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Seems they've offered ECB to reschedule the final match. The series isn't completed.
England v India 2021 Cricket Test Series
- Thread starter TheGame
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Seems they've offered ECB to reschedule the final match. The series isn't completed.
Same - I'd rather see us play and lose.
No use winning in cricket if it's not played. Been a good series to watch(if low on quality) and it's a shame to not see another 5 days of it.
Is any of this refusal to play, have anything to do with these players required to be in India next week for IPL duty and therefore they chose the money over risking covid playing for India?
Everyone is making that insinuation but i'd suggest that's harsh and unhelpful at this stage.
The IPL would stand to lose a lot of money if Covid becomes an issue there, or if players are missing.
It's 100% all to do with the IPL, it's a very similar scenario with the Premier League not wanting clubs to release players to international games i guess.
It's the right thing to do for all concerned in my opinion.
So it is true then.
The physio tested positive yesterday. Any of the players can test positive in the next 14 days.
I hear it's likely that some players, if not all of them will be flying home tonight, so they can get into India with clear tests.
I wonder what would have happened if this all happened after one days play etc.
These players are not going to risk losing money on the contracts they are on for test cricket.
I wonder what would have happened if this all happened after one days play etc.
These players are not going to risk losing money on the contracts they are on for test cricket.
Yeah but they could also not. I don't think there is any rule saying the test has to be abandoned if anyone in either camp tests positive. If that was the case, the series would have been called off soon as Shastri tested positive, who was likely sharing a dressing room with the players while having Covid.
Will the IPL be off if there is any positive there? They wanted to carry on despite players getting infected back in March.. only stopped when the situation in India got out of control.
No players tested positive here.. carry on..
No players tested positive here.. carry on..
This is a very messy situation and it’s strange that they didn’t have plans in place to deal with this in the current climate . I don’t see how play was allowed to go on after Shastri tested positive and tbh the situation right now is no different . I understand players not wanting to play but it should simply have been discussed pre series how they were going to settle if covid actually hit a team. The fact that it came to this morning is just embarrassing tbh
Agree with every word you've written.
It's bizarre to me that they're just making rules up on the fly. This is, like you said, exactly the same as Shastri testing positive mid series.
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I agree. It should have been handled better.
They should already have released a joint statement explaining how player safety had to come first and everyone is in agreement etc etc.
Instead we have a load of pissed off people and the inevitable 'India just want to play IPL blah blah' narrative.
Shit show!
Instead we have a load of pissed off people and the inevitable 'India just want to play IPL blah blah' narrative.
Shit show!
IPL was always going to be the easy target. I think like you say it has been poorly handled. This could have been announced 2 or 3 days back. The ultimate losers in this is are the fans who must have spent good amount to watch the test. This has been poor by both the boards.
India are coming back next summer for a limited overs tour, maybe could squeeze the match in then.
So why the cancellation? The international game has became a joke regardless of the reasoning behind the cancellation.
Probably, but it's fairly irrelevant then.
Amid this chaos and confusion, look at what Yorkshire CC deicide to release. Shocking..
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Didn't they just say that the reason is mental fatigue (ha!) and also mention that they have to play the IPL afterwards (followed by NZ and WT20)? So the IPL is one of the major reasons then.
It was Dinesh Kartik that said not anyone from BCCI. But of course they would have to look at future tour as well. But to just blame IPL is wierd.
Also, let us not forget India requested ECB to start the series a bit early so that they can get more time for players to rest and leave for Dubai early but ECB refused as the hundred was going on. So both the boards have right to look out for themselves. Just that it should have been handled better.
I bet I am not the only one that is suspicious about the timing. Hussein on the TV said India didn’t have any Physio’s as they have both gone down with COVID. I wonder where they will be working next week. The IPL makes the Test Match prize money look like a tip in a restaurant. Physio’s are ten a penny and can wear masks and gloves. No England physio has gone down with it. Pity all the spectators that had bought tickets, booked Hotels etc.
