Australia’s limited-overs captain Aaron Finch became the latest cricketer to raise concerns for the welfare of players who have been playing regularly in bio-secure bubbles amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the bio-secure environment has become the norm in the COVID-19 era, Finch has suggested Cricket Australia must find a way to manage multi-format international players in the current circumstances.
Having spent the majority of the last nine months in the COVID-19 bio-bubbles, the Aussie star also said “being locked up for months in bio-secure bubbles is unsustainable” for both cricketers with families.
His comments came after enduring a nightmarish BBL 10 season with Melbourne Renegades as the opening batsman could manage only 179 runs at 13.76 from 13 innings as his club finished last on the points table for the second straight year in the Big Bash League.
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He was in terrible form with the bat in the BBL 2020-21, admitting the endless cycle of COVID-19 hubs had taken its toll on him as the captain stressed that the players need to be rested living in COVID-19 bio-bubble for months since a long time in the bubbles is unsustainable.
Well, after the BBL 10, Finch is all set for another tour, as Australia will travel to New Zealand to play 5 T20Is lead with the squad departs on February 7 for the tour and the captain said he needs a break to relax completely to return fresh on the field.
As reported by ESPNCricinfo, Finch said on BBL 10 horror: “I had an absolute shocker with the bat. The harder I trained the worse I got, which is the opposite to what everyone tells you to do.”
He further added, “My wife worked it out the other day that I've had 20 or 21 days since April that I haven't been in lockdown or in a bubble. I'm going down to the beach for a few days to relax. My kit bag won't be coming out of my car, I can tell you. It will be locked away.”
The Aussie captain said the CA can adopt England's model of resting multi-format players after certain tours in order to keep players fresh and avoid the type of form slump he has experienced recently.
Finch explained, “If the COVID-19 bubble and hubs continue for a long time, that will be something that would be looked into, no doubt. The welfare of players is paramount and being locked up for months is pretty unsustainable I think, when you're away from your families and your families can't travel.”
He signed off, “I think if you're playing a few formats of the game, there's going to need to be a chop-out from selectors and from Cricket Australia. You notice what England is doing with their squads at the moment, there are guys that aren't traveling for the first two Tests [against India], and then coming in.”
(With PTI Inputs)
