The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has confirmed the cancellation of Sunday's One-Day Cup fixture between Middlesex and Gloucestershire at Radlett due to a Covid-19 outbreak within the Gloucestershire squad. Members of the Gloucestershire squad are required to self-isolate which has resulted in the cancellation of the match. Under Playing Condition 16.11.4.5 Group A will, therefore, be decided on an 'average points per completed match' basis.A statement from Middlesex stated that the game was cancelled after Gloucestershire were unable to field an XI for the game as the majority of their first-team members were infected and forced into isolation.
Middlesex's chief executive Andrew Cornish expressed his disappointment at the turn of events as they were looking for a push to qualify for the knockouts."Middlesex Cricket is extremely disappointed to hear of the cancellation of this fixture, which has a massive impact on our hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages of the Royal London Cup," Cornish said."Whilst we have every sympathy with Gloucestershire's situation, as we all endeavour to handle the impact of Covid on our playing groups, as a Club Middlesex have taken every possible step to mitigate any Covid risk to our players, and to hear that our opponents tomorrow are only able to field one player not in isolation is extremely disappointing."In discussions with the ECB we have made every effort to get tomorrow's game on, to no avail, and to have our campaign impacted in this way is saddening. We will continue to discuss this situation with the ECB in the hope of a more satisfactory resolution for Middlesex Cricket."
