'We haven't gambled': ECB defends COVID-infected England forced to name new squad

Record ID: 1625201

  • Title: 'We haven't gambled': ECB defends COVID-infected England forced to name new squad
  • Date: 6th July 2021
  • Summary: UNKNOWN LOCATION, ENGLAND, UK (JULY 6, 2021) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE)(English) ASHLEY GILES, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF ENGLAND AND WALES CRICKET BOARD, SAYING: "We haven't gambled. I don't believe we've gambled at all. We are fully aware of the risks, no one is more than us, and that's the knife edge we are working on all the time, looking after our people and keeping them sane as much as anything, with protecting the revenues of the whole game. And it's a really difficult balance to strike. But I think we're also hopeful that post 19th July some things may change, and we may have, I don't know about more freedoms, but more freedoms in the event of a positive case to treat things differently. And that's what we're hoping for and I think that's what sport needs going forward."
  • Embargoed: 20th July 2021 15:08
  • Keywords: Ashley Giles Cricket ECB England ODI Pakistan Stokes T20
  • Location: VARIOUS
  • City: VARIOUS
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Cricket,Europe,Sport
  • Reuters ID: LVA002EKPCTA7
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: England selected an entirely new squad for their limited-overs series against Pakistan after three players and four staff members tested positive for COVID-19, the country's cricket board (ECB) said on Tuesday (July 6).
    Two days before the series gets underway with the first of the three one-dayers in Cardiff, Ben Stokes was named captain of an 18-man squad which included nine uncapped players.
    Seven unidentified members of the England party tested positive in Bristol on Monday, one day after the rain-ruined final match of a one-day series against Sri Lanka.
    Ashley Giles, Managing Director the ECB, said the team had not taken unnecessary risks.
    "We haven't gambled. I don't believe we've gambled at all. We are fully aware of the risks, no one is more than us, and that's the knife edge we are working on all the time, looking after our people and keeping them sane as much as anything, with protecting the revenues of the whole game. And it's a really difficult balance to strike."
    Giles also said that professional sport would need more help as society starts to open up.
    "We're seeing society open up, and we're seeing an almost impossible situation as that happens and this virus is still spreading, that we're trying to stop anything at all coming in our environments.
    "I think we need more help to try and manage this and hopefully that's coming."
    An ECB statement said that those impacted by COVID-19, and the remaining members of the party, who have been deemed close contacts, will self isolate from July 4.
    England are due to face Pakistan in three ODIs and three Twenty20 matches.
    All-rounder Stokes has been out of international cricket since injuring his finger at the Indian Premier League (IPL) this year.
    Head coach Chris Silverwood, who had been due to take some time away during the white-ball series, will manage the side.
    The ECB said it hoped some of the isolating players would be available to play the Twenty20 matches against Pakistan scheduled on July 16, 18 and 20.
    Giles said that the current situation has so far not impacted the upcoming test series against India in August or the Ashes in Australia in December.
    Squad: Ben Stokes (captain), Jake Ball, Danny Briggs, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Lewis Gregory, Tom Helm, Will Jacks, Dan Lawrence, Saqib Mahmood, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Matt Parkinson, David Payne, Phil Salt, John Simpson, James Vince
    (Production: Sophie Penney)
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