In a bid to control the spread of COVID-19 in the country, the authorities have urged the players and support staff that are part of the inaugural edition of the Hundred to avoid going to restaurants and shops.
These guidelines have been placed for the tournament after seven England squad members tested positive for COVID-19 just before the start of the series against Pakistan, according to Cricinfo.
The UK government has announced relaxation in the COVID-19 restriction starting July 19.
ECB’s chief executive Tom Harrison had just recently said that English cricket should learn to live with covid instead of eliminating the risk of the infection completely. “I hope we’re in a position where we can cope through the protocols that are designed to cope with small outbreaks or being able to mitigate the impact on entire squads,” Harrison said.
When asked about England’s Test players’ participation in the tournament, Harrison said, “We are working through that at the moment,” he said. “Clearly we’ve got to make sure that we protect the India series but also it’s important they take part in the Hundred.
“The thinking is around their travel, their accommodation, how do we make sure they’re not in close contact with anyone outside of the environment, do we need to put additional protocols around them? I’m expecting them to play at the start of the Hundred, so once we finalise that this week, we’ll know exactly how many games they will be available for.”
“There are risks – I can’t say they don’t exist because they do… [but] we have to learn to cope with Covid. Mitigation is the word as opposed to prevention.”
The Hundred is due to begin on July 21 with Oval Invincibles taking on Manchester Originals at Kia Oval.
