” Giles was quoted as saying by BT Sport.

Notably, two members of the team management first tested positive for the deadly virus yesterday, following which everyone had to undergo the RT-PCR tests.

England are scheduled to play three ODIs and as many T20Is against Pakistan starting July 8, and Giles exhorted the need to enhance the restrictions while also taking care of those who’ll be in restricted surroundings for the first time.

“During this period, the next six games, I think we are going to have to tighten up the environment. We need to be all over our protocols and our living areas and our team spaces. And whilst I don’t think we’ve been slack, we just need to reinforce that with a new group of people.

“Some of them have never been in these environments and so we also need to look after them. We probably won’t sleep easy until we have got them through the PCR tests and they arrive in Cardiff,” the former England spinner, who picked 198 wickets from 54 Tests and 62 ODIs, further added.

The Pakistan cohort arrived in Cardiff today, having completed the mandatory 14-day quarantine in Derby.

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Pakistan get assurance from the England board

Pakistan players and support staff arrive in Cardiff from Derby [Credits: Pakistan Cricket]

While the entire 16-strong England squad was forced to go into isolation, peace still prevails in the Pakistan camp. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has been in talks with their English counterparts, and the visitors seem to be happy with the existing protocols. The players and the support staff, though, have been asked to stay on high alert.

“The PCB is satisfied by the assurances and guarantees provided by the ECB on behalf of its medical panel, and feels comfortable with the existing protocols that have been put in place...The PCB Has also been in touch with its team management and has advised them to exercise extra caution while in the hotel or at the match venue,” the PCB said in an official media release.

While the tourists are coming into the series on the back of a pulsating second half of the Pakistan Super League (PSL 2021), England recently swept Sri Lanka 5-0 in the limited-overs series with the third ODI being washed out.