West Indies team departs for England to play three-match Test series starting next month

After a lot of discussions and debates, the West Indies Cricket Team have finally left for England. The team departed from Antigua after all the players and support staff were tested negative for COVID-19 infection. The Caribbean team will play a three-match Test series in England next month.

On Monday, two planes took players from various islands in the Caribbean. After taking all the players from their various islands, the players were shifted to a private charter plane. The flight will finally arrive in Manchester on Tuesday morning. A statement was released by the West Indies regarding the same.

In that statement, it was informed that the players will be tested once again for COVID-19 after arriving at Old Trafford in Manchester. All the players and support staff will stay in quarantine for some time which will kick off start their seven-week tour. The team will live, train and play in a biosecure environment.

Some restrictions have been put in place. These rules don’t allow players and support staff from moving in and out of the stadiums. Hence, a group of reserve players will travel to train and help prepare the Test squad and ensure replacements are available in case of injury.

Welcome to England @windiescricket! 👋

We are delighted to have you here and can’t wait for our Test series to get started 🏏 pic.twitter.com/XH9VJlITJL

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 9, 2020

West Indies players to be quarantined on their arrival in Manchester

None of the matches will have spectators. All the matches will be played behind the closed doors, something which was adopted during the last international cricket match before the COVID-19 started spreading.

The first Test will be played in Southampton from July 8. The second Test will be played between 16 and 20 July while the last one will be played between July 24 and 28. The last two Test matches will be played at the Old Trafford stadium in Manchester.

The reason why the two venues have been selected as there is an easy access to hotels in both the venues. In Southampton, the Hilton Hotel is present at the stadium and in Manchester, there is a stadium nearby. This has proven relative easy for England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to turn into a biosecure environment. The original tour was scheduled for May and June but was postponed due to coronavirus restrictions.

“This is a huge step forward in cricket and in sports in general as we travel over to England for this series,” West Indies skipper Jason Holder said. “A lot has gone into the preparations for what will be a new phase in the game,” he added.

West Indies Test squad: Jason Holder (captain), Jermaine Blackwood, Nkrumah Bonner, Kraigg Brathwaite, Shamarh Brooks, John Campbell, Roston Chase, Rahkeem Cornwall, Shane Dowrich, Chemar Holder, Shai Hope, Alzarri Joseph, Raymon Reifer and Kemar Roach.

Reserve Players: Sunil Ambris, Joshua DaSilva, Shannon Gabriel, Keon Harding, Kyle Mayers, Preston McSween, Marquino Mindley, Shayne Moseley, Anderson Phillip, Oshane Thomas and Jomel Warrican.