LADIES DAY FOR BROAD!
England pace ace made to use the women’s loos on his return to action!
SOUTH AFRICA have approached the ECB about using ‘biosecure’ English venues for matches against West Indies, who are due to arrive next month ahead of a three-Test series against England.
With administrators around the world scrambling to fulfil fixtures amid the pandemic, Sportsmail understands Cricket South Africa enquired about the possibility of sending a quarantined squad to the UK, where they would then be ready to play once the England-West Indies series was over.
The ECB already have their hands full as they try to salvage the men’s international summer schedule, which also comprises a three-Test series against Pakistan, as well as white-ball games against Ireland and — depending on Covid19 — Australia.
For that reason, South Africa’s suggestion may amount to little, but their board’s willingness to explore the idea reflects growing concern among cricket administrators about the damage being done to the game’s finances by the worldwide lockdown.
All options remain on the table, and CSA chief executive Jacques Faul made a point yesterday of thanking his ECB counterpart Tom Harrison for ‘sharing information’, adding: ‘We are learning from their attempts to establish [biosecure] protocols.’
Meanwhile, England’s own whiteball tour of South Africa could be brought forward from next March to this December in a bid to ease fixture congestion in early 2021.
Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes were among those who took part in individualised training sessions yesterday as England officially began their preparation for July’s Test series versus West Indies.
Under the guidelines set out by the ECB for a safe return to practice, the onus is on individuals to book their own time slots with their appointed physios.
Broad practised at Trent Bridge where he was given a designated toilet to use — the women’s loos as it happened — and Woakes was at Edgbaston. They both did 45-minute workouts.
A group of 18 bowlers have been invited to a safe return first ahead of the batsmen and wicketkeepers, who are scheduled to join in from June 1.
Meanwhile Wasim Khan, chief executive of Pakistan Cricket, yesterday said he was ‘looking forward’ to the second half of England’s proposed international programme going ahead in August.
‘ECB presented to us the details of the plans taking place to host us and we were really pleased with what we heard,’ Wasim told Sky’s
The Cricket Show. ‘The players are chomping at the bit and as things stand we’re very much looking forward to touring.’
Pakistan are planning to arrive in England in early July, on a charter flight paid for by ECB, for a tour that is proposed to start with the first Test at Emirates Old Trafford on August 5 and Wasim said they will be in a training camp in Lahore beforehand, meaning players could be away from home in ‘lockdown’ for three months.
As Sportsmail revealed, Australia’s cricketers are expected to be denied the chance to take on England in the summer due to their government’s long-term travel ban. But their board’s chief executive Kevin Roberts gave hope yesterday when he told Sydney’s Daily
Telegraph: ‘I think there’s some chance we could send a team over.’