Australian Test captain Tim Paine on Wednesday said the threat of COVID-19 pandemic is bigger than the game of cricket and needs to be taken seriously, justifying the suspension of almost all the ongoing action to contain the deadly outbreak.
The disease, which has so far claimed almost 8,000 lives andinfected close to 2,00,000 people globally, has led to the cancellation orpostponement of sports events across the globe.
“As hard as it is for all cricketers at the moment Ithink it is time that we take a break. I know it’s even harder this time ofyear when you’ve got finals and trophies are on the line and it’s all there tobe won but this is bigger than us, bigger than the game of cricket but it’ssomething that needs to be taken very seriously,” Paine said in a videoposted in twitter.
“I hope that we’re all back playing the game we loveand going about our lives the way we want to as soon as possible but in themeantime, please take care of yourselves, take care of others and let’s ridethis out together.”
In Australia, the three-ODI series against New Zealand wascalled off, while the upcoming three-T20 International series in New Zealand,starting March 24 was also postponed. The remainder of the Sheffield Shieldcompetition has been cancelled too.
The Australian women’s cricket team, which won the T20 WorldCup recently, also had its limited-overs tour of South Africa cancelled.
“There’s no doubt it’s been a big week for our cricketcommunity. Some decisions have been made in the best interests of our countryand our most vulnerable people. One of those decisions has been to cancel allcricket. I realise that’s tough but it’s something we should all take veryseriously,” Paine said.
“I would certainly love to be playing with Tasmaniaright now in the hunt for a Sheffield Shield final and there’s no doubt ourAustralian men’s team would love to be in Hobart trying to win theChappell-Hadlee Trophy and certainly our female world champion team would loveto be in South Africa. But we’re not, and for very very good reason.”
Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar also took to twitterto educate the people about the steps they need to take during the ongoinghealth crisis.
“We are all worried due to the coronavirus. There arefew things which I can keep in mind like stay away from public places as it canspread from one person to other, stay away from people with symptoms of flu.
“See a doctor if you show symptoms or call the helplinenumber, wash hands with soap as many times as possible in flowing water anddon’t go by hearsay. It can happen to anybody and don’t ignore it,” hesaid.
“…By understading how it spreads we can defeatit,” added the batting great, who joined WHO’s #SafeHandsChallenge topromote the importance of washing hands amid the coronavirus outbreak.In India, the deadlydisease has infected 147 people so far and killed three.