Cricket Ireland is scheduled to face the hosts in a six-game series in Zimbabwe on April 2 to 12 of this year. The matches include three Twenty20 face-offs and three one-day internationals at the Queen’s Sports Club in Bulwayo.
However, there is a possibility that these matches won’t push through because of the threats that the coronavirus have worldwide. Earlier this month, Ireland’s women’s tour to Thailand was also cancelled because of this. The four-team tournament just didn’t push through.
According to Cricket Ireland, they are closely monitoring the situation. The association said in a statement, “Cricket Ireland is liaising with both Irish and British governments, as well as working closely with sporting authorities north and south, to ensure we are fully informed and confident that sending a squad to Zimbabwe will be safe for players, staff and travelling fans.”
The spread of the 2019 coronavirus is becoming a concern for many countries. The virus that is reported to have started in Wuhan, China has already affected almost 100,000 people. There are already over 3,000 deaths that are related to this virus.
The sports industry is no exception when it comes to its effects. There are now many sporting events that have been either postponed or canceled because of this. Switzerland’s government has already released an order to cancel any event that involved over 1,000 people to help slow down the spread of the virus.
Italy has canceled many football matches already and the cricket industry is on the lookout and is also monitoring how things are doing before they make any move. Cricket Ireland also said in a statement, “At present, there are no travel restrictions to Zimbabwe, but the situation is developing on an almost daily basis. Since our foremost priority is duty of care to players and support staff, we shall continue to monitor the situation, and comply with the appropriate advice.”
The International Cricket Council has also recently announced that the second series of the Men’s Cricket World Cup Challenge League A will be postponed. This is set to happen on March 16 in Malaysia, but it’s now likely to be held during the latter part of this year.
Sports fans would usually travel just so they can watch sports events but it’s likely that many people would rather stay indoors now. What’s likely to not be affected is the sports betting industry as people can now do this in the comfort and safety of their homes.
Cricket Fans can check the TopBookies top cricket betting sites to be able to see the best bookies where cricket bets can be placed. It’s surely a safer alternative than travel to land bookies where it is usually visited by many people.
Meanwhile, Ireland already has 26 confirmed cases of the virus since last week, when the first confirmed case was announced. All these cases are reported to be related to travel from the norther part of Italy. 19 of these cases are from the Republic while the Northern Ireland has seven confirmed cases.
For now, many sports leagues are taking precautionary measures to avoid having contact with people who are infected with the virus. It’s mostly impossible to spot someone who could be affected by the 2019 COVID because many of these people are asymptomatic.
Football and basketball players are now ordered to avoid shaking hands with fans or giving them high fives. They are also advised to avoid borrowing pens and markers from fans and carry hand sanitizers with them all time.
Since there is still no cure and no vaccine to fight this virus, these are mainly the things that the health officials are telling everybody. It’s important to always wash your hands and when washing, do this for 20 seconds to make sure that the hands are thoroughly cleaned. It’s also advised to avoid touching your face as much as possible as this can be a quick way to get infected by the virus.
People with travel history in places with COVID cases are also advised to self-quarantine for at least a week once they get back to make sure that they are clear from the virus. For now, it’s much better to avoid crowded places when there is no need to be in there.
Now, many are wondering if sporting events can just push through without spectators. While this is indeed something that could help prevent the spread, many leagues are not really up for this. It just seems insensible to play in an empty crowd. Many sporting events would rather postpone the matches rather than play with no spectators.