West Indies tour of England, which was originally scheduled to commence on May 2020, has now been postponed and is likely to be begin from July 8. Cricket West Indies (CWI) CEO Johnny Grave, who has been assessing the risk aspects of the tour for over two weeks, feels confident about the rescheduled tour to the British Isles.
CWI CEO said that team may fly around a month before the scheduled date to serve the necessary quarantine period and other health procedures.
Johnny Grave in a discussion with ESPNcricinfo said, “we are in final stage of the discussion and soon will plan out the blueprint of the tour.”
Venues yet to be confirmed
West Indies will play a three test match series against England as a part of the ICC World Test Championship. When asked about the dates and venue details, Grave said that they had have a date with them but nothing is confirmed yet.
“The current plan we are working to have the three Tests starting on July 8, July 16 and July 24. As for the venues, we believe it could be the Ageas Bowl and Emirates Old Trafford, but we haven’t had that formally confirmed yet,” said Johnny Grave during the interview with ESPNcricinfo.
ECB confident about West Indies tour of England
In the interview, CWI CEO admitted that a week ago things are not that clear but the continuous discussions between two boards will make the things better for the series to happen.
“What has changed is the ECB have got more confident that they’ve got a robust and safe plan to deal with cricket in a biosecure environment behind closed doors. Our medical team are getting more confident and comfortable with those plans,” said West Indies Chief Executive.
He also explained about the safety measures to be taken for travelling and training before the actual tour will go live.
“…we want them to be tested about three-four days before departure date and subject to getting a negative test result, they would be chartered into Antigua and then chartered on one aircraft to the UK.”
“They would then be transported to their quarantine and training venue where they would spend about three weeks or so during which they can train,” explained Johnny Grave.
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