England boss Giles fears losing star to Indian Prem
ENGLAND will continue to take a relaxed approach to players competing in the Indian Premier League for fear of losing them, according to director of cricket Ashley Giles.
Eleven England players have been signed up by franchises this year, including Ben Stokes, but success could mean they miss Test matches against New Zealand in June.
Speaking to the BBC’s Tuffers and Vaughan show, Giles said: “Right now I think our players love playing for England. I don’t want that to be a kiss of death. I think we have to understand that it could be a danger in the future.
“We don’t particularly want to go toe-to-toe with our players over IPL participation in the long run because we may face losing some of our best players.”
Giles added the clash with the New Zealand series was a specific issue this year because its late confirmation came after contracts had been agreed with IPL teams.
“We don’t think it is right to renege on that agreement,” he said.
England have faced criticism for resting players during the recent trips to Sri Lanka and India, citing the busy schedule and draining nature of life in bio-secure bubbles.
England are prioritising the T20 World Cup in the autumn and the winter’s Ashes series in Australia, with Giles saying: “The way we have managed our players during this period, with wellbeing and mental health at the forefront of that, is getting a squad to the T20 World Cup and Ashes that are fit to play physically and mentally.
“We can’t play what will be perceived to be our best team every game because we will burn people out and lose them and we need to look after them better than that.”
Meanwhile the England and Wales Cricket Board is exploring the possibility of using coronavirus passports to allow fans into County Championship games this summer.
The new domestic season starts on April 8 but crowds will not be allowed in until at least May 17 as part of the Government’s roadmap out of lockdown.
The ECB is open to any measure necessary to get spectators back in the grounds as soon as possible, including fans having to prove they have been vaccinated.
The ECB’s managing director of County Cricket Neil Snowball said: “There has been a lot of talk. We have gone from no passports to suddenly now looking at a Covid certification.
“We will explore anything that enables us to get our members back and our spectators back.
“At the moment it looks like that might happen. “If you look at the June 21, it is going to be a question of balancing three things. One, if there is going to be some sort of passport or Covid certification, second is testing, third is some sort of social distancing and we have said we will do whatever we are asked to do to make sure we can get the maximum number of people back.
“The ideal would be some sort of certification with an element of social distancing and probably wearing masks.
“The first lot of games will be behind closed doors. From May 17, as per the roadmap, we can get the venues back to 25 per cent and that is exactly what they are gearing up for. We are trying to be as optimistic as we can about June 21.”