Ahead of the much-anticipated Test series against the West Indies, England pacer Mark Wood has on Wednesday (June 24) described training inside a bio-secure bubble as “weird” and a “bit like a sci-fi movie” as the teams are gearing up for the first Test in Southampton.
In a wake of Coronavirus outbreak, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has prepared a bio-secure bubble for the 30-member training group to train at the Ageas Bowl for the three-match Test series, which will mark the resumption of cricket after the COVID-19-forced hiatus.
They will train and play under all the regulations set by ICC to combat the COVID-19 threat on the field with all the matches of series that will be held at the bio-secure venues and empty stadiums.
While Wood and Ben Stokes arrived on Monday night, the majority of the England squad reached the on-site hotel on Tuesday for the opening Test starting on July 8 at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton.
Wood was quoted as saying by 'Evening Standard' on Wednesday: “It's a bit like a sci-fi movie. Everybody's masked up and you can't see anybody. You don't know if they're friendly or not! It's a bit different and a bit weird, but it's just something we'll have to get used to.”
Meanwhile, the star pacer Jofra Archer hasn’t yet joined the England training squad after a member of his household fell ill. However, Archer has tested negative for COVID-19, but he will have to undergo tests again on Wednesday, and once cleared he will join his team for training on Thursday.
Wood is confident that Archer will join the training on Thursday. He signed off by saying, “It would be great to have Jofra around again. I'm sure he'll be back, hopefully, tomorrow, if he gets the all-clear. It's great that we've got this sort of depth in the squad. He'll be a major part of this summer.”
(With Evening Standard Inputs)
