Ashes 2021/22: Australia handed unexpected series boost as cricket schedule thrown into turmoil

It’s another blow in an increasingly worrying set of hits for world cricket, but New Zealand’s sudden departure from Pakistan could inadvertently have a silver lining for Australia and the Ashes.

The Australia team pose with the Urn in 2019

Cricket’s global schedule has been thrown into turmoil after New Zealand’s dramatic exit from Pakistan, but Australia has grown cautiously optimistic about the future of the Ashes.

If, as has been tipped, England follow New Zealand’s lead and cancel next month’s white ball tour of Pakistan, it may give some of their players a small break before they come to Australia in early November for the Ashes.

A large group of England players were understood to have grave reservations about touring Australia due to the relentless grind of bubble and touring life.

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Pakistan fans will have to wait a little longer to see their team on home soil.

While their concerns about hardline quarantine measures remain, an unexpected break in the schedule could be a factor in easing some of their concerns. 

If there is a negative factor for Australia to contemplate after the Kiwis’ withdrawal it is that nothing can be taken for granted in the world of modern cricket in terms of players completing pre-arranged schedules.

It is the second time in a month international fixtures have been cancelled on match day, with India successfully pushing for the fifth Test against England to be cancelled due to Covid scares a few hours before the scheduled toss.

New Zealand cited a “security alert” while withdrawing from their limited-overs series there shortly before the scheduled start of the opening match.

England were due to tour Pakistan for the first time in 16 years, with the men’s team scheduled to play two T20 matches in Rawalpindi and the women’s team two T20s - as double-headers with the men’s games - and three one-day internationals, but they all now seem likely to be cancelled.

The ECB said on Friday it would make a final decision within 48 hours on whether the tour should go ahead.

The England squads had been due to arrive in Islamabad on October 9 with the men’s team flying to the United Arab Emirates for the T20 World Cup after the two T20s on October 13 and 14.

Although the tour was assessed as being safe before the arrival of the New Zealand team, it is understood that intelligence received in recent days prompted the country’s government to change its threat-level assessment for Pakistan and it advised the touring party to leave as soon as possible.

English players have grave reservations about touring Australia for the Ashes.

It is understood that NZC has shared the intelligence and there are discussions going on among the security agencies on the ground and with the British High Commission in Islamabad.

The ECB’s head of security, Reg Dickason, who also advises New Zealand, will brief board members. England are yet to name their squad for the tour and will not do so until confirmation is given that it is going ahead.

The decision by New Zealand to call off the tour was met with disappointment by the Pakistan authorities. The PCB said the decision had been taken “unilaterally” despite Pakistan’s prime minister, Imran Khan, the former all-rounder, contacting his New Zealand counterpart, Jacinda Ardern, in an attempt to convince her that there was no security threat.

The former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar said on Twitter that New Zealand had “just killed Pakistan cricket”.

The Covid quarantine experiment which could save Ashes

A seven-day home quarantine trial for overseas visitors to NSW has emerged as a bailout option which could save the Ashes.

Talks between English cricket officials and their players have reached a tense stalemate over the two weeks of hard quarantine the England team are scheduled to do when they land in Australia.

That period was expected to be spent on the Gold Coast but if it becomes a key sticking point — and the NSW experiment works — then Sydney could become an appealing option.

Given that teams are quarantining for six days in the UAE before next month’s World Cup, a seven-day quarantine, particularly in a resort where they may be allowed to leave their rooms, would not be considered overly harsh.

There is a precedent for Cricket Australia transferring quarantine from Queensland to NSW with the Indian team switching to Sydney after CA’s negotiations with the Queensland government on quarantine conditions became deadlocked last summer.

A NSW government spokesman said on Friday they would be open to any approach from Cricket Australia.

CA said in a statement on Friday night increased vaccinations had heightened their confidence teams would have more freedom.

