Joe Root Optimistic About Cricket Returning To England Amid COVID-19 Crisis

England’s captain in Test cricket, Joe Root has said that he is optimistic about the English team playing Test cricket at home amid the COVID 19 crisis. Joe Root said as long as the British government relaxed lockdown rules sufficiently to let the matches go ahead some international matches could yet be salvaged from an otherwise possibly barren campaign.

The whole of Britain is in lockdown state due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. A three-match Test series against the West Indies scheduled for June has been postponed, with Pakistan due to visit later in a season whose start has now been delayed until July 1 at the earliest.

However, Joe Root is optimistic about the future of Test cricket in England and has said that it could be back sooner than later.

Joe Root Optimistic About Cricket Returning To England Amid COVID-19 Crisis

“I’m very optimistic, hopefully that can be the case and it would be a real shame if it wasn’t,” he told the Cricket show on Sky Sports on Thursday (May 7).

“I think a number of people are desperate to see live sport back on telly (television) and the guys are all very much missing playing and would love to get back out there,” Joe Root further said.

Safety Of The People Is Paramount: Joe Root

Root, who saw England cut short a tour of Sri Lanka in March because of the threat of COVID-19, praised the recent input of ECB medics as he stressed, “Safety is paramount and we need to make sure everyone involved is absolutely safe. I’m sure the discussions will progress and we’ll get more information and get closer and closer to cricket being back on and international cricket being played.”

ECB’s decision to postpone cricketing season due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic will have a huge financial implication on the board. Certain reports in the media have emerged, stating that the ECB could suffer a loss of as much as 380 million pounds, which is certainly a staggering sum of money.

Notably, the coronavirus pandemic has brought the cricketing world to a stagnant position. Besides, multiple series and tournaments have either been postponed or been suspended by various cricketing boards amid the coronavirus outbreak. The inaugural season of The Hundred, the ECB’s new eight-team (men’s and women’s) tournament, stand postponed until 2021 in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, the ECB confirmed on Thursday (April 30).

Also Read: Ashish Nehra Believes There Has Been A Lack Of Stability In India’s Playing XI For The Last 2 Years