Former England captain Kevin Pietersen on Monday said players have had enough to live in a bio-secure bubble and called for the lifting of “ridiculous quarantine rules” in Australia ahead of the Ashes.
The upcoming Ashes series in Australia has been in the news for some time, with several England players expressing their reservations against the strict COVID-19 protocols that are currently in place at Down Under.
“There’s no way I can get into the Ashes this winter. Zero chance! Unless, the ridiculous quarantine rules were broken and my family could travel with zero restrictions. Players are done with bubbles now! Gaya!” Pietersen tweeted.
The five-match Test series will start from December 8 to January 18. But the future of the tour is unclear as many senior English players have considered the possibility of boycotting it, depending on the kind of restrictions they have to live under. .
Recently, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson raised the issue of travel ban on families of England cricketers for the Ashes with his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison on the sidelines of a diplomatic visit to Washington DC.
“I took it up (with Morrison) and he said he was going to do his best for the families,” Johnson told reporters in the US capital.
“He completely understood that it is very difficult for cricketers to ask people to stay away from their families on Christmas. He undertook to just come back and see if he could find a solution.”
With next month’s T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates set to be played under a strict bio-bubble, England players across all formats could be in a bubble for nearly four months if they go ahead with the long tour to Australia.
Australia plans to ease border and quarantine restrictions by the end of this year, as at least 80 percent of its adult population receives two COVID-19 vaccination shots.
Officials in the COVID-free states of Western Australia and Queensland, however, have said they may keep their borders closed for longer depending on the situation.
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