“Cricket Australia is working closely and constructively with the England Cricket Board and respective governments to provide the best possible conditions for players, staff and families from both teams during this summer’s Ashes,’’ a CA spokesman said.

“As vaccination rates in Australia continue to rise, CA is increasingly confident that players will be able to enjoy relative freedoms during the tour.”

Steve Smith leaves the Marriott Hotel after two weeks of quarantine in Sydney following the postponement of the IPL this year.

Revealed: Radical bubble plan as Ashes hangs in balance

A final decision on whether England tour Australia this winter will be taken in the next two weeks, with the Ashes series still hanging in the balance.

Australia remains locked in strict Covid restrictions and England’s players and coaches will be told by September 27 what conditions they and their families will have to live under during the two-month tour.

There are likely to be a number of players who withdraw from the series or only feature in part of it because of the quarantine and bubble requirements.

Several of Australia’s major cities are under lockdown and there is a strict limit on the number of visitors allowed into the country.

All the players who are in line for possible selection will be asked by the end of the month if they are willing to accept the conditions, which will include a 14-day quarantine period on the Gold Coast before the start of the series.

While there, they will be allowed out of their rooms to train for a short period each day, although their families will be permitted to join them.

Many of the players have school-aged children, so they would not be able to join the tour until after the third Test, but with a two-week quarantine period in place that would mean that a number of families would not be able to go to Australia at all.

The Australia team pose with the Urn during Day Four of the 5th Ashes Test in 2019

It is also likely that the bubbles will be much stricter than the ones set by the ECB this summer, which gave the players freedom to leave their hotels.

All of this has led to increasing concerns from the players and the possibility of a tour postponement remains very real. Neither Joe Root, England’s captain, nor Chris Silverwood, the head coach, want to travel with a significantly weakened team given that a heavy Ashes defeat would put both of their jobs on the line.

However, senior administrators at the ECB remain adamant the tour must go ahead. What could unfold is a dispute between the players and administrators, with the former feeling buoyed by the power shown by the India team who refused to take to the field for the fifth Test at Old Trafford last week.

FIVE WAYS IT WILL WORK OUT

There are five possible scenarios. The first is that the tour goes ahead in its entirety and England take an almost full-strength side, albeit with some flexibility on where the matches are played to manage the risk of local lockdowns and inter-state travel bans.

Tim Paine of Australia lifts the Urn

The second is the tour takes place but England send a very weakened team, because up to a dozen players tell the ECB they will not travel. Root, Silverwood and Ashley Giles, England’s director of cricket, will make an assessment at the end of this month about whether they can take a squad that would be competitive.

The third is an almost full-strength squad flies out to Australia in November and plays only the first three Tests. Some first-choice players could then fly home and England could use either players from the Lions squad they are also planning on taking to Australia or some players rested for the first part of the tour.

Although this is better than having a weakened squad for the whole series, there would be an uproar if England were still in the series after three Tests and most of their first-choice players flew home.

The fourth scenario is that they play part of the series this winter and complete it next winter. This has been mooted as an option but neither the ECB nor Cricket Australia believe it is viable.

The Ashes Preview

The last one is that the tour is postponed until the winter of 2022-23. There is still a chance the players will decide that none of them are going. In this event, they are likely to get the backing of the coaching staff, but it would lead to a dispute between the players and their employers.

There is still a lot to play out over the next two weeks and the critical point will come when Cricket Australia set out clearly the final details of the Covid protocols.

The most likely of the five scenarios is that a weakened squad fulfils the series obligations but the mood among the players is that, with the UK being almost fully open with no restrictions, they do not want to return to weeks in strict Covid bubbles, particularly if they are without their families. Therefore, there also remains a strong chance that the series will not go ahead this winter.

England’s women also face the prospect of a long winter under Covid restrictions. They are due to play an Ashes series that comprises a Test, three ODIs and three T20s, almost immediately followed by the defence of their 50-over World Cup title in New Zealand in February. It is understood there are fewer concerns among the women’s squad about whether their families can join them.