Scotland pull out of women's series against Ireland in Spain over Covid concerns
Ireland performance director expresses "great regret" over postponement
ESPNcricinfo staff
17-Nov-2020
Ireland's series against Scotland in Spain has been called off • Getty Images
Scotland women's series against Ireland in Spain has been postponed at late notice amid continued concerns about the prevalence of Covid-19.
The teams had been due to play their first international cricket in 14 months at the La Manga resort, with two 50-over matches and three T20Is scheduled in what was believed to be the first-ever international cricket to be staged in Europe in November.
But Cricket Scotland informed Cricket Ireland on Tuesday that following "specialist advice received in the last 24 hours on the risks to the player" and with "concerns at the continuing and evolving high levels of the virus in Scotland", they had pulled out of the tour.
Gus Mackay, Cricket Scotland's CEO, said that the board's priority was the safety of its players and that they had a responsibility to react to a change in circumstances.
"Organising this series was always going to be a challenge within the current environment," Mackay said. "We would like to thank Cricket Ireland and La Manga for their co-operation and understanding and we look forward to playing the series when it is safe to do so. We very much appreciate the hard work put into planning the trip and are very sorry it has ultimately not been practical at our end to go ahead."
Richard Holdsworth, Cricket Ireland's performance director, said: "It was with great regret that we had to inform our players and support staff that Scotland has withdrawn from the tour on the eve of departure. Despite significant work and planning by all parties to mitigate risks in regard to Covid-19, it is regrettable that we are where we are. We are all disappointed for our squad as we know how hard they have been preparing for this series.
"The tour was important to start building the players' loads as preparation for next year's World Cup Qualifier, particularly given the lack of international playing time for the squad this year. We shall take stock of the situation, and look to re-engineer our plans as soon as possible."