As cricketers face longer than usual periods away from their partners and children in order to adhere with the quarantine regulations and bio-secure bubbles for matches played within the COVID-19 pandemic, David Warner said that may just be a major factor that leads many of them into rethinking their career plans internationally.
Personally as well, Warner said time not spent with his wife Candice and their three daughters will be a huge consideration, as Australian players gear up for the tour of England in UK this September, followed by the IPL in UAE and then the home summer, including the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India. All of them, requiring certain isolation rules to be followed on arrival abroad and return to Australia.
Last summer only, the 33-year-old left-hander said he is thinking whether to bid adieu to one or two of the three international formats in order to not only prolong his stay at the highest level, but also have decent breaks that shall allow time at home with his family.
"Obviously three daughters and my wife, who I owe a lot to, has been a big part of my playing career," ESPNcricinfo quoted Warner as saying. "You've always got to look out for your family first, and with cricket and these unprecedented times, you've got to weigh up these decisions. Look, at the moment, I'll keep continuing to aim for that."
"Obviously the T20 [World Cup] is not here at home, which would have been ideal to play that and win that here. Now that gets pushed back. I will have to have a rethink about that when it comes to India."
"I'll see where I am and where the girls are at with school as well. A lot of that is a big part of my decision. It's not just when the games are being played and how much cricket's being played. It's a big family decision for myself," he added.
"There are times when you go away and miss your family a lot and at the moment with all these biosecurity measures that are in place, we're going to not be able to have the luxury of our families coming away with us now and it could be for the foreseeable future."
Further, Warner is wary of the quality of preparation that he and the rest of the Australian Test team members may have leading into the summer, also featuring a one-off encounter in Perth against Afghanistan, just before the marquee India visit.
Normally, players get two or three rounds of Sheffield Shield matches before the first Test at home. But given the abnormal circumstances and the rejigged schedule, that might not be possible.
"Usually you have a couple of Shield games leading into a Test series, especially at home," said Warner. "So I think the unique thing about it is the Indian team and ourselves are going to be in the same boat really. We're going to have a lack of red-ball cricket preparation and end of the day we have to make the most of that time training in the lead up to the Test series."
"We've played enough high-level cricket to adapt to red ball. But there are obviously guys back in Australia who won't be playing in the one-day series or the IPL, who have to try and get ready to prepare."
"Hopefully there are a couple of games they can play interstate against each other, if something is put in place. We're obviously unsure and unclear given states are in lockdown or not letting people from other states go interstate," he concluded.
