U19 World Cup 2022: Two Plate matches cancelled after nine Canada players test positive for COVID19
The two plate matches of the tournament have been cancelled by the International Cricket Council (ICC) after nine players from Canada tested positive for COVID-19. As per the tournament’s playing conditions, the tested players need to isolate themselves for at least seven days. They were scheduled to play against Scotland on January 29. This is the fifth instance in the tournament where players have teste positive for COVID-19.
Before the tournament, four Zimbabwe players tested positive, while before Ireland vs India game, five Indian players tested positive, who have recovered ahead of their quarterfinal against Bangladesh. The third instance was when two West Indies players were tested positive followed by another fresh case in the Indian camp.
With this development, Scotland has advanced to the 13th/14th place playoff game, which will be played against the winner of Uganda vs Papua New Guinea. Canada’s 15th/16th place playoffs against the loser of Uganda vs PNG also stands cancelled. Meanwhile, Chris Tetley, ICC Head of Events, has said in a statement that ICC is incredibly disappointed after the forced cancellation two games at this stage of the tournament.
The players are now self isolating and will receive full support: Chris Tetley
“We are incredibly disappointed to have to cancel two ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup games due to COVID-19 at this stage of the event. We were expecting to see some positive cases throughout the event and to date, these have been managed in accordance with our biosafety plan without impacting on fixtures. However, with so many players from the Canadian team testing positive it will not be possible to stage these games,” said Tetley in a statement.
Tetley has added that the players are self isolating and will receive full support from the event medical team. “The players are now self-isolating and will receive full support from the event medical team under the guidance of the Bio-Safety Advisory Group,” he added.