England’s Jos Buttler may skip Ashes series in Australia over restrictions

Buttler
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Jos Buttler said that he might be unavailable for the Ashes series due to strict Covid-19 restrictions in Australia and that his newborn second child just came into the world.

England’s wicket-keeper batsman, Jos Buttler said that he might skip the Ashes tour over concerns about taking his family along due to Australia’s Covid-19 restrictions.

Jos Buttler said that he may be unavailable for the remainder of IPL 2021 due to the birth of his second child. He opened up on the problems that he and his family have faced since the pandemic started. 

He may also skip the final Test match against India at Old Trafford as his wife expecting their second newborn child.

England will play the T20 World Cup in the UAE in October and November before flying to Australia for Ashes, which means that the players who feature in both are away from home for four months.

“One of the challenges is working out where the line is where you say I can’t do that,”

Buttler told The Times newspaper. 

“I’ve sacrificed a lot for cricket and my wife and family have sacrificed a lot. 

“You have to be open to saying no”,

he said. 

“It would be incredibly disappointing if some players feel like they can’t do it, but we’re in a world at the moment where that is a possibility.” 

England players are looking for commitments that their family members would be allowed to join them in Australia, with the ECB in talks with Cricket Australia to secure that transit. 

Australia is doing limited entry to the country because of the spread of Covid-19 and 14 days compulsory managed isolations for returning citizens. 

“Covid is incredibly challenging for everyone and Australia has a very strict policy in how they’ve tried to deal with it,”

Buttler said, adding that living for long periods in bio-bubbles was a further complication. 

“Until we get more information about what it (the Australia tour) might look like, it’s impossible to know what decision you’re making.”

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