"Not the way we wanted our campaign to end" - Canada's U19 team to be flown back home after COVID-19 outbreak
Canada U19 team's World Cup campaign has come to a premature end following a COVID-19 outbreak in their camp. Cricket Canada (CC) recently confirmed that the team will be flown back from the West Indies because of the same.
CC president Rashpal Bajwa has described the situation as unfortunate, with the young players having to go through such an ordeal. He also confirmed that most of their players have contracted the coronavirus and the top priority was to get the players back home safely.
Rashpal Bajwa told Cricbuzz:
"It's very unfortunate that these young men have to go through this kind of a challenge in their young career. We are focused on getting these players back home safely and quickly,"
The International Cricket Council (ICC) revealed on Friday that nine out of the fifteen members of the Canadian contingent have tested positive for COVID-19. As a result, they will be unable to field a team for their remaining matches in the multi-nation tournament.
Cricket Canada wrote on Twitter:
"Not the way we wanted our campaign to end! Hopefully all individuals recover soon and land back safely."
#U19CWC2022 Not the way we wanted our campaign to end! Hopefully all individuals recover soon and land back safely.
🇨🇦 #U19CWC2022
icc-cricket.com/news/2465244
The Canadian side were scheduled to take part in two matches this week, however, the fixtures have now been called off due to recent developments. They were supposed to lock horns with Scotland in the plate play-off semi-final on January 29.
Scotland will now progress to the 13th/14th play-off, as they have a better net run rate. Scotland have a net run rate of -1.666 while Canada are at -1.823. Canada were set to meet PNG or Uganda on January 30. The game has also been canceled.
"The players are now self-isolating and will receive full support from the event medical team" - ICC Head of Events
ICC Head of Events Chris Tetley pointed out that they were expecting some COVID-19 cases during the U19 World Cup. However, considering the Canadian team's situation, they would not be able to go ahead with the side's remaining games.
He added that the infected players are currently in self-isolation. Tetley assured that these cricketers will get full support from the event medical team. Tetley was quoted as saying by the ICC's official website:
"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."
He added:
"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."
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#irevscan #u19cwc
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Canada failed to win a single contest in this year's U19 World Cup. They lost all three Group A games in the preliminary round, along with their subsequent playoff fixture against Ireland.