Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Sept 12: Contrary to the claims of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), its dispute with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) over the cancellation of the fifth and final test match was far from being over.
The ECB has confirmed now to have officially written a letter to the International Cricket Council (ICC) to decide the “fate” of the cancelled match. The ECB has requested the ICC to treat the cancelled match as “abandoned” by India and “forfeited” which would mean that the match was awarded to England and the five-match series which India was leading 2-1 before the start of the fifth match was declared 2-2 drawn.
The ECB confirmation indicate that the two boards are far from reaching a settlement as was announced by the BCCI while announcing the cancellation of the Old Trafford match under the shadow of Covid scare in the Indian camp barely two hours before the toss on September 10. The BCCI had claimed that the two boards had “reached a settlement” and the match would be treated as postponed and re-scheduled at a later date, possibly in July, next year, when India is due to visit England again to play six white ball matches.
The ECB on Sunday, however, confirmed that it had “officially written” to the ICC to decide the fate of the cancelled fifth Test. “Yes we have written to the ICC,” an ECB spokesperson said when asked if they want the global body to decide on the fifth Test.
The ECB had stated that if a match was played between the two teams in July, it would be a “stand alone” test and not part of the just-concluded series. The ECB wanted the ICC’s Dispute Resolution Committee to address the issue and expect that a forfeiture would be granted so that they can claim insurance as they are going to lose 40 million pound if the match is declared abandoned due to Covid. Covid is an acceptable non-compliance and the Indian camp has stated that it was unable to field a team for the match.
However, the ECB’s contention could be that the Indian players returned two negative RT-PCR results and were still reluctant to play. Seniors such as skipper Virat Kohli didn’t budge from their stance that there was risk involved during the incubation period, which overlapped with Test dates as most players were treated by physio Yogesh Parmar, who is in isolation after contracting the virus.
If the ICC rules the Test as abandoned, then India will win the series 2-1 but if England get a forfeiture as per the DRC ruling, it will be a 2-2 verdict and the host nation can also claim insurance. The ECB going to the ICC proves that there hasn’t been an amicable settlement yet on the issue as the host board stares at losses, contrary to what the BCCI claimed that the two boards had “agreed” to hold the match at a future date and India would not be required to forfeit the match.
If the ICC is ruled in favour of India, ECB stands to incur huge losses as most of the 40 million pound is not covered under COVID-19 insurance. The Indian cricketers have already left UK and most of them have touched base in the UAE with their respective IPL franchises.
Indian players and the board apparently were more apprehensive about the Covid casting its shadow on the IPL instead of being worry of being forced to forfeit the fifth test match at the cost of the nation’s prestige. Even delay by two days in starting the match as was reportedly proposed by the ECB after India’s assistant physio reported positive a day before the start of the fifth test, would have put participation of the Indian players in the IPL at risk because of the six days of compulsory quarantine after reaching UAE would have been overlapping with the second phase of the IPL resuming on September 19.
It goes without saying that the BCCI’s apprehension was the IPL schedule going haywire in case any of the top players tested positive during the course of the now-cancelled Test or soon after the resumption of the IPL.
