West Indies Squad Clears Final COVID Test, Will Travel to Queenstown For Warm-up Match
Players and support staff of the West Indies team have returned negative results on their third and final COVID-19 test and now they will play two practice matches before the start of the international leg.
The West Indies cricket team has arrived for the tour of New Zealand and the entire West Indies cricket staff has cleared the third and final round of the COVID-19 test. Now they will depart for Queenstown on Friday ahead of the first warm-up match against New Zealand A starting November 20.
The Caribbean team had been in quarantine for the T20 and Test series since arriving NZ on 30 October. In the first two rounds of the Test, all its players came negative for Covid-19 test.
The West Indies Cricket Board said that all the members of the West Indies team have been given the third and final test for the Covid-19 on the 12th day of their tour of New Zealand, with all the results being negative.
“All members of the West Indies team have returned negative results from their third and final COVID-19 tests, conducted on Day 12 of the ongoing tour of New Zealand,” West Indies Cricket Board said in a statement.
“The players, management and support staff are scheduled to leave managed isolation on Friday and travel to the southern town of Queenstown, where they will play a three-day match and a four-day match against New Zealand ‘A’,” the statement read.
The series begins with a T20 match on November 27 in Auckland. The second and third T20 matches will be played on November 29 and 30 at Mount Maunganui. This will be followed by two Test matches in Hamilton from December 3 to 7 and Wellington December 11 to 15. The West Indies will play two warm-up games between November 20 to 22 and November 26 to 29 before the Test series.
Interestingly, the West Indies team was allowed to practice during the quarantine, but the players violated the rules during the 14-day quarantine and were prohibited from training.
Seven West Indies players including T20I captain Kieron Pollard, Test captain Jason Holder, Fabian Allen, Shimron Hetmyer, Chemo Paul, Nicholas Pooran and Oshane Thomas were in the UAE for the IPL, which concluded on November 10. The board said that these players have reached Auckland and will now be in quarantine for two weeks and will be able to practice after that.
“Additionally, all of the West Indies players who arrived in Auckland on Thursday following the end of the Indian Premier League in the United Arab Emirates, have passed initial health screening checks.”
“They are to spend the next two weeks in isolation in preparation for the first T20 International which will be played at Eden Park in Auckland on November 29.”
