Not COVID outbreak but players' anxiety led to 5th Test's cancellation: ECB CEO

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) CEO Tom Harrison said on Friday that it was not the COVID-19 outbreak in the Indian camp that led to the cancellation of the final Test in Manchester but it was a case of the players' anxiety over "what might happen" that eventually led the match being called off. He also mentioned that if the Test was to be rescheduled, it would be a one-off game and not a series decider.

India are currently 2-1 up in the five-match Test series against England with the final Test, which was initially scheduled to begin on Friday (Sept. 10) at Old Trafford, called off.

In an interview, Harrison also added that it was quite evident at around lunch time on Thursday (Sept. 9) that all was not well within the visiting camp, especially after physio Yogesh Parmar tested COVID-19 positive. He was the fourth member of the Indian coaching staff to return with a positive result after head coach Ravi Shastri, fielding coach R. Sridhar and bowling coach Bharat Arun.

"It's a really sad day, my heart goes out to fans. We are absolutely gutted. Internationally this game gets an astronomical audience. It became clear yesterday around lunchtime that there was a problem in terms of the anxiety level in the Indian team. It wasn't an outbreak of COVID, it was a perception of what might happen to post the physio testing positive. Over the course of the day, we tried to give as many different assurances that we could to give comfort to the players," Harrison told Sky Sports.

Soon after the fifth Test was cancelled on Friday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) issued a statement saying that they are working with the ECB towards rescheduling the match.

"The BCCI and ECB held several rounds of discussion to find a way to play the Test Match, however, the outbreak of Covid-19 in the Indian team contingent forced the decision of calling off the Old Trafford Test Match. In lieu of the strong relationship between BCCI and ECB, the BCCI has offered to ECB a rescheduling of the cancelled Test match. Both the Boards will work towards finding a window to reschedule this Test match," read BCCI's press release.

However, Harrison has said that the match will be a one-off Test and not a series decider.

"No, I think it's a stand-alone situation. We have been offered a few other options, probably need to take a look (at those). The glass half full version of it is that the prospects of playing a one-off Test match against India as a focal point on this ground, let's try to deliver on that. It can be the only good news that comes out of a day like today," added Harrison in the same interview.

If the rescheduled match is a one-off fixture, then according to the current scenario, India being 2-1 up, will be declared as the series winners. However, it has not been officially announced yet. The most likely window for the rescheduled game is July next year when India would be here for a limited-overs assignment.