The fifth and final Test match between India and England at the Old Trafford in Manchester was called off hours before its start on Friday (September 10). The Test match was called off owing to COVID-19 concerns following four positive tests in the Indian camp. India’s junior physio Yogesh Parmar was the latest member of the contingent to test positive for the contagious virus.
ECB released a statement confirming that the match was called off as India were unable to field a team. As per reports, all Indian players had undergone rounds of RTC-PCR tests after Parmar’s positive report and all of them tested negative. However, there were apprehensions in the players’ minds about carrying on in the fifth Test at Old Trafford.
Several fans including the Barmy Amry, England Cricket Team’s official supporter group, were left disappointed after the game was called off. Chris Mallard, the managing director of the Barmy Army levelled serious allegations on the BCCI and the Indian team, claiming that the fifth Test would have been played had it not been for the start of the 2nd leg of IPL 2021 from September 19 in the UAE.
Mallard criticised the Indian team for pulling the plug on the Test match, terming it catastrophic for small businesses around the sport. He also pointed out losses suffered by the Barmy Army due to the cancellation of the Test match which could have seen India bring an end to a 14-year long wait for a Test series win in England after taking a 2-1 lead in the first four games.
“Not only for the fans who were supposed to be here, but there are so many little businesses that are affected by a late decision like this and it causes a knock-on effect. It’s going to be a difficult winter for businesses in sport and for a business like the Barmy Army, the absolute nightmare this has caused for merchandising, ticket holders, staff, it really couldn’t be much worse,” said Mallard on TalkSport.
