Fears grow over cricket’s horror summer schedule

Justin Langer says a daunting summer of lock ins, quarantines and separation brings tears to his players' eyes.

Australia coach Justin Langer in England for the white-ball series Picture: Getty Images

Additional measures are being put in place to protect players as the daunting scale of the summer becomes apparent which coach Justin Langer says has rocked players and staff.

“If you look too far ahead it probably brings tears to your eyes,” the coach told SEN as the Australians prepared for their last game of the six match series.

“We went through the schedule of the next 10 months for players and you could see the blood drain from their faces.”

Australian players who left for the tour of the UK on August 23 have had their first taste of life in a biosecurity bubble, series with no crowds and a future which involves lockdowns, quarantines, uncertainty and separation.

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The big names who attend the IPL were expecting to find out overnight what quarantine they face on arrival in the UAE, but still face two months of restricted movement in the UAE where they can only move between ground and hotel.

Those players then return to Adelaide where they will face two weeks of lockdown which will allow them just one day to prepare before the first white-ball game against India.

The England and UK players will fly to the IPL on a charter plane and there is an expectation the Australians will have to wait until the entire tournament finishes before catching a charter plane home even if their teams do not make the finals.

Multimillion-dollar deals may ease the concerns of players like Pat Cummins, Steve Smith, Aaron Finch and David Warner but even the eight squad members and staff who return directly to Australia this Friday face similarly restricted movements.

Those players can train in small groups during the two week quarantine in Adelaide but when they emerge from that in early October have only a week before the Sheffield Shield starts in the same town.

Under current restrictions it would be pointless for a player to go home as most states would require another fortnight’s quarantine. State government approvals are holding up the release of the fixtures, but the plan is for four rounds of the Sheffield Shield to be played at club grounds in Adelaide.

Family access periods are part of the routine for the international players. Similar arrangements will have to be made for the partners and families of first-class players who can usually return home between Shield matches.

The costs are significant. The AFL has spent millions flying families to quarantine hotels in Queensland and there are suggestions the Australian Cricketers Association will foot at least part of that bill – partner periods for international players are taken from the Player Payment Pool which is used to pay professional cricketers.

Cricket Australia’s sports medicine manager Alex Kountouris is aware of the challenges facing cricketers this summer.

“A lot of effort is going in to ensuring the environments themselves are as social and family-friendly as possible, while adhering to the biosecurity conditions that are specific to each tournament,” said Kountouris.

It is not unusual for female Big Bash League players to have jobs alongside their game commitments and there are moves to address the loss of income so they can participate in the tournament.

The game is bracing itself for a significant mental health challenges this summer.

Both Cricket Australia and the ACA are funding additional programs to guard against fatigue and burn out.

Jofra Archer reported a significant impact on his moods and performances because of bubble life in England. “I’m not sure how many more bubbles I’ve got left in me,” Archer said when the prospect of joining the BBL was raised this week.

Langer has looked forward and concluded there is nothing to be gained from contemplating the future.

“The ECB has looked after us really well, day to day life has been really good, there’s been restrictions, but it is just when you start looking ahead to when we get home and then quarantine and then how the summer looks and if you keep looking too far ahead then it gets challenging,” Langer said.

The uncertainty of the situation has not helped. Players left Australia believing they would return to Australia via Perth but state government issues saw their landing zone moved to Adelaide.