Sports Desk
Wellington: A sense of normality returns to cricket on Friday when New Zealand take on West Indies in their Twenty20 series opener with no restrictions on the crowd size in Auckland, but the COVID-19 pandemic continues to cast a long shadow over the tour.
The global health crisis fractured the buildup to the three Twenty20, two-test series for both sides, with some players only released from isolation on Thursday after returning from the rearranged Indian Premier League.
Also on Thursday, six members of the touring Pakistan squad tested positive for COVID-19 while in managed isolation in Christchurch, highlighting the precarious nature of sports tours during the pandemic.
The fixture list for the West Indies tour is more congested than typical series, with the three Twenty20s to be played over four days before the first test starts on Dec. 3 in Hamilton. “Three internationals in four days is different,” New Zealand coach Gary Stead told reporters this week.
“In terms of selection, it’s about as complex as I think I’ve ever seen it, and hopefully will ever see it, so there’s plenty of moving parts.” Stead has rested captain Kane Williamson and pace spearhead Trent Boult for the Twenty20 games.
The pair were only released from 14-day isolation on Thursday after returning from the IPL. Several others, including stand-in Twenty20 captain Tim Southee, will not play the third match in order to join the test squad, while Stead has also had to call in injury replacements. Mitchell Santner and Daryl Mitchell have been brought into the test squad to replace Ajaz Patel and Colin de Grandhomme.
