London: England’s cricketers will be handed a box of balls each only for their individual use with one condition. The cricketers can’t apply saliva on the balls when they resume training next week. The England cricketers will start preparing for the scheduled Test series against West Indies and Pakistan in May and June.
Training as per government guidelines
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) had earlier suspended all its activities until July due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It announced Friday that a pool of 30 cricketers will be prepared for the planned start of international cricket this summer. Training will be held as per government-approved guidelines.
“We should be able to get control of the environment so it’s safer to go back to practise than it is to go to the supermarket. I’m not making light of this but there are risks every time you go outside the house. In training the risks are less,” Ashley Giles, ECB director of cricket, was quoted as saying by ‘The Guardian’.
One skin per ball policy
A ‘one skin per ball’ policy will be implemented for the sessions at 11 county grounds where players will train at different times to ensure social distancing.
“We need to mitigate as many of the risks as we possibly can. At one venue guys may train individually but with the same coach. But with social distancing they shouldn’t be close enough to pass anything on. It’s essential we stick to these guidelines,” said asserted.
‘The Guardian’ reported that the players have to use only the individual box of balls assigned to them. The balls must remain in their kit bags hen not in use. Bowlers will be having one-on-one sessions with coaches from Wednesday. The batsmen will enter the nets two week later.
“Players have been told to travel by car, bring their own clearly marked water bottles, regularly sanitise hands and make a swift departure. They will have to shower at home,” the newspaper stated. They will also undergo temperature checks before hitting the nets under the supervision of a coach and physio.
PPE kit for physio
A two-metre distance has to be maintained with the coach and the physio will be the only one wearing a PPE kit.
When the batsmen resume net sessions, they must not pick the ball up and pass it back to the coach. Instead they will kick it or use the bat to hit it back.
“We hope we don’t take another dip, which would put all of us back. (But) If we continue on this trajectory hopefully we will have the right conditions to play some Test cricket,” Giles said.
Agencies