ECB prepared for mass player withdrawal over Ashes playing conditions

England are preparing for mass withdrawals from the Ashes tour if players are told on Friday that they will be confined to hotels under strict bubble conditions.

Most players are coming round to the fact their families will receive no special treatment or reduction in quarantine rules from the Australian government. They will be given priority for exemption visas and be allowed to travel but hopes are fading that they would then be given dispensation from strict 14-day hotel quarantine.

However, it is understood the biggest stumbling block now will be the bubble restrictions once the players emerge from quarantine, with Cricket Australia due to inform the ECB on Friday about the conditions that they will impose this winter.

If players are confined to hotels and not allowed to live a normal life in Australia then the ECB is preparing for mass pull outs by the players.

But if they are free to visit restaurants, cafes play golf, and leave their hotels then most will accept the fact that they may be apart from their families for the duration of the tour if partners, especially those with young children, decide not to go through two weeks of hotel quarantine.

The fear among the players is that with Australia gradually reopening covid cases will inevitably rise and Cricket Australia will worry about an outbreak among a squad causing a last-minute cancellation of a Test.

Sources have indicated that the England players worry that if one of them tests positive, CA will implement a crackdown on freedoms and they will be stuck in their hotel rooms, only allowed out to train and play.

Restrictions vary from state to state. The players will be given more freedoms in Queensland and South Australia, where there is almost zero covid and where the first two Tests are set to be played.

However, in Victoria and New South Wales, where covid is more prevalent with 700 cases per day, they are likely to face stricter bubble restrictions. The fifth Test in Perth may well be switched to Sydney because Western Australia has a hard border and enforces two weeks' quarantine on domestic travellers.

Last year when India played in Australia and there was an outbreak in Sydney the players were confined to hotels and only allowed out to play and train.

Cricket Australia were given a deadline of the end of this week to provide answers to questions around conditions for families and bubble restrictions. The ECB will meet with the players early next week to discuss the tour and ask who is willing to go to Australia. The Ashes squad will then be selected.

Scott Morrison, the Australia Prime Minister, last night said there would be no special treatment for the families of the England players.

Boris Johnson discussed the issue with Morrison in Washington this week and asked for him to ease quarantine rules to allow the Ashes to go ahead.

However, Mr Morrison stuck to his insistence that Australia will open up when 80 per cent of the population is fully vaccinated. Australia is approaching 50 per cent this week and expected to hit 80 per cent in early December.

"I'd love to see the Ashes go ahead, as I shared with Boris," Morrison said. "But there's no special deals there, because what we're looking to have is vaccinated people being able to travel."

England players also involved in the T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates and Oman - for which they depart on October 8 - face the prospect of being away from home for almost four months.