Coronavirus bigger than cricket, needs to be taken very seriously, says Paine; backs sporting cancellations

Australian Test captain Tim Paine on Wednesday said the threat of COVID-19 pandemic is bigger than the game of cricket and needs to be taken seriously, justifying the suspension of almost all the ongoing action to contain the deadly outbreak.

The disease, which has so far claimed almost 8,000 lives and infected close to 2,00,000 people globally, has led to the cancellation or postponement of sports events across the globe.

"As hard as it is for all cricketers at the moment I think it is time that we take a break. I know it's even harder this time of year when you've got finals and trophies are on the line and it's all there to be won but this is bigger than us, bigger than the game of cricket but it's something that needs to be taken very seriously," Paine said in a video posted in twitter.

"I hope that we're all back playing the game we love and going about our lives the way we want to as soon as possible but in the meantime, please take care of yourselves, take care of others and let's ride this out together."
"I would certainly love to be playing with Tasmania right now in the hunt for a Sheffield Shield final and there's no doubt our Australian men's team would love to be in Hobart trying to win the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy and certainly our female world champion team would love to be in South Africa. But we're not, and for very very good reason."