England's head coach Chris Silverwood is refusing to rule out resting key players during next summer's Ashes series in Australia, if COVID-19 restrictions are still in place.
The controversial rotation policy has been in place in recent months, with Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer both skipping the Test tour of Sri Lanka before returning for the series against India, while Jos Buttler was sent home after the first Test in India.
Management says the all-format players need to be managed to avoid burn out, especially with teams restricted to bio-security bubbles.
England's schedule over the southern hemisphere summer of 2021-22 looms as a problem, with the T20 World Cup and the Ashes the focus. It's expected white-ball tours to Pakistan and Bangladesh will also go ahead, as well as a tour to the West Indies containing both limited overs and Test matches.
When added to the IPL and a home summer in 2021, England's leading players are facing an almost impossible workload.
"I don't think it's acceptable to push somebody until they break and then try and pick them up," Silverwood said.
"We have to make the intervention before anybody does break so we can get them back in an England shirt quicker.
"Equally, everyone misses their family. The families miss the players that are here. If we can't get the families to the players as we normally would, it's important we do our best to get the players to the families.
"From a well-being point of view, it's so important these players stay connected with their families."
Silverwood acknowledged the rest and rotation policy would likely continue through the upcoming English summer, and possibly beyond if travel doesn't revert to pre-COVID norms.
"It's certainly something we have to be aware of and consider because we don't know what the landscape will look like from a COVID point of view," he explained.
"Could players be flying home midway through the Ashes? We have to be proactive in looking after them, so it's certainly something that we may have to look at, yes.
"I know things are slowly opening up, but we will be guided by the medical advice and what's happening in the country. It's certainly something that we are probably going to have around."
The use of the rotation policy through the series against India has resulted in criticism that the team didn't place the required importance on the matches, a claim Silverwood denies.
He says the ultimate goal is to build a group of players strong enough to ensure a competitive side is on the field at all times.
"No-one took this series lightly, I can promise you that," he said.
"Absolutely not. We came here wanting to win and we went hard in that first Test and won it.
"India then came back hard in the last three Tests. It's a very difficult place to come to and win. History tells you that.
"Don't for one minute think we took this series lightly because we didn't."
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!
No comments:
Post a Comment