The problems with the Pakistani cricket team in NZ highlight the challenges of sequestering sportsmen

While the Indian cricket team began its tour of Australia, not minus some controversy surrounding the fitness of Rohit Sharma, it had already spent a few weeks in quarantine without any issues. Not so for the Pakistani cricket team playing across the Tasman Sea. While every player carried a clean bill of health on leaving Pakistan, it is reported that seven cricketers have tested positive for the Coronavirus since they arrived. This throws into doubt Pakistan’s Covid-19 testing regime and with the players being a bit loose and fast regarding the quarantine. The New Zealand cricket board issued the Pakistani team “a final warning” and if the latter is in contravention of the quarantine or if more players test positive, then it could be sent home without having played a single match.

This incident, rather a series of incidents, highlights the problems of athlete bubbles and indeed the “bubble” travel system anywhere. Even with vaccine development moving along at an unprecedented rate, it is still at least two years before a substantial number of people worldwide can be inoculated. With the delayed Summer Olympics still on track and several other major international sports tournaments, such as the European Football championships, also due to be played, it is vital that national authorities and sports federations work out the kinks as quickly as possible. And  that includes player behaviour. Athletes are almost always extremely social young men and women, so asking them to stay locked up for a period of up to two weeks requires immense self-determination that not all of them have. These are challenges that have to be met if we expect a completely normal sporting calendar for 2021 and if eventually fans are to return in full numbers to stadia. And on that last point, there were several Indian supporters during the first One-Day International between Australia and India. Despite the stadium only being at half capacity, Indian fans were clearly ignoring social distancing protocols, which looked Covidiotic and callous on television.