England players will have to wait a little longer to resume with their on-field skill-based training, as it was further delayed due to complications in implementing the safety protocols amid COVID-19 pandemic, says a report in ESPNcricinfo. 

Hoping to restart on-field play in July, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) had planned for resumption of training for players in the second half of May. But issues emerged in establishing uniform practices to minimise the chances of infection and they turned out to be slightly harder to implement. 

Read Also: BCCI to coordinate with state bodies to restart players' skill-based training 

The report further states that there was a scarcity of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), to be worn by the physios, with a delay in getting cricket balls delivered to the bowlers only adding to the problem. 

It was established earlier that each bowler would be using his own cricket ball as a precautionary measure against Coronavirus. 

The ECB, however, remains hopeful there won't be more than a week's delay from the originally planned date for training's resumption.

The plan was to allow bowlers to train first, as they tend to take longer to reattain peak fitness. 

The ultimate goal is to have West Indies and Pakistan arrive for Test matches in July-August and safely go-ahead with those fixtures in bio-secure venues, without fans allowed to turn-up. 

Both series, including three Tests each, are an integral part of the World Test Championship, where England's away series in Sri Lanka remains indefinitely suspended. 

The deadly outbreak, which has had a firm grip in the UK, started in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year.

More than 47 lakh people have been globally infected, including over 3.1 lakh deaths. 

(Inputs from ESPNcricinfo)