West Indies cricketers resume training in small groups
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|| Desk Report ||
West Indies cricketers have started their preparation for the tour of England having returned to training in small groups at Kensington Oval after the lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic.
After getting the nod from the local government, Cricket of West Indies (CWI) allowed players to conduct their training with the strict protocols of social distancing and observing the guidelines of both ICC and the CWI behind closed doors.
The players trained under the watchful eyes of West Indies assistant coach Roddy Estwick, as well as other coaches from the Barbados Cricket Association.
“The initiative to get back to training has been given local Government approval, with strict protocols of social distancing, observing the guidelines as set out by the authorities and CWI’s Medical Advisory Committee and was conducted behind closed doors,” the CWI said in a press release.
“It’s great news that the players are now able to begin their cricket training, having been restricted to fitness and conditioning work at home for the past few weeks, as we begin to prepare for defending the Wisden Trophy,” said Johnny Grave, CEO of Cricket West Indies.
CWI is holding regular discussions with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) regarding the tour comprising three Tests and remains ‘increasingly confident’ about it going ahead as planned.
“Based on the information we have at the moment, everyone is getting increasingly confident that the tour will happen at some point this summer,” Grave said.
“Our next Board of Directors Teleconference is on May 28 and if the tour has to take place as currently planned, by the start of June, we would need to have their approval and support by then in order to get the charter flight logistics in place and select the players,” he also said.
“We are in the final stages of discussions with the ECB and we expect to hear from them shortly once their bio-secure plans have UK Government and ECB Board support,” he added.
England players, including Stuart Broad, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes and James Anderson too have resumed training, becoming the first set of cricketers to do so following the coronavirus break.
