Hopes grow that Ashes will go ahead as planned

executive of the Australian Cricketers’ Association. He too believes the outlook is now positive.

“For the England players, they needed some level of surety from us that what’s happened in the previous three months is probably not indicative of what might happen in the next three,” Greenberg told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.

“We’ve talked to them about that, we’ve talked to them about the vaccination rates, about the planning with governments. The long and the short of it, for me, is the England players have handled themselves really well, they’ve asked the right questions, they’ve been really professional in the way they’ve dealt with that and all credit to them.

“They’re going to get a good result here because the conditions they’ll tour in will be fantastic, and we’ll have a great Ashes summer.”

Despite the progress, Finch does admit he is concerned about the impact playing in such tight bubbles for a prolonged period could have on players’ mental health.

He said: “What we will find on the back of this, in my opinion, is there is gong to be a mental strain on a lot of people, not just players but administrators, coaching staff, people who have done so much work and spent so much time in isolation and bubbles. It does make it really challenging. “

Not all views on the causes of the Ashes uncertainty have been as conciliatory, however.

With the matter having become a long-running issue, former England all-rounder Sir Ian Botham questioned the desire of some players to play in the series.

The 65-year-old told the Daily Telegraph: “It’s the ultimate test and - I don’t know - I start to wonder maybe if some of these guys don’t fancy the ultimate test.

“You have to start to worry about it. Playing for England is the ultimate. To play Test cricket for England is the ultimate and to play against Australia in Australia, and win, is magnificent.

“I just wish that we could actually put a positive spin on something and my positive spin is: ‘Let’s get out there, let’s see if we can beat the best in their own backyard.’ Because Australia don’t lose very often in their own backyard. I suggest it’s a challenge and if I was in their boots, I’d already have my bags packed.”