Trust, safety and inquiry: PCB make major admissions as PSL is postponed again

NICK HOWSON: Chief executive Wasim Khan cut a dejected and often frustrated figure as he revealed how the players demanded the tournament be stopped for the second time in as many years

Pakistan Super League postponed after Covid-19 outbreak among teams

PSL players and officials to be offered Covid-19 vaccine

The PCB have admitted they were unable to guarantee the safety of Pakistan Super League players and officials, leading to the second postponement of the competition in as many years.

Seven positive tests for Covid-19 were detected among the six teams in recent days, leading to the franchises requesting an immediate curtailment of the competition of which just 14 matches had been completed.

Organisers had hoped to deploy a five-day firebreak but this was dismissed by the players who lost trust in the bio-secure bubble which had already been breached before the matches got underway.

"We have found ourselves in a situation where neither us nor others are able to provide what we need to provide, and that is full protection for players,” said PCB chief-executive Wasim Khan.

"When players start to lose confidence, bio-secure is about trust. There has to be trust to make it work and self-police it. It is a difficult day. As the PCB we remain resilient."

Wahab Riaz and Daren Sammy left the bio-secure bubble prior to the tournament getting underway and were permitted to re-join their Peshawar Zalmi teammates without undergoing a three-day quarantine period. 

Negative tests were returned but the appeal for special dispensation to the PCB went against tournament rules.

Fawad Ahmed's positive test led to the postponement by 24 hours of Islamabad United v Quetta Gladiators, and three other cases were then detected among the four other teams.

That included Karachi Kings' fielding coach Kamran Khan. Tom Banton, the Gladiators opener, later revealed he has also contracted the virus.

On Wednesday (March 3), the PCB revealed it would be offering Covid-19 vaccines to all players to ensure their safety - but this proposal lasted less than 24 hours before the competition was pulled completely.

There is little doubt the circumstances around this postponement are vastly different to 12 months ago when the playoffs were delayed until November as the pandemic took hold.

The entire episode leaves several questions for the PCB, the PSL franchises and players regarding the regulations in place in the bio-secure bubble and how and why an outbreak has occurred.

As Wasim described while explaining the incident to the media "players are now very nervous, they're very apprehensive". A full independent investigation will be launched to ensure all parties can learn from the experience ahead of future editions.

Throughout, Wasim was attempting to delicately walk a fine tightrope between trying to explain what had unfolded, while not throwing any individual or group under the bus.

^{The Karachi National Stadium is now a reminder of what could have been}

But it is clear that having repeated the standard operating procedures (SOPs), which all franchises were informed of on February 18, that helped deliver internationals against Zimbabwe and South Africa on either side of the New Year, the National T20 Cup and the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, the PCB are perplexed that things have fallen apart so quickly.

"We fully expect there will be a number of learnings," added Wasim, who joined the PCB in January and has overseen the return of Test and PSL cricket to the region.

"There will be a number of hard decisions that we have to make and look at the things that we could have done better.

"This isn't about shifting the blame, this is about looking at it with an open lense rather than a microscope. 

"Where did all the failings happen and why did they happen? That's the bottom line."

In perhaps the most significant moment of the address, he added: "Any environment can only work if everyone is on the same page. Why did our domestic cricket work? Because everything was being policed and everything was being done.

"We delivered a tournament with multiple teams involved, domestically. This isn't about blaming anyone."

Against the backdrop of showdown talks between the PCB and PSL regarding the financial model of the tournament, attention also now turns to if and when the remainder of the tournament will be played, which is as much as an economic necessity as it is a sporting one.

At least initially, windows appear limited. As per the Future Tours Programme, Pakistan are due to face Zimbabwe in two Tests and three T20s in April. The men's national team are not in action again until they face England in July, with the Indian Premier League slotting in between. Going up against that eight-team tournament seems unlikely.

With New Zealand and West Indies due in Pakistan on either side of the T20 World Cup (Babar Azam's side are also due in Bangladesh), there seems to be little wiggle room.

"There are windows that we will explore with the franchises to try and make this work,” said Wasim.

"Trust will need to be built and there will need to be a better partnership built to make sure everyone is policing their environment. 

"We want to continue and finish PSL 6. We found a window (for PSL 5) and we finished those matches."

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