South Africa vs England ODI in Paarl abandoned due to coronavirus, remainder of tour in doubt

The South Africa vs England ODI, which was postponed from Friday to Sunday and shifted from Cape Town to Boland Park, Paarl, has now been abandoned. According to several reports, Two members of staff where both squads are staying were found to have contracted Covid-19, prompting England to re-test their party on Saturday evening. The start of the game was already delayed after the England and Wales Cricket Board issued a statement. The statement read, “The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket South Africa (CSA) have agreed to delay the start time for today’s One-Day International match, which is due to take place in Paarl. The England players and management underwent an additional round of PCR tests on Saturday evening, after two members of the hotel staff testing positive for COVID-19. Whilst the ECB awaits ratification of those test results the decision has been taken to delay the start of today’s ODI match.”

There is growing concern now that the remaining two games on Monday and Wednesday will not take place as the coronavirus scare casts a shadow on the entire tour after a promising start with the Twenty20 Internationals.

Before the match, Cricket South Africa had conducted coronavirus tests for the entire squad after the match in Cape Town was postponed due to a COVID19 outbreak in the Proteas camp. "Cricket South Africa (CSA) is pleased to announce that the entire Proteas team has returned negative results from the COVID-19 tests that were conducted  yesterday evening in Cape Town ahead of the three-match, Betway One-Day International (ODI) series against England," the statement from Cricket South Africa read.

COVID scare in Cape Town

The first ODI between England and South Africa at Newlands, Cape Town was postponed suddenly from Friday to Sunday after a player tested positive for the coronavirus. In a statement released by Cricket South Africa, it read, “Cricket South Africa (CSA) and the England Cricket Board (ECB) would like to announce the postponement of the first Betway One-Day International (ODI) of the three-match series to Sunday, 06 December 2020. This decision results from a player from the Proteas team testing positive for COVID-19 after the teams’ last round of scheduled testing performed on Thursday ahead of the ODIs. In the interests of the safety and well-being of both teams, match officials and all involved in the match, the Acting CEO of CSA, Kugandrie Govender as well as the CEO of the ECB, Tom Harrison, have agreed to postpone the first fixture to Sunday."

England managed to whitewash South Africa 3-0 in the recently concluded three-match Twenty20 International series with Dawid Malan being the star. England are now the No.1 side in ODIs as well as in T20Is and Dawid Malan is the No.1 ranked batsman in the format after he reached a career high of 915 points following his exploits in the series.