Amid Coronavirus pandemic followed by worldwide lockdown, the cricketing action across the globe has been stopped, however, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) ‘on Wednesday’ said that English players are set to return to their training scheduled to begin from next week.
As per ECB, the centrally contracted bowlers will start the proceedings along with those invited from the county circuit. They are supposed to train for the first two weeks, and once they “reach their desired loading efforts”, batsmen and wicket keepers will commence their individual sessions. Also, when it comes to England women players, they are expected to resume training in late June.
Ashley Giles, managing director of England Men’s Cricket, explained that players would undergo temperature checks and they have to follow social distancing guidelines as laid out by the government. Dressing rooms and other venue facilities shall remain closed, and players and support staff will need to arrive in full kit for training.
“The safety of players, staff and our community is our first priority throughout this protocol. We are committed to adhering to public health guidelines and Government directives intended to prevent the spread of COVID-19,” said Giles as quoted by SkySports.
“To be clear, we will only train and potentially play cricket behind closed doors if we know it is absolutely safe to do so and is fully supported by the Government,” he added.
“We are in constant dialogue with players, coaches and counties to determine what is possible during this period and what facilities will be available to us. We are thankful that we have a united front across all of cricket’s stakeholders to prepare the players in a safe and secure environment,” Giles added further.
The ECB has also confirmed that their medical officer, will have to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) to treat injuries if occurred.
The deadly virus has impacted heavily on the UK. As per media reports, there have been over 33,000 casualties in Britain from the COVID-19, which is the highest death toll in Europe.
