Shane Warne, Mark Waugh say Australia must come first after IPL stars opt out of West Indies tour

Shane Warne has weighed in on the decision of several Aussie stars to skip the West Indian tour and has a warning for those who choose cash over country.

***BESTPIX*** BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND – JULY 31: England captain Joe Root (l) and Australia captain Tim Paine pictured holding the urn ahead of the First Ashes Test Match against Australia at Edgbaston on July 31, 2019 in Birmingham, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Shane Warne and Mark Waugh have backed Australia’s decision to put players on notice that choosing club ahead of country has placed their national futures at risk.

Speaking on the Fox Cricket’s Road To The Ashes podcast, Warne and Waugh defended selection chairman Trevor Hohns’ decision to warn seven players who pulled out of next month’s West Indies tour after contesting the Indian Premier League that their Australia places are now open to challenge.

Hohns said that with a T20 World Cup looming later this year, any player who shone in the tours of West Indies and Bangladesh would be given deep consideration for selection.

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“I don’t begrudge the players getting the money,’’ Warne said.

“It’s fantastic and if they want to take the money, take the money.

“But if you want to play cricket for your country and you choose IPL over your country well then maybe you have to be punished a little bit for doing it. Not punished, that’s the wrong word.

“If you want to choose the money for IPL that’s fine no problem, but you might

have to wait a few Test matches and you might go down a few rungs no matter how good you are. There’s always someone that can replace you.’’

Waugh insisted national duties should come first.

Glenn Maxwell has opted out of the West Indies tour.

“I know it’s tough with bubble and quarantine and multiple players doing these

quarantine throughout the year but country has got to take priority over franchise cricket,’’ Waugh said.

“Your country has got to be the priority for any player.’’

English captain Michael Vaughan has urged boards to be stronger with players.

“They’ve got to be stronger with the players and if they want

international cricket in twenty, thirty years’ time to still be the pinnacle,’’ Vaughan said.

“International cricket has to stay at number one. If they’re not careful it will end up like the English Premier League where players pick and choose.”

Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Daniel Sams, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner and Pat Cummins withdrew from the West Indian tour with Steve Smith injured.

Meanwhile, Cricket Australia is hopeful England’s players families will be allowed to tour Australia for the Ashes next summer after Michael Vaughan called for the Ashes to be cancelled it that is not the case.

Maxwell was one of the Aussies who took part in the postponed IPL tournament.

England’s players are desperate to see their families in Australia as they will be apart from them during pre-Ashes tours of Bangladesh and Pakistan and the T20 World Cup.

CA managed to gain approval for Indian families to tour last season and Rohit Sharma’s family joined him for his entire stay.

CA takes nothing for granted in its dealings with the government but feels it has learnt much from navigating the Covid crisis last season when it successfully completed a near-full schedule despite the occasional private showdown with the Indian tourists.

CA is yet to start formal discussions with the federal government over specific quarantine issues because the tour is still five months away.

Some Indian players brought their families to Australia last summer but nothing is certain given the constantly changing Covid world.

Australia’s international borders have essentially been in lockdown for over a year and CA must ask for special exemptions for players and families for the Ashes.

“There are still five months to go before the Ashes and we have ongoing talks,’ a CA spokeswoman said.

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England’s Ashes players appear a strong chance of having families on the tour of Australia with pleas to cancel the tour if they don’t.

CA is yet to start formal discussions with the Federal Government over specific quarantine issues because the tour is still five months away.

England will arrive in Australia ahead of the Ashes opener in Brisbane on December 8.

The five Test series will wrap up on January 18 in Perth.

Australia's captain Tim Paine (C) lifts the Ashes Urn aloft during the presentation ceremony on the fourth day of the fifth Ashes cricket Test in 2019. – England won the fifth test and drew the series but Australia retained The Ashes Urn. Picture: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP)

England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler said the absence of families would making winning the Urn all the more difficult.

“That would be a huge challenge, especially when you are accustomed to being able to take your family,” he told the UK Daily Mail.

“A lot of the guys have young families, so I’m sure they’d find that tough. Hopefully, a positive solution can be found.”

Former England skipper Michael Vaughan, who was the captain in their drought-breaking series win in 2005, has suggested the series should be “called off” if families were not allowed and described it as “unacceptable”.

Read reports today that England cricketers may not be able to have family members with them down under this winter .. Quite simply if they can’t they should call the Ashes off .. 4 months away from your family is totally unacceptable .. #Ashes

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) June 22, 2021

Australia’s international borders have essentially been in lockdown for over a year and CA must ask for special exemptions for players and families for the Ashes.

“There are still five months to go before the Ashes and we have ongoing talks,’ a CA spokeswoman said.

Some Indian players brought their families to Australia last summer but nothing is certain given the constantly changing Covid world.

Originally published as Shane Warne, Mark Waugh say Australia must come first after IPL stars opt out of West Indies tour