ECB chief Tom Harrison urges Australian government to show England ‘leniency’ over Ashes Covid rules

ECB chief executive Tom Harrison has asked the Australian government to show ‘leniency’ towards England’s Ashes tourists and their families this winter —and insisted the players are ‘not asking for anything unreasonable’ as discussions continue about Australia’s Covid-19 protocols.

While there seems little doubt the series will take place, starting in Brisbane on December 8, England’s Test players remain concerned about the strict nature of Australia’s biosecure bubbles.

Olympic athletes returning from Japan to South Australia were recently told to quarantine for 28 days before being allowed out of their homes. And while that is twice as long as in other states, Harrison is determined to place the players’ and their families’ welfare at the forefront of discussions with Cricket Australia.

England’s players could be four months away from their families and be forced to live in bio-secure bubbles during this winter’s tour of Australia  

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has enforced Draconian Covid lockdown laws 

‘Australia have a certain perspective with respect to how they deal with these things, both at state and federal level,’ he said. 

‘That is a concern given the 18 months our players have been through.

‘We are raising those concerns and expect the right conversations to be had over the coming weeks to get us to a place where we and the players can get on the flight to Australia knowing that, when the families arrive, they can have a positive experience.’ 

Australia celebrate winning the last Ashes series to be held Down Under back in 2017-2018

The Aussies then retained the Ashes in England in 2019 after the series was drawn 2-2 

England are currently playing their 16th Test since the start of the pandemic (Australia have played just four, all at home), and the players do not want their families to spend 14 days in a hotel room.

Harrison said: ‘These are very reasonable requests we are asking the Australian government to give some leniency towards.

‘It’s going to be important for us to ensure we can give comfort to players and that those quarantine conditions for families will be reasonable to enable the players to be at their best.’ 

England’s supporters won’t be allowed to tour Australia and watch the Ashes this winter

Meanwhile, in the week the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued a ‘code red for humanity’, Harrison said bilateral tours need to be arranged on a more sustainable basis, and admitted cricket boards around the world had placed finances ahead of environmental concerns when planning schedules.

‘As a sport, the thing that shines out is the amount of travel and flights we take,’ he said. ‘Addressing that question is probably the single biggest impact we can make. That’s a difficult one for cricket, but we have to get into it at ICC level.

‘We owe the world an explanation of the game’s global sustainability strategy.’

Harrison said little consideration had been paid to minimise flying within tours — a factor especially relevant in Australia and India.

‘We’ve probably taken a cost-effective approach to those kinds of debates, as opposed to one which has carbon footprint and air miles at its heart,’ he said. ‘The time is now to address it.’

Harrison also said the Hundred had exceeded expectations, with the ECB claiming to have sold 90 per cent of their ‘pre-Covid capacity’ — 30 per cent higher than their target.

‘We’ve sold about 20 per cent of tickets to kids, 20-odd per cent are female buyers. The data we’re getting is that we are being able to reach that broader audience.’

He blamed rowdy incidents at Hundred matches on ‘people coming out of 18 months of restricted living conditions’.

The ECB have been very satisfied with the level of ticket sales for the inaugural Hundred