Proteas players urged to self-isolate after returning from India

All the Proteas players who returned from India on Wednesday have been advised to self-isolate in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. This is according to South Africa’s team doctor, Shuaib Manjra, after the national team returned to the country on Wednesday.

Quinton de Kock and his charges had been on a three-match 10-day trip to the Asian country when the series was postponed due to the global pandemic.

In the audio below, Manjra says the players will be doing themselves and their families a favour by heeding Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) advice.

With the coronavirus continuing to spread relatively quickly globally – there are now well over 100 in South Africa. President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a pandemic, also known as COVID-19 a “national disaster”.

Manjra says the players have been briefed about its dangers and how it can spread.

Meanwhile, almost all cricket administration offices countrywide, including the national headquarters in Rosebank, have been shut down for the next few weeks.

Staff has been advised to work from home in order to help prevent the spread of the virus. The 2019/20 season has also effectively been ended after CSA declared on Monday that the game had been suspended for 60 days.

Acting chief executive officer Jacques Faul says the current global climate is a matter that should not be taken lightly.

The decision by CSA does, however, leave some matters unresolved in terms of who will be crowned champions of the 50-over Momentum One-Day Cup, a competition which had its semi-finals and final scheduled for this week, undecided.

The winner of the first-class 4-Day Domestic Series must also still be determined. Two rounds of that competition still remain.

But Faul says his Director of Cricket, Graeme Smith, and his department will make the final calls on those matters in the coming days. – Report by Thahir Asmal