West Indies cricketers banned from training for three days after NZ quarantine breaches

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VIDEO SHOWS: ZOOM VIDEO NEWS CONFERENCE WITH WEST INDIES CRICKET BOARD CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER JOHNNY GRAVE / B-ROLL OF WEST INDIES TRAINING

SHOWS:

CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND (NOVEMBER 9, 2020) (WICB - MUST COURTESY WICB)

1. WEST INDIES PRACTICE

ANTIGUA (NOVEMBER 11, 2020) (WICB - MUST COURTESY WICB)

2. (SOUNDBITE) (English) JOHNNY GRAVE, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER WEST INDIES CRICKET BOARD, SAYING:

"So obviously it is fair to say that we are extremely disappointed that some of the players seem to have interacted with other members of their respective bubbles. We are certainly in full support of the action taken by the New Zealand Ministry of Health, which is that for the remaining part of the quarantine period we will be unable to train. Clearly with limited preparation due to Covid-19 protocols in the Caribbean and New Zealand it is a huge blow to our preparation to have no training for the next three days. That said, I do want to stress that we are as an organization in full support of the New Zealand Ministry of Health position, and the action they have taken, and we have written to all the players a couple of hours ago, re-emphasising the importance of strictly following all of these protocols and the importance that they do that for their own health and safety and well-being, but also to support the New Zealand government's aims and objectives of keeping the New Zealand population Covid free. So they have a huge responsibility but we have reminded them of the importance of doing that. We have already begun an internal investigation into these reported incidents that will be lead by our team manager Rawl Lewis."

CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND (NOVEMBER 9, 2020) (WICB - MUST COURTESY WICB)

3. WEST INDIES PRACTICE

ANTIGUA (NOVEMBER 11, 2020) (WICB - MUST COURTESY WICB)

4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) JOHNNY GRAVE, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER WEST INDIES CRICKET BOARD, SAYING:

"I think my disappointment is mainly the fact that our players are probably the most experienced players in the world in dealing with these strict quarantine measures. I am not for any second saying that they are easy, and that also living in them day in and day out is obviously a massive challenge. It is still not natural for people to always wear a mask, and always do things that we have been trained to do for so many years, living our lives in the way that we have before Covid. But these players, the majority of them have been in a seven-week quarantine isolation bubble for the duration of the England men's tour that we held in June and July. They all pretty much went to Trinidad and Tobago which had a similar situation with New Zealand, with its borders fully shut and the government dispensation to allow us to host the Caribbean Premier League.

"And obviously they have been within that facility, within Christchurch, for virtually the whole quarantine period. So it is hugely disappointing that players who knew what the protocols were have clearly broken them by mixing together. It is a different tour, within the UK we were able to have the whole touring party together within a quarantine but obviously that quarantine and that bio-secure environment was extended for seven weeks. Here because the New Zealand government have done such a good job in managing Covid-19, the real carrot for this group of players was the opportunity to tour as normal New Zealand if they got through the 14-day quarantine. And the government had gone even further to give the exemption to allow the players to train."

CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND (NOVEMBER 9, 2020) (WICB - MUST COURTESY WICB)

5. WEST INDIES PRACTICE

ANTIGUA (NOVEMBER 11, 2020) (WICB - MUST COURTESY WICB)

6. (SOUNDBITE) (English) JOHNNY GRAVE, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER WEST INDIES CRICKET BOARD, SAYING:

"Yes we are disappointed, yes we are surprised that the players would having gone through so many months with playing in this bio-secure environment that they would have let themselves down and let cricket West Indies down, and potentially put the tour at risk and put the New Zealand population at risk, albeit I would say that from the information that we have got, the risks are extremely low, because of the fact that the players were tested three times before they left the Caribbean, all negative, and have already undertaken two negative tests since they have been in New Zealand, with a third one that was completed today, with the results tomorrow, so just a sense of real disappointment."

CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND (NOVEMBER 9, 2020) (WICB - MUST COURTESY WICB)

7. WEST INDIES PRACTICE

STORY: Cricket West Indies see no danger of their tour of New Zealand being cancelled despite the team's training privileges being revoked after several players breached COVID-19 biosecurity protocols in their isolation facility.

Video footage from the facility in Christchurch showed some players had breached protocols by sharing food or socialising with team members outside their smaller biosecure bubbles, New Zealand's health ministry said on Wednesday.

There was no risk to the public, the ministry said, and the team are due to be released from the facility on Friday, pending a final round of COVID-19 testing that was undertaken on Wednesday, and relocate to Queenstown for warmup matches.

Cricket West Indies Chief Executive Johnny Grave said there had been no suggestion from the ministry that the tour could be cancelled, and health officials had said the sanctions only related to the team training in Christchurch.

They expected the rest of the squad to arrive from the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the United Arab Emirates on Thursday and go into isolation as planned.

New Zealand has successfully curbed the spread of the coronavirus after introducing a strict lockdown and tight border controls.

Almost all the country's small number of current cases are among people arriving from overseas, who are held in mandatory managed isolation facilities for 14 days.

Director General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said the team had been granted special exemptions to train while in managed isolation.

"In return they have to stick to the rules," Bloomfield said. "They didn't do that."

Grave said the team would also conduct an investigation.

The first of three Twenty20 internationals against New Zealand is on Nov. 27 in Auckland.

(Production: Iain Axon)