England cricketers must use own balls among new training rules
England’s cricketers will each be allocated their own box of balls – but barred from applying any saliva to them – when they restart training next week in anticipation of playing six biosecure Tests against West Indies and Pakistan this summer.
Ashley Giles, the director of England cricket, announced on Thursday that a pool of 30 players is being prepared for the possible resumption of international cricket in July and from Wednesday the bowlers will start working with coaches in one-on-one sessions, before the batsmen enter the nets two weeks later.
The Guardian understands that a strict “one skin per ball” policy will be in place for these sessions, where players will turn up in full kit at one of 11 county grounds (at staggered times so as not to overlap) and undergo temperature checks, before working on cricket skills with a coach and under the supervision of a physio.
The issue of using saliva and sweat to polish the ball during a global pandemic is still under discussion at the
International Cricket Council as regards playing conditions; for now, players who train will be limited to an individual box of balls that only they can touch and must remain in their kit bag when not in use.
This individual practice will be performed outdoors while maintaining a two-metre distance from the coach, with only the physio required to don PPE – sourced and paid for by the England and Wales Cricket Board – in the event of an injury that needs treatment.
Coaches, some of whom will be drawn from the county circuit and paid for by England, will have their own set of balls for throwdowns or use of the bowling machine, while they must wear a rubber glove on their spare hand when taking deliveries from bowlers with a mitt on the other. Under government-approved protocols drawn up by England’s medical team, batsmen have been told they must kick or hit the ball back to the coach in the nets, rather than pick it up and throw it as they might do normally.
Fielding drills will have the player’s balls used, rather than those allocated to the coach, while wicketkeeping gloves, mitts and the “side-arm” slingers used to replicate seam bowlers must all be disinfected between sessions.
Players have been told to travel by car, bring their own clearly marked water bottles, regularly sanitise hands and make a swift departure afterwards before showering at home. There will be no storage of equipment on site and no dressing-room access.
Giles said: “We should be able to get control of the environment so it’s safer to go back to practise than it is to go to the supermarket. I’m not making light
of this but there are risks every time you go outside the house. We need to mitigate as many of the risks as we possibly can.
“At one venue guys may train individually but with the same coach – a single coach for four or five bowlers [for example]. But with social distancing they shouldn’t be close enough to pass anything on. It’s essential we stick to these guidelines.”
These stringent measures make up the first of three phases in the return of elite sport under biosecure conditions. The goal is that a squad of 25-30 players convenes at Hampshire’s Ageas Bowl at the end of June before an intrasquad match and the first Test against West Indies on 8 July. Old Trafford, which also has an on-site hotel, is the second ground expected to be used this summer but spectators will be absent.
They face up to nine weeks operating in this manner and regular testing for Covid-19. But with the Test captain, Joe Root, expecting baby No 2 in July, and mental welfare another consideration, Giles confirmed they are still looking at possible ways to get players in and out of the environment safely.Giles is yet to learn of any players reluctant to return – he confirmed they can opt out without prejudice – but declined to expand on the availability of Jack Leach, whose management of Crohn’s disease with immunosuppressant medication potentially places him in a high-risk category.
“Right now I am confident,” Giles replied when asked if he believes international cricket will be staged in the UK this season. “Who knows what the UK – or the world – will look like in two months’ or three months’ time?
“We hope we don’t take another dip, which would put all of us back. [But] If we continue on this trajectory hopefully we will have the right conditions to play some Test cricket.”
A separate white-ball squad will begin training at a later date for the possible ODIs against Ireland at the end of July, while an update on the return to training for the 18 first-class counties is expected before the end of the month.
England’s centrally contracted women are also expected to begin practising from late June, even though their summer series against India and South Africa remain in doubt given the high costs of creating biosecure grounds.