Australia women's cricket team clinched gold in the inaugural appearance of women's cricket at Commonwealth Games 2022 by defeating Team India in the summit clash on Sunday. World champions snatched away stunning victory from Harmanpreet Kaur-led side as Women in Blue fell short of nine runs in the second innings.
While, Australia impressed everyone with its ultimate dominance in the game, they also raised lot of eyebrows with the inclusion of COVID-19 positive Tahlia McGrath in playing XI. The inclusion of Tahlia McGrath came as a surprise for many as she was tested COVID-19 positive. Even the toss for gold medal match was delayed for almost 15 minutes because Tahlia had tested positive for COVID-19 and Australia had to inform the Indian team and management about the same.
The picture of Tahlia sitting in the stand with a mask on away from the rest of the Australian players has gone viral. Notably, she didn't even join the side during the national anthem as well. While, many expressed their shock over Tahlia's inclusion in the squad, it was officially approved by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
Commonwealth Games Australia confirmed that cricketer Tahlia McGrath had returned a positive test for COVID-19 and after consultation with CWG Federation RACEG team and match officials, McGrath was allowed to take part in the summit clash against India.
According to CWG guidelines, athletes/players across all disciplines are being assessed on a case-by-case basis to determine their availability to compete, should they return a positive test. The factors taken into account include how severely athletes/players have been impacted by the illness and how infectious they are likely to be in their sport and the facility in which they would be competing.
CGA further claimed that in consultation with the CGF and ICC, Cricket Australia's medical staff have implemented a range of comprehensive protocols which will be observed throughout the game and for post-match activity, to minimize the risk of transmission to all players and officials.
"The CGA claimed that they maintained a comprehensive COVID-19 risk mitigation strategy for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, with testing protocols over and above those required by the Birmingham 2022 Organising Committee," read the statement from the Australian camp.