A decision as to whether England’s first Test in Pakistan for 17 years can get underway on time will be taken at 7.30am local time on Thursday morning, two and a half hours prior to the scheduled start, after a sickness bug swept through their camp on the eve of the match to cause upheaval in Rawalpindi.
Emergency talks between PCB chairman Ramiz Raja and ECB officials Rob Key and Neil Snowball ensued, along with ECB medical director Nick Peirce and team doctor Anita Biswas, with the options discussed including a 24-hour delay to the start time, to allow the England players enough time to recover from what is hoped to be a 24-hour bug.
“The Pakistan Cricket Board and England and Wales Cricket Board today discussed the outbreak of viral infection in the England men’s Test team camp and unanimously agreed to delay the decision on the commencement of the first Test, which is due to start on Thursday, until 0730 Pakistan time tomorrow [Thursday],” read a joint statement from the two boards.
“The two boards made the decision based on medical advice from the England doctors, which revolved around the players’ health and welfare, agreeing that the England cricket team are able to select an XI for the first of the three ICC World Test Championship matches, which will be played at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.
“The two boards also agreed, subject to the England players not recovering well enough to take the field on Thursday morning, then the Test will commence on Friday and will be a five-day match. In this scenario, the schedule of the second Test in Multan and the third Test in Karachi will remain unaffected and will be played as per original schedule i.e. 9-13 and 17-21 December, respectively.”
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