TIRED of waiting for the Covid-19 pandemic to ease off, the Malaysian Cricket Association (MCA) have adopted the bubble system for national cricket players to prepare for global qualifying events.
The 25-player national women's team, led by Winifred Anne Duraisinghan, checked into the Kinrara Oval on Friday with three coaches, one trainer and two physiotherapists.
They have undergone swab tests and quarantine and started training on Monday.
The 24-player men's team, led by captain Faiz Noor, four coaches, one trainer and one physiotherapist, checked in on Monday, and will undergo quarantine before beginning their training.
The first phase of training will go on until the end of the month, and will resume after a one-week break next month.
Head coach Bilal Asad will oversee the preparation for the men's T20 World Cup Asian qualifiers (Nov 9-15) and the 2023 World Cup qualifiers (December), as well as the women's T20 World Cup Asian qualifiers (Nov 20-27) and the Commonwealth Games qualifiers (Jan 3-24).
All the competitions will be played in Malaysia.
Malaysian Cricket Association (MCA) chief operating officer Dinesh Muthuraman said it is crucial for the players to return to training as they are involved in a number of qualifiers.
"MCA have written to the Sports Ministry and have received approval to adopt the bio-bubble so that the national players are well-prepared for the coming qualifiers," said Dinesh.
"The players will remain in the bubble until the end of this month where strict standard operating procedures will be followed.
"They will undergo a three-day quarantine, and Covid-19 tests will be conducted twice before they start training.
"They will stay at the Kinrara Oval facilities and nobody is allowed to leave the premises. They are not allowed to have meals together.
"The second phase of training will begin in the second week of next month and will have about 20 to 25 days of training, and tournaments will start after that."
Dinesh said the MCA office, which is also situated at Kinrara Oval, will be opened by mid-September but the players and officials in the bubble are barred from entering or meeting the administrators.
Covid-19 tests will be conducted again after 14 days in the first phase, and the entire process of quarantine and testing will be repeated when the group return to the bubble for the second phase.
