Most England players will travel to Australia for the Ashes: Vaughan
FORMER England skipper Michael aughan reckons that most Three Lions’ cricketers will travel to Australia and the Ashes will go ahead as planned later this year.
“The Ashes will happen .. I also think most if not all players will travel,” aughan tweeted.
Over the weekend, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) had contacted its men’s players and management to provide them with the latest information about the proposed arrangements for this winter’s scheduled Ashes tour.
“We remain in regular and positive dialogue with Cricket Australia over these arrangements as the picture is constantly evolving.
“With health and wellbeing at the forefront, our focus is to ensure the tour can go ahead with conditions for players and management to perform at their best,” ECB had said in an official statement.
“We will continue talking to our players this week to share the latest information and seek feedback,” it added.
Later this week, the ECB Board will meet to decide whether the conditions in place are sufficient for the tour to go ahead and enable the selection of a squad befitting a series of this significance.
Earlier, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson had made an intervention in order to ensure that the upcoming Ashes series against Australia goes ahead later this year as planned.
Johnson raised the issue of a travel ban on the families of England’s cricketers with Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
Both Prime Ministers met over dinner on a diplomatic visit to Washington DC.
Ashes continues to remain in doubt after a number of England players have raised concerns about strict quarantine protocols they are likely to be in for the duration of the tour.
The Ashes between England and Australia is set to commence on December 8 in Brisbane.
BBC.com adds: England have held positive talks with Cricket Australia (CA) as they seek to move a step closer to confirming the Ashes can go ahead as planned.
Discussions between CA, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), the Professional Cricketers’ Association and players took place on Tuesday.
They are believed to have been better than a previous meeting on Sunday.
The ECB will meet on Friday to decide whether or not the series, due to begin on 8 December, will take place.
England’s players have raised concerns over about conditions for the tour, including whether or not their families will be allowed to travel, quarantine arrangements and any potential ‘bubble’ they might have to live in.
After Sunday’s meeting, the ECB said the tour could be called off if the conditions were not acceptable or if too many England players opted against travelling.
“The board will decide whether the conditions are sufficient for the tour to go ahead and enable the selection of a squad befitting a series of this significance,” said the governing body.
Discussions between England and Australia have since continued, despite some of England’s Ashes players travelling to Oman for the T20 World Cup on Monday.
Todd Greenberg, chief executive of the Australian Cricketers’ Association, said the England players had “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,” Greenberg told Australian newspapers The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.
“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.”
Australia has some of the strictest Covid-19 protocols in the world, a situation complicated by individual states having their own regulations.
However, some restrictions have begun to be lifted, with others dependent on the rate of vaccinations.
The five Ashes Tests are due to be played in five different states, and there have been concerns over whether or not the series will be able to move around Australia.
The fifth Test, set for Perth in Western Australia in January, may have to be moved to a different part of the country.
Australia hold the Ashes after retaining the urn in a 2-2 draw in England in 2019.
England are looking to win an away Ashes series for only the second time since 198 , having been victorious in only four Tests in Australia this century.
Ashes continues to remain in doubt after a number of England players have raised concerns about strict quarantine protocols they are likely to be in for the duration of the tour. The Ashes between England and Australia is set to commence on December 8 in Brisbane. The ECB will meet on Friday to decide whether or not the series will take place.