Cricket’s search for certainty

The uncertainties of the next few months are proving agonising for cricketers and officials who crave a goal to aim for.

The uncertainty is agonising for players such as batsman Steve Smith.

When the Cricket Australia charter flight lands in England later this month as planned, the players will board a bus for Derby and the start of a lockdown period that could see them distanced from the outside world until well into the new year and beyond.

Cricket’s search for certainties continues, but some things became clear this week.

If Test players Pat Cummins, Steve Smith, David Warner, Josh Hazlewood and coach Andrew McDonald see the IPL through, they will be serving time in the UAE and unavailable again until late November.

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The IPL ends November 10 and they will probably have to serve two weeks quarantine on return, which rules out participation in a Test against Afghanistan beginning November 21 unless they return early or that match is shifted.

The mental strain of the long summer is a looming issue. Jason Holder said the West Indies side suffered fatigue from the experience of enduring eight weeks confined to cricket grounds in the UK.

Australia’s football codes are struggling to keep errant coaches and players from breaking the rules.

The uncertainties are proving agonising for cricketers and officials who crave a goal to aim for.

Victorian cricket suspended training this week to seek clarity from its government as that state sits out the second siege and states await certainty around the Sheffield Shield.

Tasmanian cricket gave its players a week off, figuring there was no point flogging them when the future is unknown and the road ahead long.

Many of the players heading to the UK in the next fortnight face the prospect of living in a bubble until January when the Test season ends, possibly through to March when the Sheffield Shield season concludes.

At least the players and coaches heading to the IPL know some of what they face after details were released this week.

The competition runs from September 19 to November 10, but some sides are planning a three-week training camp to blow out COVID cobwebs.

The games will be played in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. Each team is staying in separate hotels in the hope that if there is an outbreak it can be contained to a single franchise.

Indian players and coaches must have two negative tests, the last within 96 hours of arrival, and will be tested again when they land. All are then subject to isolation in their hotel rooms and will be tested on the first, third and sixth days before being cleared to train and will then be tested on the fifth day of each week.

The testing regime is not expected to be as rigorous for the Australian and English players because they will be coming from a biosecurity bubble in the UK.

There will be a sanitised room set aside in case there is a positive and all teams must have a doctor.

Players have a rough idea of what to expect around the three ODIs and three T20s expected to be played against England in Southampton and Manchester in September.

The West Indies and Pakistan sides both endured three weeks locked in a hotel under strict protocols before playing in England and Australia can expect the same.

Bags are sprayed with sanitiser, nobody is allowed on the team floor apart from one staff member, but the players will be in charge of cleaning their rooms and making beds.

Nobody is allowed to share a table for meals and the accreditation pass for the series contains a chip that can track movement if necessary.

Australia plans to take 18 to 20 players for the tour, which is expected to last three weeks. There will be no net bowlers plus strict rules around polishing and sharing balls.

The UK has had 46,000 deaths during the pandemic and Manchester, where some of the games are expected to be played, is in lockdown.

The Old Trafford ground at Manchester, like the ground at Southampton, has a hotel in the stands.