There will be no coercing player on England tour, says CWI CEO

London, May 14 (IANS) Cricket West Indies CEO Johnny Grave believes that the tour to England, where the two teams are currently scheduled to play three-match Test series, will go ahead. He, however, admits that some of the players will be “very nervous” about the prospect of travelling to the UK amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The tour, which was due to start on June 4, stands postponed until at least July because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There will be no coercing players into this tour,” Grave told BBC Sport. “If you grow up in a country where the population might only be 60,000 or 70,000 people, to be thinking the UK has had over 30,000 deaths is a massive figure.

“We have to be absolutely clear that it’s safe first and foremost,” Graves added.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is exploring the use of bio-secure venues and quarantining players.

“The ECB have got a long way to go to get UK government approval to be absolutely certain that biosecure cricket will work,” said Graves.

He further said the board had contacted a “wide pool of players” about the prospect of travelling to England.

“The players would be very much in a bubble,” said Graves.

“We said to the ECB we’d want four weeks of preparation before the first Test. We’re probably looking at three back-to-back Test matches.

“It would be seven weeks of very much training at the ground, staying at the ground and very much being isolated within that hotel environment,” he added.

ECB has already stated that it is working closely with the British government in order to churn out a plan to safely resume cricket amid the global pandemic.

–IANS

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