South Africa plans isolating players in ‘bio-bubble’ to resume cricket

CAPE TOWN: Cricket South Africa (CSA) is planning to isolate players and support staff in a ‘bio-bubble’ to minimise their exposure to COVID-19 and usher the resumption of cricket.

CSA has studied the best practices used by the German Bundesliga, which resumed last weekend and hopes to implement them when India is scheduled to visit for three lucrative Twenty20 Internationals in late August.

The tour remains in doubt as government models suggest the virus could peak in South Africa during August or September. It poses the question of how to minimise exposure for players, coaches and support staff.

Team doctor Shuaib Manjra said they have worked on a plan and have also liaised with the cricket boards in England and Australia.

“The bio-bubble would be a sanitised cricket biosphere with strict entry standards and limited movement out of this cordon,” he told reporters via a teleconference, adding that this will require regular testing of all of those within the bubble.

“We want to create a sanitised cricket eco-system that will ensure we account for the entire chain of operations that are sanitised and grant protection to all role-players. We have drawn from our colleagues in England and Australia, and we have learned from La Liga and the Bundesliga.”

Manjra said they are facing unknown risk factors, including what effect COVID-19 has on the health of infected athletes once they have recovered.

“What happens when one of our players contracts COVID-19, and I have no doubt that many will. When are they safe to return to play and what are the (health) risks to them when they do? We need to understand this.”

South Africa cricket team is due to travel to the West Indies at the end of July for two Tests and five T20s and are then set to return home for a three-match T20 series against India in late August.

In a video press conference, CSA Director of Cricket Graeme Smith confirmed that all options were being looked at in an effort to, first and foremost, play cricket against the West Indies, even suggesting that matches could be played in South Africa or at a neutral venue.

There are several stumbling blocks to cricket returning to South Africa as the country is currently a strict lockdown and CSA is actively engaging with the government in an effort to stage matches again.