Pakistan cricket team
England Cricket Board (ECB)'s managing director Ashley Giles admitted on Tuesday that the board has no contingency plan ready of Pakistan pull out or are urged to withdraw from the impending August tour owing to coronavirus pandemic.
On Tuesday, Pakistan's tally of coronavirus positive cases shot up to 10 after seven players along with support staff, in addition to Monday's tally of three were tested positive for the virus, as confirmed by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
Despite the tally, both boards are confident about the tour. PCB CEO Wasim Khan said that the tour is "very much on track", while Giles did express concern for the Pakistan cricket team while insisting that the tour was not in doubt.
Pakistan players will undergo a second round of testing on June 25 before departure for Manchester and then will be tested for the third time by ECB's medical team upon arrival. And five more times ahead of the start of the series, as per the SOPs.
Hence, there might be chances of a few more positive cases, which might in turn put the tour in doubt. ECB might, therefore, look to extend the limited-overs series against other touring sides - Ireland and Australia. But Giles revealed that ECB has no such plans and will look to adapt to the circumstance.
"If the majority of the Pakistan squad are negative we would be hopeful they could be the advance party and carry on," Giles said. "Perhaps other players would follow.
"We do not currently have a contingency plan. As has been the case throughout this situation, we have to be agile and adapt to these situations. We would look at that if that happened."
The Pakistan cricket squad will leave for England on June 28 to play three Tests and three T20Is. They will be quarantined in Derbyshire for a mandatory period of 14 days, although they will be allowed to practice.
