BUBBLE & STRIFE
England coach Silverwood fears burnout for IPL-bound superstars Archer & Buttler
CHRIS SILVERWOOD is worried England’s Jos Buttler and Jofra Archer will push themselves to the limit with nearly five months in biosecure lockdown. kdown.
The pair have been in the bubble longer ger than any other players during uring a gruelling summer having ing featured in Tests, T20s and one-day e-day internationals.
And this weekend they will swap one for or another in the Indian Premier mier League when they join up p with Rajasthan Royals for the e T20 showpiece in the United Arab rab Emirates.
Silverwood d said the management nt team have discussed ed their concerns with all England’s IPL players and d will keep in regular egular contact to ensure no one is suffering ffering me n t a l or physical fatigue. gue.
But he feels eels that for those ose who have ve been with h
England all l the way this s summer in n all three squads could rack up nearly five months in lockdown from June to November. And he admitted that is not ideal with the winter’s cricket and the big ICC event in India next year in mind.
“It’s their deci decision to go really and obviously, obvi the contracts are good for them and the more high-class T20 they can play will be a good thin thing for us,” said the England head coach. coa “But equally equ we’re looking fo forward at a T20 World W Cup. “The one th thing I have e encoura aged is t they keep t talking to u us and we n need to m make sure th they don’t bu burn out, so we’ll have to ke keep an eye on them.” Silverwood admitted the bi bio- o secure bubbles were a challenge for fast bowler Archer. “I think Jofra has found being locked up difficult at times, but he’s not the only player, there’s been quite a few,” he said.
“It’s been a juggling act keeping people fresh in the mind, getting them out of the bubble when we can. It’s a case of making sure we don’t burn people out.”
An agonising three- wicket defeat to Australia in a thrilling final match of the summer at Old Traf ford on Wednesday condemned Eoin Morgan’s 50overs side to a series defeat on home soil for the first time in five years.
But while Silverwood felt they were not at their very best, he insisted they were not taking backward steps just over a year after their World Cup triumph.
“I think there were a few more gears in there for us,” he added.
“But we have to keep pushing boundaries because the last thing I want is for the guys to go into their shell.
“If we get pushed, we want to push back harder, we want to break records.
“It’s what these guys do. They don’t know what limits are, so we’ll just keep trying to create an environment where they feel they will break records.”