WI players unable to train after breaching quarantine regulations
West Indies cricket team players have been banned from training and confined to their hotel rooms in New Zealand. This is after they were found breaching quarantine regulations. According to a report in the BBC, security footage from the team's hotel in Christchurch showed players sharing food and socializing outside of their smaller bio-secure bubbles. Here are further details.
The Windies had been granted special dispensation to train during their mandatory 14-day isolation period in New Zealand. The quarantine will end on Friday provided they all test negative for the novel coronavirus. "It is a privilege to come here but in return they have to stick to the rules," said New Zealand director general of health Ashley Bloomfield.
Bloomfield said that the WI players failed to abide by the parameters despite an agreement. "Keeping Covid-19 out of our communities and keeping our staff safe depends on it. They didn't do that, despite agreeing to abide by the parameters of the exemption," he said.
Cricket West Indies issued a statement, saying that it supports the decision taken by the New Zealand Ministry of Health. "Members of the touring party will now be unable to train for the remainder of the quarantine period and will have to complete their quarantine within the Managed Isolation Facility only. CWI is in full support of the New Zealand Ministry of Health's position."
"We have been told that the incidents in question included some players compromising the bubble integrity by mixing between two separate West Indies bubbles into which the touring party had been split, by sharing food and socialising in hallways," CWI added in its statement.
Several members of the West Indies squad who have been playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 are scheduled to arrive in New Zealand on Thursday as the tournament got over. These players will also have to isolate for 14 days.
The players are expected to travel to Queenstown ahead of two warm-up matches against New Zealand "A". Here's the tour schedule - November 27: 1st T20I at Eden Park, Auckland November 29: 2nd T20I at Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui November 30: 3rd T20I at Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui December 3-7: 1st Test at Seddon Park, Hamilton December 11-15: 2nd Test at Basin Reserve, Wellington
