Manchester: The cancellation of the fifth Test between England and India will have significant financial implications and impact the reputation of the prestigious Old Trafford venue, said Lancashire Cricket Club CEO Daniel Gidney on Friday.Obviously, there are significant financial implications. We have reputation issues as well since Old Trafford has a proud history of hosting Test cricket going back to over 100 years. We are absolutely gutted and devastated, Gidney told Sky Sports.
I feel for all our staffs, suppliers, stakeholders, partners, sponsors and guests. But above all, I feel for the ticket holders, who have spent their hard-earned money amid the difficulties of the pandemic over the last few months and who have been desperate to watch a fantastic game of cricket. Unfortunately, they can’t do that. On behalf of the Lancashire Cricket Club, I am truly sorry that those fans have been left disappointed, he said.
Gidney admitted that the situation was not in their control and promised a full refund to the ticket holders.
Meanwhile, a gutted England and Wales Cricket Board CEO Tom Harrison on Friday said that it was the Indian players’ anxiety over what might happen and not the COVID-19 outbreak itself that caused the cancellation of the fifth Test here even though all efforts were made to comfort the visitor.
Harrison said that the developments over the past few days have been devastating and added that everything necessary was done to convince the Indian players, who refused to take the field.
Harrison added that medical people who understand the virus were brought in to talk to the players on Thursday but they were clear about not playing the match. Once you have got the sense of anxiety in the dressing room, it would be very difficult to reverse that. Physical and mental health of players are important, he said.
We are not in a bio-bubble, but in managed living standards. It is not a COVID-free environment, but a COVID-managed one.