Dark Clouds Loom Over ENG-SA Series As 2nd ODI At Cape Town Gets Postponed After New Covid-19 Cases

The postponement of the 2nd ODI follows the abandoning of the series opener of the 3-match ODI series at Paarl on Sunday after two players of the visiting party returned unconfirmed positive tests for Covid-19.

A View of the Newlands Stadium in Cape Town

Dark clouds loom large over England's tour of South Africa as the national cricket boards of the two nations announced the postponement of the second One Day International of the 3-match series scheduled to be played at the Newlands Stadium in Cape Town later on Monday evening (December 7). The postponing of the 2nd ODI follows the abandoning of the series opener of the 3-match ODI series at Paarl on Sunday after two players of the visiting party returned unconfirmed positive tests for Covid-19. In a joint statement released by Cricket South Africa and the England and Wales Cricket Board over the ever building coronavirus scare, the decision to abandon the 2nd T20I has been taken while they “await the outcome of the independent ratification of the two unconfirmed positive Covid-19 tests from the England camp and the continued health and wellbeing of both playing groups”.

“Once the findings of this review have been received, CSA and ECB will then discuss how best to proceed concerning the remaining two matches of this ODI series,” the statement added.

Cancellation of England Tour Could Have Serious Financial Ramifications On CSA The cancellation of the remaining matches in the SA-ENG series will have detrimental effects on Cricket South Africa, which is deeply engulfed in the middle of a major financial crisis. The national board for South Africa were looking towards the series as a major relief as it could reportedly earn $4.2 million (3.46 million euros) for the television rights. CSA said the England players and management underwent an additional round of tests on Saturday evening after two members of staff at their hotel tested positive for the virus. England and South Africa played out a 3-match Twenty20 international series before the emergence of the Covid-19 threat ahead of the ODI tour. The second and third one-day internationals were scheduled to be played at Newlands in Cape Town on Monday (Dec 7) and Wednesday (Dec 9). The series opener of the 3-match ODI series in Paarl on Dec 6 was cancelled after it was initially announced that the start at Boland Park would be delayed while the England party awaited the test results.