Lockdown eased, but WI, England squads face stricter protocols

England’s players and management could find themselves in a strange position during next month’s Test series against West Indies. On Tuesday, the UK government announced a relaxation of lockdown rules coming into force on July 4, four days before the first Test begins at the Ageas Bowl. It means the squads within cricket’s bio-secure bubble will potentially be facing stricter requirements than the rest of the country.

England’s 30-man training squad have assembled in Southampton for a pre-series camp which will involve a robust regime of Covid-19 testing and strict hygiene and 2 metre social distancing measures while the West Indies have already had two weeks living in a similar environment at Emirates Old Trafford during their 14 day mandatory quarantine period.

Under the new rules announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, bars, restaurants and cafes will be allowed to open their doors from July 4, following their closure in March. There will also be a change to the 2 metre distancing rule, with a concept called “one-metre plus” being invoked instead, and people will be allowed to meet up with one other household inside their homes for the first time since the lockdown began.

It raises the possibility that the players cocooned within the bio-secure bubble will not be able to go a pub or a restaurant outside the confines of the Ageas Bowl or Emirates Old Trafford, where the second and third Tests will be played, while their friends and families will be able to. “At some point we could have protocols within the bubble that are very, very different from protocols in the general population,” Ashley Giles, director of men’s cricket at the ECB, admitted.

“It will be quite strange. We could be in a situation where we have a very secure bubble during the second and third Tests of the series and the rest of the world is operating at a new normal where restaurants and pubs are opening again. Our main responsibility is to get this series on the road and keeping everyone safe, especially including the West Indies team who have done so much to come here.”

Then there is what happens at the of the West Indies series. England’s squad will go back to their own homes outside the bio-secure bubble and will be able to do things such as going to the pub or restaurant with their families which they have not been able to do for months. Yet doing so may raise the risk of catching Covid-19 which they could then inadvertently bring back into the bubble ahead of the series against Ireland and Pakistan later in the summer.

Giles confirmed he would not be banning the England squad from going out during their downtime but said the players would still have to be careful in order not to jeopardise future series. “We haven’t talked about banning them, but I think we ask them to be sensible and they have been throughout this whole process of the last three months,” Giles said.

“They need to continue that. If you come back into the environment and you haven’t been adhering to the guidelines then you put everyone else and the series at risk. So that’s all we ask. We have a group of players who are of that way anyway.”

The immediate concern is getting the 30 players and the coaching staff used to the measures in place at the Ageas Bowl. Each member of England’s squad was tested for Covid-19 on arrival on Tuesday and will predominantly remain in their hotel rooms while they wait for test results to arrive on Wednesday. They will begin training on Thursday with half the group practicing in the morning and the half in the afternoon. Jofra Archer, who is set to take a second test Covid test on Wednesday is expected to join the squad on Thursday if he tests negative.

“It is just about removing as much risk as we can,” Giles said. “We have been in constant dialogue with the players. We had another briefing on Friday with them that was about the entry to the bubble. There is a lot of detail and people will make mistakes. For the sake of everyone and cricket we need to operate within these protocols.

“It will be weird, anyone who thinks this is going to be holiday camp is going to be seriously mistaken. There could be an opportunity for the guys to play golf on the course next door but apart from that and two sessions of cricket and some gym work – social distancing, wearing of masks, probably spending a lot of time on your own – it’s not a lot of fun and I think it is a bit of a culture shock.

“We have all spent three months in lockdown. Personally leaving home today feels strange. Packing your bags again – it is quite a weird feeling to not be so sure when you leave your front door.”‘

Although England’s squad will be ensconced in the bio-secure bubble for weeks at a time, Giles said there is an acceptance that some players will need to be able to exit and enter the secure environment at various stages during the West Indies series. Joe Root is expecting his second baby in the next few weeks, for example, and will need to leave to attend the birth.

“This is the thing we talked about – the bridging – and we are keen to get Joe back into the environment after baby is born,” Giles said. “It is very much about moving people from a safe environment to a safe environment. We need to do that with the co-operation of the West Indies team and the government and be as sensible as we can.

“We are all very aware that during the series we are going to have to find opportunities to get guys out of the environment and get them home. It is important to everyone that when they leave they go into a safe environment.”