Australian Test captain Tim Paine on Wednesday said the threat of COVID-19 pandemic is bigger than the game of cricket and needs to be taken seriously, justifying the suspension of almost all the ongoing action to contain the deadly outbreak.
The disease, which has so far claimed almost 8,000 lives and infected close to 2,00,000 people globally, has led to the cancellation or postponement of sports events across the globe.
"As hard as it is for all cricketers at the moment I think it is time that we take a break. I know it's even harder this time of year when you've got finals and trophies are on the line and it's all there to be won but this is bigger than us, bigger than the game of cricket but it's something that needs to be taken very seriously," Paine said in a video posted in Twitter.
In Australia, the three-ODI series against New Zealand was called off, while the upcoming three-T20 International series in New Zealand, starting March 24 was also postponed. The remainder of the Sheffield Shield competition has been cancelled too.
"There's no doubt it's been a big week for our cricket community. Some decisions have been made in the best interests of our country and our most vulnerable people. One of those decisions has been to cancel all cricket. I realise that's tough but it's something we should all take very seriously," Paine said.
"I would certainly love to be playing with Tasmania right now in the hunt for a Sheffield Shield final and there's no doubt our Australian men's team would love to be in Hobart trying to win the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy and certainly our female world champion team would love to be in South Africa. But we're not, and for very very good reason," Paine concluded.
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