The coronavirus pandemic has forced people to not involve in any kind of unnecessary group activities. Due to the speedy spread of deadly disease, many have been following social distancing across the world. A similar scenario was shown by West Indies players and staff members when on Wednesday, they celebrated the birthday of speedster Kemar Roach.
Usually, cricket fans are habitual of witnessing crazy moments inside the players’ change room whenever they tend to celebrate the birthday of anyone. However, this wasn’t the case with Roach’s birthday. The official Twitter handle of West Indies Cricket posted a video of Roach’s birthday celebration where all players and members followed social distancing norms.
Birthday cake for the birthday boy! 🎂 WI hope you enjoyed your day @KemarAJR 👏🏾#MenInMaroon 🌴 pic.twitter.com/vzvqfGZTZK
— Windies Cricket (@windiescricket) July 1, 2020
The Caribbean team is currently in England for their Test series against the English team which is supposed to begin from July 8 at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton. The original schedule, however, was supposed to start from June 4 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The 14-man squad along with 11-member reserve group landed in England on June 9 for the preparations ahead of the Test series. Although, in the wake of the pandemic, three Caribbean players – Shimron Hetmyer, Darren Bravo and Keemo Paul – have opted out from the English tour.
Earlier, Roach during an interaction with ANI had backed the idea of using wax to shine the cricket ball. He had also said that the idea of taking a second new ball after 50-55 overs during an innings of a Test match is entirely appropriate as it would ensure the balance between bat and ball.
“It is tough to gauge at this point. I have grown up playing cricket my entire life, using saliva to shine the ball. I guess we can try a wax and see how it works, but the new ball every 50 overs is a decent idea as well. At least give the bowlers a chance.”
“I think, right now, things are tilted towards the batting side. We have to experiment and try to find ways to balance the cricket and ensure we are keeping bowlers interested in the game,” Roach had said.
