An ex-England captain has said that Australians, who have only played four Tests in this time frame and that too at home, should not be lecturing English players on their concerns.
There has been much talk about the upcoming Ashes series between England and Australia for some time now. As a result, a number of England cricketers have voiced their displeasure with Australia’s Covid-19 protocol, which has been implemented to ensure the tour runs smoothly. England will play five Tests in Australia, beginning on December 8 in Brisbane. Several former England cricketers have spoken out in support of Joe Root and his team, calling for quarantine rules to be relaxed so that players’ families can travel with them on their tours.
As of Monday, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket Australia were engaged in “regular and positive dialogue.”
We want to make sure this tour can go on as planned, so that players and management are well-equipped to do their jobs, according to an ECB statement.
There will be a meeting of the ECB board later this week to decide if the conditions are sufficient for the tour to go ahead and enable the selection of a squad suitable for such an important series.
Multi-format England’s players could be forced to spend months traveling and residing in bio-secure bubbles if they play in the World Cup this year. Before the Ashes series in December and January, the United Arab Emirates and Oman will host the T20 World Cup beginning on October 17.
According to former England captain Nasser Hussain, English cricketers should be proud of themselves for being part of biospheres and traveling the world to play international cricket. When it comes to lecturing the English players, Hussain wrote in his Daily Mail column that the Australian team, who has only played four Test matches in the last six months, shouldn’t be doing it.
The attitude of England’s Test players toward quarantining at the Ashes seems to be getting a lot of flak right now, especially from Australia. And that’s something that bothers me. Since the outbreak of the pandemic in March 2020, England has played 18 Test matches. That’s 14 more than Australia, whose four Tests against India last winter were all played at home,” Hussain wrote.
In difficult circumstances, England’s Test team has kept the show moving by moving in and out of bubbles and spending time away from their families, and I’m proud of them for that. It’s exhausting to deal with. Mental illness is on the rise. People in Australia should stop lecturing them and telling them to just put up with it, said the former England captain.
Australian Test captain Tim Paine’s stance on the issue infuriated Hussain.
The former England captain was blunt in his assessment of the Ashes series during a recent appearance on SEN sports radio’s weekly segment. It doesn’t matter if Joe is present or not, the Ashes will go ahead with the first Test starting on December 8 regardless, according to Paine.
In his column, Hussain claimed that Paine lacked empathy for his colleagues.
In Tim Paine’s recent speech, I didn’t hear much sympathy from a fellow professional. Australia’s Test captain Tim Paine. Others have jumped on the Ashes bandwagon as if England were attempting to avoid a crucial series. All of your points are well taken. There is no doubt that England’s Test players receive a substantial salary. Yes, for a professional cricketer, representing your country, particularly in an away Ashes series, is the pinnacle of success. A few players have chosen to increase their workload by competing in T20 tournaments such as the IPL in other countries.
“I see where you’re coming from. You don’t get to lecture other people on how they should behave unless you’ve spent time in a bubble, which some of these guys have done repeatedly,” Hussain wrote.
Nasser Hussain played a total of 96 Tests and 88 One-Day Internationals for the English national cricket team. He led England to 17 victories and 15 defeats in 45 Test matches as captain.
