Michael Vaughan suggests calling off Ashes if players can’t take along families
Already before the high-profile Ashes, 2021 series begins, the England Cricket Board (ECB) dropped a bombshell by saying that the players might not be allowed to see their families for close to four months. This news has already met with a lot of criticism with former England batter Kevin Pietersen coming in support of the players and stating that he won’t be surprised if the players pull out of the Ashes series Down Under.
Now cricketer-turned-commentator Michael Vaughan too has lent his support to the England players saying it will be difficult for the squad members without seeing their families for four months, considering the COVID-19 situation and the bio-bubble times in which cricket is being played.
Apparently, a report in Daily Mail said, how England’s all-format players, like Johnny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, and Jofra Archer, and others will be impacted more, as these players will finish the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 in November and then directly fly out to Australia to feature in the five-match Test series. England have a busy calendar ahead when it comes to the limited-overs series as they host Sri Lanka and Pakistan before featuring in The Hundred which begins on July 21.
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
Apart from that, there is the Indian Premier League (IPL) conundrum as the Board of Cricket in India (BCCI) officials are supposedly going to speak with ECB regarding its players to participate in the second half of the IPL which is going to take place in the UAE from September 19.
Cricket Australia trying to help England players by providing a common solution
The Australian government is not ready to take any risks whatsoever as it has closed the borders for the travelers who are returning in their backyard. But all is not lost yet, as a report had stated by the Cricket Australia (CA) spokeswomen that it is working with the government to solve the problems and expects positive news soon.
“It’s only June and England are not due to arrive until November. We’ll be going through the same process we did with India last summer,” the spokeswoman said
