St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda: Three West Indies cricket players and a member of the team staff have tested positive for coronavirus on arriving in Pakistan and will miss the upcoming limited-overs series, Cricket West Indies (CWI) said on Saturday.
Left-arm pacer Sheldon Cottrell, all-rounders Roston Chase and Kyle Mayers and a non-coaching staff member “returned positive tests in Karachi and will therefore be unavailable to participate in the upcoming Pakistan series,” CWI said in a statement.
All four had been fully vaccinated and are without major symptoms. They will remain in isolation for 10 days and until they return negative PCR test results.
“Our arrival testing protocols in Pakistan have confirmed four COVID-19 positives,” said CWI chief executive Johnny Grave.
“These were confirmed whilst the players and staff were still in room isolation, so despite this significant setback to our preparation plans, we are confident that the tour can continue as everyone else returned negative PCRs prior to their arrival into Pakistan and two negative PCRs since they have been in Karachi.
“The risk of COVID-19 infection is impossible to remove completely from a cricket tour, in spite of the fact that many of our players have been living in bio-secure bubbles almost continuously since before the CPL.
“This unusual loss of three players from our squad will seriously impact our team preparations, but the rest of the squad are in good spirits and will begin training today ahead of our first game on Monday.”
Cottrell, Chase and Mayers were all included in the squad for a three-match T20I series starting on Monday. Chase was also selected for the three one-day internationals that follow in Karachi between December 18 and 22.
Three West Indies cricketers test positive for coronavirus in Pakistan
https://arab.news/perp5
Three West Indies cricketers test positive for coronavirus in Pakistan
- Sheldon Cottrell, Roston Chase and Kyle Mayers and a non-coaching staff member test positive
- Will “be unavailable to participate in the upcoming Pakistan series,” Cricket West Indies says
Pakistan FM discusses regional situation with Saudi counterpart, urges restraint and dialogue
- This is the second time the two foreign ministers have spoken since the Arab Coalition targeted weapon shipments on Yemen’s Mukalla port
- Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry has invited factions in south Yemen to hold a dialogue in Riyadh to ‘discuss just solutions to southern cause’
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, discussed the regional situation with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, and called for restraint and dialogue to resolve issues, the Pakistani foreign office said late Friday, amid tensions prevailing over Yemen.
This is the second time the two foreign ministers have spoken this week since the Saudi Arabia-led Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen carried out a “limited” airstrike on Dec. 30, targeting two shipments of smuggled weapons and military equipment sent from the Emirati port of Fujairah to Mukalla in southern Yemen.
A coalition forces spokesperson said the weapons were meant to support the Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces, backed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in Yemen’s Hadramaut and Al-Mahra “with the aim of fueling the conflict.” The UAE has since announced withdrawal of its remaining troops from Yemen, rejecting any actions that could threaten the Kingdom or undermine regional stability.
In their telephonic conversation late Friday, the Pakistani and Saudi foreign ministers discussed the latest situation in the region, according to the Pakistani foreign office.
“FM [Dar] stressed that all concerned in the region must avoid any escalatory move and advised to resolve the issues through dialogue and diplomacy for the sake of regional peace and stability,” it added.
Separately, Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry invited factions in south Yemen to hold a dialogue in Riyadh to “discuss just solutions to the southern cause.”
The ministry statement said the conference in the Saudi capital had been requested by Rashad Al-Alimi, President of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council, and the Kingdom urged all factions to participate “to develop a comprehensive vision” that would fulfill the aspirations of the southern people.
Disregarding previous agreements with the Arab Coalition, the STC separatist group launched a sweeping military campaign early in December, seizing the governorates of Hadramaut along the Saudi border and the eastern governorate of Al-Mahra in Yemen’s border with Oman. It also took control of the strategic PetroMasila oilfields, which account for a massive portion of Yemen’s remaining oil wealth.
The advance has raised the spectre of the return of South Yemen, a separate state from 1967 to 1990, while dealing a hammer-blow to slow-moving peace negotiations with Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
Saudi Arabia said the STC action poses a direct threat to the Kingdom’s national security, and regional stability. The Kingdom has reiterated the only way to bring the southern cause to a resolution is through dialogue.
On Thursday, Pakistan’s foreign office expressed solidarity with Saudi Arabia and reaffirmed Islamabad’s commitment to the Kingdom’s security, amid rising tensions in Yemen.
“Pakistan expresses complete solidarity with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and reaffirms its commitment to security of the Kingdom,” Pakistani foreign office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi told reporters at a weekly news briefing.
“Pakistan maintains its firm support for the resolution of Yemen issue through dialogue and diplomacy and hopes that Yemen’s people and regional powers work together toward inclusive and enduring settlement of the issue, safeguarding regional stability.”
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a landmark defense pact in September last year, according to which aggression against one country will be treated as an attack against both. The pact signaled a push by both governments to formalize long-standing military ties into a binding security commitment.
