The England and Wales Cricket Board has officially written to the ICC to decide the fate of the cancelled fifth Test against India at Old Trafford, indicating that the two boards are far from reaching a settlement. “Yes we have written to the ICC,” an ECB spokesperson said when asked if they want the global body to decide on the fifth Test.
The ECB wants the ICC’s Dispute Resolution Committee to address the issue and expect that a forfeiture would be granted so that they can claim insurance as they are going to lose 40 million pound if the match is declared abandoned due to Covid.
Covid is an acceptable non compliance and the Indian camp has stated that it was unable to field a team for the match. However, the ECB’s contention could be that the Indian players returned two negative RT-PCR results and were still reluctant to play.
If the ICC rules the Test as abandoned, then India will win the series 2-1 but if England get a forfeiture as per the DRC ruling, it will be a 2-2 verdict and the host nation can also claim insurance.
The ECB going to the ICC proves that there hasn’t been an amicable settlement yet on the issue as the host board stares at losses. If it is ruled in favour of India, ECB stands to incur huge losses as most of the 40 million pound is not covered under Covid insurance.