West Indies Players Get Back To Training After Covid-19 Lockdown

The West Indies players, led by their Test skipper Jason Holder have resumed training in small groups for the forthcoming tour of England. The players have been away from the practice sessions for more than two months due to Covid-19 situation and they are slowly getting back to training.

The Windies players namely, Kraigg Brathwaite, Shai Hope, Kemar Roach, Shane Dowrich, Shamarh Brooks and Raymon Reifer trained at Kensington Oval in Barbados behind closed doors on Monday.

West Indies players will look to hit the ground running.

West Indies will play three Test matches on the England tour in July.

The country’s cricket board, Cricket West Indies confirmed that they have got the permission from the local government and the players are following the protocols of social distancing.

“The initiative to get back to training has been given local Government approval, with strict protocols of social distancing, observing the guidelines as set out by the authorities and CWI’s Medical Advisory Committee and was conducted behind closed doors,” the country’s cricket board said in a press release.

The Test specialist players trained under the tutelage of West Indies assistant coach Roddy Estwick as well as other coaches of Barbados Cricket Association.

CEO of Cricket West Indies, Johny Grave is glad that the players have got back to their training after a  hiatus. Furthermore, Grave revealed that they are in final stages of confirming the tour with ECB and they are confident that the series will go on.

“It’s great news that the players are now able to begin their cricket training, having been restricted to fitness and conditioning work at home for the past few weeks, as we begin to prepare for defending the Wisden Trophy,” said Johnny Grave.

“We are in the final stages of discussions with the ECB and we expect to hear from them shortly once their bio-secure plans have UK Government and ECB Board support.”

On the other hand, England players have also returned to training. ECB has shared videos in which the likes of Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes have started to train after the break.

The three Test matches will take place within bio-secure environment and it will also give an indication to other cricket boards regarding the hosting of the matches amid the Covid-19 era.