Root must isolate for seven days after wife gives birth
Joe Root will have to self-isolate for seven days after attending the birth of his second child, casting major doubt over his chances of playing in the first Test against West Indies.
Root’s wife is due in the first week of next month, with the Test at the Ageas Bowl starting from July 8. Root has confirmed he will attend the birth, but under strict guidelines laid down by the England and Wales Cricket Board, it is understood he will have to selfisolate at home for seven days before he can rejoin the squad.
The ECB is constantly reviewing its lockdown procedures and may relax them as the summer goes on, but Steve Elworthy, the board’s events director, said this week they would begin at the highest level of alert.
If Root has to self-isolate at home, he will be unable to even go for a net on his own away from the other players. If, for example, his child is born early, Root would go into the match, his first competitive game since February, having had his preparation severely disrupted. It increases the likelihood of Ben Stokes captaining England for the first time.
England will trim their squad of 55 to around 30 for an inter-squad practice match at the end of this month, which is when the players will go into lockdown at the Ageas Bowl. The selectors will then cut the squad to 20.
The series will be the first anywhere since cricket shut down. The teams are set to be able to use like-for-like substitutions if a player goes down with symptoms during a match.
West Indies are due to leave on Monday, arriving in London before transferring to Manchester to stay at Emirates Old Trafford, where they will quarantine and practise for three weeks before moving to the Ageas Bowl.
Three players – Darren Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer and Keemo Paul – opted out of the tour due to coronavirus fears and their absences will hurt West Indies, according to Michael Holding.
“I’m not going to tell anyone they should be going to England because Covid-19 is around, someone may get sick or even worse,” the former fast bowler said on his Youtube channel. “But at the same time it’s unfortunate because these guys have quite a bit of talent, and they’ll be missed.”