Victorian cricketers Aaron Finch and Glenn Maxwell may get out early

Aaron Finch and Glenn Maxwell may have to leave in the next few days in order to be part of Australia’s tour of England

Aaron Finch and Glenn Maxwell may fly to Perth a month before the England tour

Cricketers Aaron Finch and Glenn Maxwell were put on notice this week that they may have to leave Victoria in the next few days in order to be part of the Australian side’s tour of England in September.

The pair, along with members of the coaching and support staff including assistant coach Andrew McDonald, all live in the Melbourne and Geelong area, which has been hardest hit by the pandemic.

It would be extraordinary for the players to have to leave home so early. The squad does not plan to fly out until somewhere around August 21 for the tour which begins in September, but Cricket Australia became concerned the WA government, which has enforced strict quarantine regulations on visiting sports people, could impose a harsher ban on anybody from the hot spots.

The players were also concerned that exemptions that allow them to train in Melbourne may be rescinded given the shocking rise of the virus, but they were told late on Thursday to unpack their bags and stand by for further instructions.

Cricket Australia confirmed to The Australian it is working on a deal with the WA government which will allow a large squad of players to transit through the state on the way to the UK.

The side will then go into a strict quarantine bubble for the first half of the tour at Southampton. The tour will then move to Manchester.

Both venues have hotels attached to the ground where players, support staff and broadcasters can be isolated from the rest of the population.

“With the latest numbers today and a bit of an outbreak in one of the basketball teams down here there’s a concern the elite sports exemption that allows us to train might get revoked, so I’m slowly packing a bag in case we have to bail out to another state in the next couple of days,” Finch told The Australian.

“Me and Maxi, if we get in a situation where it is less than two weeks away from when we leave for the UK from Perth and they turn around and demand quarantine for two weeks then we wouldn’t be able to go.

“If the flight leaves out of Perth it probably makes sense to go over there. We can do two weeks of quarantine then train before we go to the UK.”

All sports are on high alert for border closures and quarantine crackdowns make the complexities of playing difficult in the pandemic.

The West Indies endured 51 days of lockdown in England to play the first international cricket matches since the outbreak closed down borders and countries and Pakistan is doing the same ahead of its three Test match series against England.

West Indies captain Jason Holder said earlier this week that playing and sleeping at venues had taken a psychological toll after two months in the UK.

Australia plans to take a large squad to England for the ODI and T20 matches with the understanding that nobody else can be called in to the group.

“It’s not confirmed how many we are taking but it is going to come down to making sure we have replacements if somebody gets injured because I know we are not going to be able to fly people in and out like we do on a regular tour,” Finch said. “It’s all going to be shut down pretty hard.

“Just having bases covered with regard to that is pretty important, but as regards to an exact number, whether its 18 or 22, I’m not exactly sure.”

While the tour has not been officially confirmed, the players received a briefing on the logistics yesterday and Finch said he is confident it will go ahead — and it should.

“What is important is getting the international game up and running,” he said. “It is exciting to get out there and play and it is the one format we haven’t excelled at in the last couple of years, probably since 2015.”