It was quite an eerie feeling when Joe Root made the announcement, says Broad.
Veteran England pacer Stuart Broad has on Sunday (March 14) backed and lauded England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) “very tough, but necessary” decision to suspend the Sri Lanka tour because of the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic, the respiratory disease spreading globally at the rapid rise.
The ECB, on Friday, March 13, announced that the two-Test series had been postponed indefinitely while stating "the physical and mental wellbeing of our players and support teams is paramount".
Broad also hailed the ECB for "putting the players and the fans first" while revealing the mood in the England camp before the tour was called off, saying there were a lot of 'what ifs' from the players' point of view surrounded around their family back home.
In a Daily Mail column, Broad wrote: “It was quite an eerie feeling on Friday when Joe Root addressed us as a squad to let us know that the tour of Sri Lanka was off. Out there we felt quite a long way from the levels of worry in England. Obviously, we had been kept up to date with what was happening back home via social media and it was quite surreal to see people fighting over loo roll in the supermarkets.”
The bowler further added, “The atmosphere has been quite different in Sri Lanka because there have not been as many cases of coronavirus, so although as a squad we have instigated social spacing, and have been very careful, we have not witnessed any of the changes in daily life that have perhaps occurred here. Not felt any of the hustle and bustle.”
He further explained, “The mood changed within the past three or four days, though, with the spread seemingly gathering pace and sporting events increasingly coming under threat. Naturally, during this time, a lot of questions started being asked. There were a lot of 'what ifs' from the players' point of view. What would happen if one of us got it?
The whole squad would have to go into 14-day quarantine. What would happen if a family member fell ill at home, and we had been in quarantine overseas? That would have meant no way of getting back to them. What would happen if one of our supporters got it and it then started spreading through the rest of the fans? There were an estimated 3,000 set to travel.”
Praising the ECB for postponing the Sri Lanka tour given the current situation all around the world, the fast-bowler said: “Over the past couple of days, it has almost been as if the world has started to realize how serious this really is, and started shutting down things. The NBA was called off, the Melbourne Grand Prix was called off, golf's Players Championship was called off. Suddenly, it was like 'wow.' These major worldwide events were being postponed and there was a feeling within our group that we ought to think about where we stood. Thankfully it did not come to that. The call came from the top, whether from Tom Harrison, or Ashley Giles, or others in the hierarchy at the ECB.”
Broad further went on to write: “They made a very tough but necessary decision and credit to them for putting the players and the fans first. It can't have been easy, with all the financial aspects of a tour like this, and ultimately, we want to be playing cricket for England so we were sad to be leaving. Despite the disappointment, though, the right decision has been made and we all look forward to coming back and completing this series at some stage.”
He signed off, “Today we are flying back into a country that is quickly going to realize what life is like without sport. It's going to be very strange for a few weeks, as it affects a lot of people, but sometimes things are bigger than sports. This is a worldwide pandemic that needs acting upon very quickly.”
(With Daily Mail Inputs)