Ashes cricket 2021: The massive roadblock threatening to turn off England’s stars from touring

This year’s Ashes series looks in desperate trouble unless specific quarantine measures can be reached for several England players. Read here what they want.

England will raise the possibility of postponing the Ashes series unless guarantees about quarantine exemptions for players’ families can be given when they hold talks with Cricket Australia this month.

Several England players have told the management team that they would not be willing to undertake the three-month tour unless their families can join them for the second half, covering the Christmas and new year period.

Australia’s Covid-19 travel restrictions are among the strictest in the world, with a tight cap on the number of visitors being allowed into the country.

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Australia’s stiff quarantine laws may rob cricket fans of their beloved Ashes series.

Those who do get visitor visas are required to undergo 14 days’ quarantine in a government-approved hotel.

At present there are three states in lockdown and indications are that the Australian government will not open its borders fully until next year.

Even if entry is permitted, a number of the players’ families would still not travel if they were required to quarantine for two weeks in a hotel room with babies and small children. If that was mandated, at least six players would withdraw from the series.

Ashley Giles, England’s director of cricket, and Chris Silverwood, the head coach, are not prepared to take a heavily weakened team on what is the most brutal of all the tours that England undertake.

Officials from the ECB will hold crunch talks with Cricket Australia in the coming weeks, in which they will seek some guarantees and will discuss the possibility of postponing the series.

England's Jonny Bairstow and his teammates could be missing from our shores this summer.

Although the Covid restrictions could change over the next few months, if there is even the outside chance of a postponement decisions will need to be taken early so that alternative series for both teams can be arranged. One possibility for England is bringing forward next year’s Test tour to Pakistan.

Cricket Australia is willing to pull out all the stops to get the necessary exemptions but the stumbling block will be Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who faces a public backlash if he allows between 40 and 50 English cricketers’ families into the country when some Australian citizens are still unable to gain access.

It is unlikely that the Australian government will be willing to make any decisions until much nearer the time.

When India toured there in the winter, decisions about which city they would be flying into and the issuing of family visas were not finalised until the very last minute.

However, England will not be willing to wait so late for decisions to be made.

Former England skipper Alastair Cook doesn’t like the chances of the tour going ahead.

Both governing bodies are keen for the marquee series to go ahead because postponing 12 months would create some serious logistical headaches and hit Cricket Australia financially.

Both countries would need to find alternative series to play this year and Cricket Australia has already sold tickets and secured broadcasting and sponsorship rights.

However, England’s management team have been clear that their players’ mental wellbeing is their priority and will be fully supportive of players who decide that they cannot tour. Speaking to The Sunday Times, Alastair Cook, the former England captain, said, “I cannot see how they are going to tour Australia this winter if they cannot take their families out there.”

The former England players Kevin Pietersen and Michael Vaughan have also said that the tour should be postponed if families are not allowed.

Vaughan warns Ashes series under ‘huge threat’

– Robert Craddock

Michael Vaughan fears stiff quarantine laws may rob England of a host of Ashes stars next summer in Australia even if player’s families are allowed to tour.

Speaking on Fox Cricket’s Road To The Ashes podcast, Vaughan doubled down on his claim the Ashes are under a “huge threat’’ amid fears of a mass withdrawal from bubble-fatigued English players.

Initially there was a fear players might withdraw from the tour if their wives and children were not permitted to join them. But former English captain Vaughan said that was just the start of the issues not the end of them.

“I have to be dead honest … they (the Ashes) are under a huge threat,’’ Vaughan told the podcast.

“I am sure the families will be allowed in. You saw what happened with the India team but it is not just getting the families in. If you have a young wife and two or three kids are you really going to expect them to spend two weeks (quarantining) in a hotel room and not go out?

England’s Ashes squad could be missing a host of big names if tight quarantine rules still apply in Australia. Picture: Gareth Copley/Getty Images

“I think a lot has to change. It’s not just a matter of letting the families in. I think the quarantining may have to change and that is saying to your government the rules and restrictions (must change), which is a very difficult decision to make.

“Do you want to see an Ashes series where five of the top guys are not going to tour?

“They will pull out because they are part of all three formats.

“They will go to the T20 World Cup and to the IPL and someone like someone like Jos Buttler and Jofra Archer will say, ‘do you know what, I am not going to spend Christmas and New Year away from home’. No way am I going to do that knowing my family will have to go through two weeks of quarantine.

“Fingers crossed things can be ironed out but at the minute the Ashes are under a huge threat.’’

Vaughan said the toll of bubble life on the heavily burdened English players was understandable.

Michael Vaughan believes the Ashes series in Australia this summer is under ‘huge threat’. Picture: Stu Forster/Getty Images

“They have pretty much been in a bio-bubble for 18 months,” he said. “They spent the whole of last summer locked away at two grounds. Jimmy Anderson lives two miles away from Old Trafford and he was not allowed to see his family.’’

England vice-captain Ben Stokes has stood down from cricket indefinitely due partially to the strain of bubble life and Vaughan said that should be a warning to the world.

“It was a big shock for everyone,” he said. “I know his (broken) finger is not right. And with the intensity of what Covid has brought to the cricketers he has decided he needs a breather.

“It is a wake-up call that if Ben Stokes is struggling. With the kind of character we know he is we have to listen. These players are going through a lot.’’

Originally published as Ashes cricket 2021: The massive roadblock threatening to turn off England’s stars from touring