England vice-captain Jos Buttler has made it clear that he will not travel to Australia for the upcoming Ashes 2021-22 if his family isn’t allowed to join him, saying he wouldn’t be comfortable staying away from his family for four-five months.
Buttler, who recently welcomed his second daughter, is preparing to fly to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) next week for the ICC T20 World Cup 2021, but his participation in the Ashes series remains in doubt until details of the quarantine, bubble, and restrictions for the Australia tour are finalized.
But Buttler is hoping for clarity about the COVID-19 protocols for the Australia tour “in the next few days” but reiterated he would consider skipping the Ashes 2021-22 if the English families are not allowed in Australia.
On being asked if no family means no Ashes for him, Buttler said as reported by Sky Sports: “Yes, definitely for myself. If I had to do a World Cup and an Ashes - four, five months without seeing my family - I wouldn't be comfortable doing that.
We're still waiting for more information, as soon as possible. Hopefully in the next few days, there'll be more information. As soon as you get that it makes it easier to know what decision you're making.”
However, the wicketkeeper believes that England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket Australia (CA) would be working to their best capacity to ease out things for the Ashes series.
He said, “The ECB and CA will be working very hard together to make it as good as possible. It's tough to make a decision when you don't have all the answers. In COVID-19 times, there is always going to be some sort of question that is difficult to answer. It could be changeable, it would be naive not to say so in the times we're living in, but you want to go there with as many assurances as possible.”
Buttler was speaking at Sixes Cricket Club, where he was unveiled as the official ambassador of Booking.com's sponsorship of the T20 World Cup.
He signed off by saying, “Fingers crossed. I've not experienced an Ashes tour in Australia. It's certainly something as an England player that you want to be part of. It's quite obvious it's the most challenging tour to be a part of.”
Meanwhile, ECB chairman Ian Watmore expects more twists and turns ahead of the first Ashes Test in Brisbane on December 8 with CA still trying to solve issues with the Australian government.
Watmore told the Daily Mail: “There is no simple date it must be decided by, apart from when that plane goes to Australia. There are issues for CA to sort out with their government and for the federal government to sort out with state governments.
We’re working hard to provide an environment in which our players and their families want to go and perform to their best. If Australia can deliver that, great, if not we may have to have more challenging discussions.”
(With AFP Inputs)
