- Joined
- Oct 2, 2004
- Runs
- 218,133
"After these 10 positive cases, all players will realize seriousness of the situation" : Wasim Khan
Wasim Khan speaking to the press:
"This is not a great situation but these are 10 fit athletes who have been tested positive for Coronavirus and there is a clear message for all people in Pakistan, men, women and children that please adhere to Govt. guidelines because if it can happen tp fit young Pakistan players, then it can happen to anybody"
"Of the 10 players who have tested positive, 7 are predominantly white-ball players who are required for the white-ball series that begins from the 23rd of August onwards"
"We fully expect the players to be tested again, the players are coming to Lahore tomorrow, the players who were negatively tested before will be tested again in a bio-secure environment in a hotel on 25th, the squad will be announced on the 27th, and the team will leave for England on the 28th"
Will these positive tests concern England?
"I dont think so, it is something for us to be concerned about as we are seeing growing numbers (of Covid cases) in Pakistan society but one thing I do know about England is that conditions are massively improving there, shops are opening and they are also looking to revise the quarantine period downwards from 14 days at the end of the month"
"Once the camp was cancelled in Lahore we were looking to go to England earlier; So we were working with their medical team, with the ECB to try and get to England earlier; So the plan was to get to England around the 27,28,29th of June; England will provide bio-secure environments and players will be tested again in England; So we are confident, comfortable that the provisions that the ECB has put in place will keep our players safe to allow them to practice and play their matches in a safe environment"
"Currently Misbah is looking at the plan for reserves - we have 4 players in the reserves and we are looking at whether we need to draw on those reserves to go to England, on top of that we are looking at 3-4 of other reserves who Misbah is identifying at the moment, they will also be tested and will be on alert if required in England"
"Whilst the number 10 sounds very high, we have time on our side, and its important that we dont panic at this stage; There is a 10-12 day period after which they will be retested and if they have 2 negative tests within a 48 hr period, they will arrive in England and be retested there, they will be isolated from the squad until the results come in and once those results are negative they will join as part of their quarantine period to be able to train"
"It sounds like a lot of players (who are Covid+) but we planned for this potential scenario; We started planning for this about a month ago about what if this or that happens"
"There will be minimal disruption to those players (who have tested covid+) because their T20 series will start 6 weeks later; So there is plenty of time for these players to recover and join the squad in England as well"
"We are still planning this but we expect to have 23 players (19 + 4 reserves) to take to England on the 28th, and when the remaining players join us in England anywhere between 10-15th of July and the numbers will go up"
"If these players are tested positive again in 10-12 days time, then further reserves that Misbah is identifying today will come in an join the squad depending on which discipline those players are who cannot make it"
"We have asked players about it and they would rather quarantine at home (than with PCB) - we have given them strict guidelines and they know what they need to do to make the tour of England"
"Everyday we will be checking in with them to make sure that they are strictly adhering to the isolation policy"
"Look these cricketers havent played cricket for 4 months and they are young cricketers; Maybe there is over enthusiasm on their behalf to go and play - they think we are athletes and nothing will happen to us; Look at the society as a whole, not much social distancing happening, so this is an issue for the society at a broad level"
"For those who are positive, now is not the time to come down on them; Lets wait and until they get through the tests but this is something we will be looking as a policy moving forward; This is because, Cricket and Covid needs to co-exist for the next 12-18 months, so all we can keep on doing is guiding them and making sure they are strictly sticking to guidelines, if we find that players are not following self isolation policies given to them, they will not be going to England"
"If we receive reports that they are outside and not complying then we will come down on them (hard)"
"We cannot control people when they go home; Let me give examples of PL Managers, players - they were isolating but were covid+, Tennis players, basketball players - the fact is with athletes you cannot prevent them from contracting (covid-19) from their acquaintances and family members as we have seen in England"
Referring to what PC Medical director said about this being risky
"We cannot get away from the fact that this is a difficult time at the moment, its challenging and risky time for everybody but lets look at the trend of this diseases in England vs Pakistan; We thought long and hard about touring England, and because of the (reducing) figures we are seeing and bio-secure venues, the facilities and match environments these guys will be walking into, there is nothing better"
"We are also in touch with the touring WI side and they have told us that England have implemented exactly what they said they would do (in terms of bio-secure etc)"
"We cannot sit with players at their homes everyday" [in reply to question about Fakhar saying he practiced a lot and didnt care about covid-19]
"All we can do is provide them guidelines and speak to them on a daily basis"
"Athletes think they are immune to covid-19 and nothing will happen to them so this is the kind of education that we are constantly trying to get to our players is that you must remember that whoever you are, you are prone to getting Covid-19"
"After these 10 positive cases, all players will realize the seriousness of the situation; Sometimes it takes things like these for people to realize how serious something is"
Question asked about why didnt PCB carry out tests soon after squad was selected
"If we had tested them earlier, we would have had to test them again and again as they didnt have symptoms; We had left ourselves 10-11 days after tests for departure as per our original departure date of 5th July"
"Fact is that in PSL, covid-19 was newly spreading around the world and the confidence of players and support staff was gone and we couldnt force them to stay, could we?"
