The start of England’s Test series against Pakistan is in doubt with over half of the playing squad impacted by illness.
Had the match been due to start today, England would have been unable to field an XI and the start of the match would have been forced to be delayed.
Conversations between the boards are ongoing to prepare for the worst case scenario, which is that England are not able to field a team on Thursday morning. Rob Key, England’s managing director, is out here on tour and part of the discussions.
The illness sweeping through the camp is not believed to be Covid, nor food related, but has nonetheless impacted 13 or 14 members of the travelling group. England’s bowlers are believed to have been particularly badly affected. Only five players trained today, all of them batters in Joe Root, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Harry Brook and Keaton Jennings.
Root, who had been unwell on Tuesday but was fit enough to train today, spoke to the media in place of captain Ben Stokes who is resting at the hotel and attempted to alleviate any concerns, joking that England would be fielding a top three consisting of batting coach Marcus Trescothick, managing director Rob Key and head coach Brendon McCullum.
However, he could not confirm whether the series would start on time.
“Who knows what will happen?” said Root. “Whether there would be the possibility to delay it by a day, I don’t know. I’ve not spoken to anyone and I don’t know the ins and outs of it. It’s such a monumental tour and important series for so many reasons.
“We’ve waited 17 years to come to Pakistan to play a Test match, if it means waiting another day, is that the worst thing in the world?”
“We’re all desperate to play this game and we know how important it is to the fans of Pakistan and their team as well.
“I felt unwell yesterday and woke up feeling much better today so hopefully it is a 24-hour thing."
As to whether such a postponement is possible, former captain Root was unsure.
He added: “Who knows? I’m not involved in those discussions anymore and I’m glad that I’m not. I’ll just chuck it out there and someone else can deal with it.”
England’s camp has previously been impacted by illness in South Africa in 2019 and the 2017/18 Ashes, where Root himself batted whilst suffering from a virus which had hospitalised him the night before.
“I wouldn’t wish it on anyone,” Root said of the experience. “It is horrible. Running on and off the field all the time. But sometimes it is part and parcel of where you are at as a team. That [Centurion 2019 Test] was very unfortunate because a lot of us got ill during the Test match, not going into the game.
“But hopefully it is not something we have to contend with and everyone will turn up well tomorrow and we can enjoy what is an exciting series and have cricket as a talking point.”
With Stokes ill, there is the potential that a stand-in captain will have to be named with Root and Ollie Pope, who captained England during their warm-up fixture against England Lions in the UAE, potential options. Root, however, is reluctant to resume the role he resigned from earlier this year.
“I don’t think so, no.” Root replied when asked as to whether he could captain England in this Test. “Ollie Pope did it the other day and he’d do a great job so we’ll see. Hopefully it isn’t a conversation we need to have.”
