Nasser Hussain: Postponing England tour of Sri Lanka due to coronavirus is right thing to do
'As a cricketer you want to play but the players will like the finality of the decision'
Sunday 15 March 2020 08:29, UK
England's players should "seize the opportunity" to rest and spend extra time with their families after their tour of Sri Lanka was postponed, says Nasser Hussain.
Joe Root's side will fly back home at the earliest possible opportunity after the England and Wales Cricket Board confirmed the two-Test series would not go ahead due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a statement, the ECB said "the physical and mental well-being of our players and support teams is paramount" and former captain Hussain welcomed the decision as "the most sensible thing to do".
Speaking to Sky Sports News, he said: "Obviously as a cricketer you want to play but the players will like the finality of the decision. What they would have hated would for this to be dragging on.
"Already people are saying the decision should have been made a day or two earlier. When you are on tour you get back to your hotel room and speak to your family about whether you're coming home or not, you're looking at all the news and Sky Sports News to find out what's happening with other sports around the world.
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"You're thinking 'why are we still out here'? So there's a lot of discussion that goes on and it just takes your mind away from the reason that you're out there, and that's to play cricket.
"So I think the ECB and the Sri Lanka board have done absolutely the right thing; they've made the decision relatively early and made it crystal clear that the tour can't go on.
"It's an opportunity for these cricketers, who play so much cricket these days. I see they've put the IPL back a couple of weeks.
"Just take this opportunity to go home, rest up and have some time with the family and try to enjoy a break because somewhere down the line the break will end and you'll be back on that treadmill as an international cricketer, so seize the opportunity."
Eleven English players are due to play in the Indian Premier League, the start of which has been pushed back from March 29 to April 15 in a bid to limit the spread of coronavirus.
No decision has yet been made on whether the County Championship will be affected, but the County Champion match due to be contested by MCC and Essex later this month in Sri Lanka has been cancelled.
Aside from the domestic programme, England are due to play three Tests against West Indies from June onwards before hosting Australia in two white-ball series.
Pakistan tour the country from July and England take on Ireland and India in white-ball cricket before thoughts turn to the ICC Twenty20 World Cup in the autumn.
With England due to tour India and South Africa in early 2021, Hussain says that rearranging the Sri Lanka tour will be tough - but admits there may be a window to do so from mid-November.
"Whoever is in charge of scheduling has a nightmare job anyway. England go to India this time next year and you could fit it in, in January 2021 before they go to India.
"There will be a gap - and a part of me would be saying 'don't try to fill in every gap'. But this series is part of the World Test Championship and it counts for points, so they do have to fill it in somewhere, but it makes next year's schedule incredibly difficult."