"We had a duty of care to those players and if something had happened in those 24 hours, then we would not have had a leg to stand on; We had to make a quick decision about the PSL and I believe we made the right decision"
"Last week Mani Sahib met PM Imran Khan, and explained to him about Pakistan going on this tour of England; The PM said that it was important that all SOPs need to be followed when we are in England; We will follow those SOPs and the players are ready; There is no restriction from GOP for us and a chartered flight is arriving in Lahore on the 28th to take us to England"
"At the point we are all system go (in terms of GOP approvals)"
"This is all unprecedented and we wouldnt be putting the players at risk by going to England if we werent comfortable and confident that the facilities that England are putting on are the very best in terms of safety and medical provisions"
Wasim Khan speaking to the press:
"This is not a great situation but these are 10 fit athletes who have been tested positive for Coronavirus and there is a clear message for all people in Pakistan, men, women and children that please adhere to Govt. guidelines because if it can happen tp fit young Pakistan players, then it can happen to anybody"
"Of the 10 players who have tested positive, 7 are predominantly white-ball players who are required for the white-ball series that begins from the 23rd of August onwards"
"We fully expect the players to be tested again, the players are coming to Lahore tomorrow, the players who were negatively tested before will be tested again in a bio-secure environment in a hotel on 25th, the squad will be announced on the 27th, and the team will leave for England on the 28th"
Will these positive tests concern England?
"I dont think so, it is something for us to be concerned about as we are seeing growing numbers (of Covid cases) in Pakistan society but one thing I do know about England is that conditions are massively improving there, shops are opening and they are also looking to revise the quarantine period downwards from 14 days at the end of the month"
"Once the camp was cancelled in Lahore we were looking to go to England earlier; So we were working with their medical team, with the ECB to try and get to England earlier; So the plan was to get to England around the 27,28,29th of June; England will provide bio-secure environments and players will be tested again in England; So we are confident, comfortable that the provisions that the ECB has put in place will keep our players safe to allow them to practice and play their matches in a safe environment"
"Currently Misbah is looking at the plan for reserves - we have 4 players in the reserves and we are looking at whether we need to draw on those reserves to go to England, on top of that we are looking at 3-4 of other reserves who Misbah is identifying at the moment, they will also be tested and will be on alert if required in England"
"Whilst the number 10 sounds very high, we have time on our side, and its important that we dont panic at this stage; There is a 10-12 day period after which they will be retested and if they have 2 negative tests within a 48 hr period, they will arrive in England and be retested there, they will be isolated from the squad until the results come in and once those results are negative they will join as part of their quarantine period to be able to train"
"It sounds like a lot of players (who are Covid+) but we planned for this potential scenario; We started planning for this about a month ago about what if this or that happens"
"There will be minimal disruption to those players (who have tested covid+) because their T20 series will start 6 weeks later; So there is plenty of time for these players to recover and join the squad in England as well"
"We are still planning this but we expect to have 23 players (19 + 4 reserves) to take to England on the 28th, and when the remaining players join us in England anywhere between 10-15th of July and the numbers will go up"
"If these players are tested positive again in 10-12 days time, then further reserves that Misbah is identifying today will come in an join the squad depending on which discipline those players are who cannot make it"
"We have asked players about it and they would rather quarantine at home (than with PCB) - we have given them strict guidelines and they know what they need to do to make the tour of England"
"Everyday we will be checking in with them to make sure that they are strictly adhering to the isolation policy"
"Look these cricketers havent played cricket for 4 months and they are young cricketers; Maybe there is over enthusiasm on their behalf to go and play - they think we are athletes and nothing will happen to us; Look at the society as a whole, not much social distancing happening, so this is an issue for the society at a broad level"
"For those who are positive, now is not the time to come down on them; Lets wait and until they get through the tests but this is something we will be looking as a policy moving forward; This is because, Cricket and Covid needs to co-exist for the next 12-18 months, so all we can keep on doing is guiding them and making sure they are strictly sticking to guidelines, if we find that players are not following self isolation policies given to them, they will not be going to England"
"If we receive reports that they are outside and not complying then we will come down on them (hard)"
"We cannot control people when they go home; Let me give examples of PL Managers, players - they were isolating but were covid+, Tennis players, basketball players - the fact is with athletes you cannot prevent them from contracting (covid-19) from their acquaintances and family members as we have seen in England"
Referring to what PC Medical director said about this being risky
"We cannot get away from the fact that this is a difficult time at the moment, its challenging and risky time for everybody but lets look at the trend of this diseases in England vs Pakistan; We thought long and hard about touring England, and because of the (reducing) figures we are seeing and bio-secure venues, the facilities and match environments these guys will be walking into, there is nothing better"
"We are also in touch with the touring WI side and they have told us that England have implemented exactly what they said they would do (in terms of bio-secure etc)"
"We cannot sit with players at their homes everyday" [in reply to question about Fakhar saying he practiced a lot and didnt care about covid-19]
"All we can do is provide them guidelines and speak to them on a daily basis"
"Athletes think they are immune to covid-19 and nothing will happen to them so this is the kind of education that we are constantly trying to get to our players is that you must remember that whoever you are, you are prone to getting Covid-19"
"After these 10 positive cases, all players will realize the seriousness of the situation; Sometimes it takes things like these for people to realize how serious something is"
Question asked about why didnt PCB carry out tests soon after squad was selected
"If we had tested them earlier, we would have had to test them again and again as they didnt have symptoms; We had left ourselves 10-11 days after tests for departure as per our original departure date of 5th July"
"Fact is that in PSL, covid-19 was newly spreading around the world and the confidence of players and support staff was gone and we couldnt force them to stay, could we?"
"We had a duty of care to those players and if something had happened in those 24 hours, then we would not have had a leg to stand on; We had to make a quick decision about the PSL and I believe we made the right decision"
"Last week Mani Sahib met PM Imran Khan, and explained to him about Pakistan going on this tour of England; The PM said that it was important that all SOPs need to be followed when we are in England; We will follow those SOPs and the players are ready; There is no restriction from GOP for us and a chartered flight is arriving in Lahore on the 28th to take us to England"
"At the point we are all system go (in terms of GOP approvals)"
"This is all unprecedented and we wouldnt be putting the players at risk by going to England if we werent comfortable and confident that the facilities that England are putting on are the very best in terms of safety and medical provisions"
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