Mentally challenging bio-bubbles may force England players to pull out of tours: Morgan 

After a busy summer and IPL, England players are staring at a prolonged winter amid COVID-19 pandemic.

By Kashish Chadha - 20 Oct, 2020

England's limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan said his countrymen may well opt out of some of the forthcoming tours if they feel mentally fatigued over the prospect of shifting multiple bio-bubbles within COVID-19 pandemic. 

England hosted West Indies, Ireland, Pakistan and Australia at stadiums with on-site hotels in Southampton and Manchester during the international summer spanning three months. 

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They then moved to UAE for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020, which also is having to be played with strict healthy protocols in place due to the raging viral outbreak. 

And with the winter tours to South Africa, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan awaiting in a rejigged schedule, Morgan stressed the curbs on movement could take their toll and push players into prioritising their welfare. 

“We’ve spoken about this as a team and we’ve accepted that guys will come in and out of the bubble as they feel it is affecting their mental health,” Morgan said during an online charity event, as quoted by Reuters

"I do think we will see people pull out of tours. That’s just going to be the reality of things," added the 34-year-old currently playing for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). 

Within the England set-up and while with their respective IPL teams, Morgan urged all involved to create an environment where players are comfortable opening up on the matter. 

"I don’t think people should look down on it and they shouldn’t feel like people aren’t doing their job or not committing to their country."

"That’s a reactive way of dealing with things and we want to be at the forefront of making it acceptable for people to say ‘I need to spend time with my family now and I’m taking this tour off’ just because of the extraordinary circumstances," he concluded. 

By Kashish Chadha - 20 Oct, 2020

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