James Anderson during his charged celebration forgot the new ICC guidelines as he was seen hugging his teammates while celebrating the wicket of Roston Chase on Day 3 of the ongoing Test between England and West Indies at Ageas Bowl.
“Not so much social distancing there. Old habits die hard,” Nasser Hussain, who was on commentary duty for Sky Sports, said.
Apart from that celebration, England and West Indies were seen maintaining social distancing and were following the new ICC guidelines.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) issued a list of dos and don’ts as part of its guidelines for the safe return of sport in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Among other things, the ICC said ‘on-field behaviour that includes celebrations with body contact, and shared use of drink bottles, towels and equipment can pose a risk in cricket and should be strongly discouraged.’
It is to be noted that it was Anderson who was super cautious during the intra-squad warm up match. He not only celebrated by following social distancing, he was seen using sanitizer that was kept in the boundary.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, there was no cricket match for more than 100 days and this is the first match after the pandemic. The players said that it is difficult to adapt to the new rules where there will be no usage of saliva, celebrations that involves body contact.
Meanwhile, England after dismissing West Indies is currently are 99 runs behind the visitors, with ten wickets in hand.
