Ashley Giles holds out hope for international summer and admits flexibility will be key

NICK FRIEND: England are due to face West Indies in a three-match Test series, which is set to begin on June 4 at The Oval, kicking off a summer schedule that also includes fixtures against Australia, Pakistan and Ireland

England could play different formats of international cricket alongside one another – though not on the same day – if at some point in the summer it is deemed safe to do so, believes Ashley Giles.

As it stands, no professional cricket will be played before May 28 at the earliest – a decision announced by the ECB on March 20, amid the coronavirus outbreak. It seems likely, however, that the date will be extended further.

England are due to face West Indies in a three-match Test series, which is set to begin on June 4 at The Oval, with a second Test series against Pakistan taking place later in the summer, as well as limited-over contests with Australia, Pakistan and Ireland.

Speaking to journalists via a Zoom conference call, Giles, the managing director of the men’s national side, admitted that flexibility will be paramount in order to fulfil the scheduled international calendar – should such an opportunity arise.

“We all understand and all boards understand that in a period like this we have to be as flexible as we can,” Giles said. “Nothing is going to be ideal.  Preparation for players, rest between matches, crossover of formats – right now, it is a blank sheet of paper because it has to be, we have to adapt.

“Whether eventually games start falling off the calendar, right now we don’t know – the experts don’t know when we might be clear.

“We are looking at all scenarios and probably with a focus on protecting our bigger games – the bigger games from my perspective in terms of international teams: Test matches, T20Is, looking at scenarios where we can push those matches back as far as possible without losing any cricket.

“And that is possible and we have to hang on hope that we will get out there and we will play. Whether that it is behind closed doors or in front of full houses none of us know. The priority at the moment is doing what the government tells us to do and keep everyone safe.

“We are looking on how far we can push cricket back further in the summer. That’s what we’re looking at right now and we’re working with the other boards around the world on seeing if that is possible.

“There’s obviously the Future Tours Programme. We have really good relations with these boards and we’re doing whatever we can to look at scenarios where we can push our cricket back which gives us the best chance of playing as much international cricket as possible.”

ECB chief executive Tom Harrison has already floated the possibility of Tests and white-ball matches being staged either concurrently on consecutive days, while Eoin Morgan admitted recently that he sees “every option being viable during this extraordinary time”.

“We have certainly looked at playing two formats around the same time,” Giles explained, though downplaying the idea of two different formats being played on the same day.

“You could have a Test match running and play a T20 or an ODI the day before or the day after a Test match.  But it’s also working with the broadcasters on what’s best and what they want.  That’s another important partnership for us.

“Across formats at the same time – we will do whatever we have to do, we will be flexible. By no means would that be ideal, this goes far beyond that.”

^{Edgbaston is being used as a COVID-19 test centre for NHS staff}

He also acknowledged the role that cricket – and sport, in general – can have in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There is bigger picture stuff here,” he added. “Apart from a health crisis, internally business-wise part of our role is to keep business going and keep the lights on and we take that very seriously and we play a big role in that as international teams again working in partnership with the counties on what is best for the whole game. I don’t think anything is off the table. If we have to do it, we will.”

As and when international cricket becomes a feasible option once more, there will also come the issue of pre-season or, at the very least, a warmup period. Giles’ science and medical team has told him that “it’s anywhere between four weeks and eight weeks”, making the prospect of any international cricket in June seem unlikely. He also suggested that he would be open to arranging inter-squad games as preparation - not dissimilar to the way in which Australia warmed up for last year's Ashes series.

“Now, eight weeks is ideal but right now it’s not a reality,” he said. “So, again, we’re all going to have to be flexible with that while keeping in mind these are our people and our players and we need to look after them.

“From a playing point of view certainly, I think we’ll need to play a couple of warm-up games. What those warm-up games look like – they could be behind closed doors; they could be among England players – none of us really know until we get there. From a physical point of view, we’ve got a good support system around the guys at the moment.

“We obviously can’t have contact with them. Many of them are fortunate enough to have their own training equipment at home or a home gym. Others would have been sent care packages by us – whether that would have been kettlebells or other equipment, so they can do as much training as possible.

“My only ask of the players is that there is no real excuse why you can’t keep yourself fit during this period. You could be jumping up and down in your front room, you can still go for a jog, you can use your home equipment. There’s a full range of stuff you could be doing so that our players are ready when we get that green light. We might be quite rushed at that point but at least physically they are ready to get on with it.”

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