No point banning saliva in a bio-secure bubble, opines Shaun Pollock

Cricket is set to be resumed after a three-month-long break, with West Indies travelling to the English channel for a three-match Test series, starting on July 8. While it is the first international event post the COVID-19 break, the three encounters would be played in a bio-secure bubble, reducing the risk of players contracting the virus. 

The visitors would arrive on June 9 and will have to undergo a compulsory 14-day quarantine period at the Emirates Old Trafford before the testing phase. The first of the three Tests would be played at Southampton, which also has already been made into a bio-secure bubble. After that, the players would be taking on each other, in the series. Former South African all-rounder, Shaun Pollock has opined that there is no point banning saliva in a bio-secure bubble because there would be no risk of contracting the virus. 

“And if there are no symptoms, it doesn’t really matter about shining the ball then, because you’re in the bubble and no one you come into contact with will have coronavirus. So you can just get on with normal proceedings,” he told the ‘Following On Cricket Podcast’.

“I think the environment that’ll end up being created is almost going to be like a bubble. People will get tested, they’ll go into a two-week camp where they’re just going to sit and monitor how the conditions of their bodies change,” Pollock added. 

On top of that, the former South African player also added that there would be no crowd in place, with the entire stadium closed to anyone beyond essential staff and players alongside being sprayed with disinfectant to keep the bubble safe.

“I’d presume that there’d be no crowds in place, every single environment they go into would be cleaned down and sprayed, and everything along those lines,” concluded Pollock.