Senior England cricketers may boycott the upcoming Ashes series against Australia later this year due to strict bio-bubble quarantine rules Down Under. The top English players are not happy with ECB having no thought of postponement of the series, says ESPNCricinfo's report.
"The prospect of England fielding a significantly under-strength squad in the Ashes would appear to have grown following talks between the team and officials at the ECB," the website reported.
Players don't want their families to go through the hard quarantine in Australia. Some of the players will be in bio-bubble for IPL and T20 World Cup already before joining the squad for the Ashes.
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"As a result, they are considering their options. One of those options is understood to be the entire team - including coaching and support staff - taking a collective decision to boycott the tour.
"While the players appear, in general, fairly sanguine about the prospect of a two-week quarantine for themselves, they are reluctant to put their families through it. And with some players away for the best part of four months (the IPL being followed by the T20 World Cup and the Ashes), they are understandably reluctant not to see their families for the entire period," it stated.
The English players are also not pleased with the type of quarantine in Australia. They won't be allowed outside their hotel room for more than 2-3 hours to train and would have to remain in a 'bubble' throughout the tour for ease in moving one place to another.
"The nature of the quarantine is also understood to have disappointed the players. Although there has been talk of allowing them the use of a resort hotel on the Gold Coast, it is now understood they are likely to be permitted only two or three hours out of their hotel rooms each day for training.
"There is also a possibility the squad will be obliged to remain in some sort of 'bubble' throughout the tour to avoid difficulties in moving between states. Families, meanwhile, could still be required to undergo a 'hard' quarantine involving 14 days in a hotel room," ESPNCricinfo reported.
The Ashes 2021-22 will start on December 8 with the first Test match at the Gabba, Brisbane. The second Test match at Adelaide Oval is a pink-ball match starting on December 16.
The third Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground begins on Boxing Day, December 26, followed by the fourth Test in Sydney from January 5, and the last Test match at Perth on January 14.
(With ESPNCricinfo Inputs)
