England Chief 'Very Confident' Ashes Tour Will Go Ahead

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England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Tom Harrison said Thursday he was "very confident" this year's Ashes tour of Australia would proceed as planned despite possible coronavirus travel restrictions.

England players have expressed concerns that their families may be unable to join them on the five-Test tour because of strict Australian border controls, as well as the prospect of another restrictive spell in a secure bubble.

And with individual states able to impose their own restrictions, there are fears England could find themselves caught up in the kind of scenario that has seen South Australia force athletes returning from the Tokyo Olympics to complete an additional 14-day home quarantine even when they have already quarantined in Sydney.

"We are working very closely with Cricket Australia and I had my latest conversation with my counterpart at CA yesterday, we are speaking every few days on this matter," Harrison told reporters as the second Test between England and India got underway at Lord's.

"All the right conversations are happening at government level in Australia, and we will be using our own diplomatic channels in the UK to ensure that the view of the players and the ECB (is heard)."

Harrison added: "This is not players asking for anything unreasonable, these are very reasonable requests that we are asking the Australian government to give some leniency, frankly.

"It's going to be important for us to ensure that we can give comfort to players that their families are going to be able to be in Australia and that those conditions in which they are quarantined will be reasonable, enabling the players to be at their best in that Test series.

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