The England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have said that discussions will take place later this week to determine whether England will travel to Australia to take part in the Ashes this winter.
A number of England Test players have yet to commit to making the trip Down Under due to potential quarantine restrictions.
One of the main issues surrounds whether there will be restrictions on players’ families being allowed to enter the country.
It was reported by Cricinfo last week that the ECB had received “better than expected guidelines” from Cricket Australia in regards to tour arrangements. They are said to include an ability for the players to train and move freely within their hotel during the 14-day quarantine.
The ECB have confirmed that England’s players and management have been updated with the latest information about the conditions for the tour. The Daily Mail reported that the information was presented via video call with CA on Sunday.
ECB update on Ashes tour
In a statement on their official website, the ECB said: “Over the weekend we have been talking to England men’s players and management to provide them with the latest information about the proposed arrangements for this winter’s tour.
“We remain in regular 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.
“We will continue talking to our players this week to share the latest information and seek feedback.
“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.”
Should the tour go ahead, the first Test of the 2021/22 Ashes is scheduled to begin on December 8 in Brisbane.
If England reach the final of the upcoming Men’s T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, they would play the showpiece game of that competition on November 14 – a gap of 24 days between then and the Ashes getting underway.
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