The Hundred, heavens mercy. Why do they constantly have to great new formats when they aren't needed? Why fix what isn't broken (T20 cricket).
Also, a member of the ECB (forgot who) came on the BBC and said the same thing about mental fatigue (which Kartik clarified as hearing from the other players as well).
Overall, it seems quite ridiculous that a team can call off a match hours before the toss labelling mental fatigue as a reason. I can't imagine any other South Asian board managing to pull something similar off on England in such a key match (without the match having being given as a forfeit).
Some report about this, before the official abandoned/forfeit announcement but after the new positive tests, did mention IPL start time and delays. It was probably in Indian Express. If it's true it's very disappointing.
But IPL was a known fact and hence BCCI asked ECB to prepone the test series by a week or two. But ECB didn't as they prioritized hundred ( fair enough) so why should BCCi get the blame now for protecting their interest. The only complain I have is this should have been decided a day or two earlier so that fans who were planning to attend could have planned something else.
Well, this is quite the debacle, isn't it. The only thing to settle is whether India take the series 2-1 or if England are awarded the final test, resulting in a draw. This kind of outcome was always a possibility and there should have been a plan, agreed to by both teams, in place to deal with it before a ball was bowled in the first test.
Postponing a final test that England were ready to play in is ridiculous and makes a mockery of test cricket. I doubt anyone really wants to see a one-off test or a postponed 'decider', anyway.
England and India simply have to move on from this rather than patch together a 'fifth test' sometime in the future. That's just there to cover up the incompetence on show.
Postponing a final test that England were ready to play in is ridiculous and makes a mockery of test cricket. I doubt anyone really wants to see a one-off test or a postponed 'decider', anyway.
England and India simply have to move on from this rather than patch together a 'fifth test' sometime in the future. That's just there to cover up the incompetence on show.
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Shame for the spectators but you wouldn’t want a final test with India being severely hampered or the chance of the infections being spread further. Not a fan of playing the test at a later date, rather see India been awarded the series.
This is the rational response, amidst all the emotional nonsense.
India wins this series 2-1 and likely come back next summer for 1 or 2 tests to compensate ECB and play in Manchester is the logical next steps.
Leaving aside the IPL, there would have been pitchforks if a lot of Indian and English cricketers missed out on the T20 WC because of avoidable Covid exposure.
I think there is nothing wrong with the Indian team not playing this test but I don’t see what the two boards were trying to do till today . They only cared about the money or else this should have been called off way earlier. From the players point of view the only thing that annoys me is that they decided to play on at the oval when in reality there was nothing different to what happened now.
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I had tickets for Saturday which were carried over from last year's scheduled test against Pakistan which I couldn't attend because no crowds were allowed.
Hugely disappointing.
Hugely disappointing.
I'm disappointed the 5th test didn't happen, but as more of a County cricket fan I'm at least pleased to see the ironic, but justified, frustrations about 'the IPL taking precedence' and it 'all being influenced by money and a pecking order with the money competition's at the top'.
Well, yep. Welcome to the frustrations of those county teams, competitions and fans sh*t upon by The Hundred. Those complaints were just ignored or dismissed and given very little air time. At least this happening is giving very similar arguments and complaints some much needed attention and validity - even if this time it's Test Cricket v IPL.
It's sh*t that it keeps happening with the change in pecking order and priorities in the sport, but at least this time the valid concerns are being acknowledged and discussed.
Well, yep. Welcome to the frustrations of those county teams, competitions and fans sh*t upon by The Hundred. Those complaints were just ignored or dismissed and given very little air time. At least this happening is giving very similar arguments and complaints some much needed attention and validity - even if this time it's Test Cricket v IPL.
It's sh*t that it keeps happening with the change in pecking order and priorities in the sport, but at least this time the valid concerns are being acknowledged and discussed.
Ganguly says that the players were scared, hence the request for cancellation 