Cricket's Covid bubbles are no longer sustainable: Nasser Hussain sympathises with Indian players

The India squad submitted negative PCR tests on Thursday but their concerns over the possibility of a spread of the virus, the chance of isolation and the idea of missing the Indian Premier League played a part in their reluctance to play

The cancellation of the fifth Test between England and India shows that cricket's bio-secure bubbles are not sustainable, former England captain Nasser Hussain has said.

India's players declined to take part in the match at Emirates Old Trafford, citing concerns about several positive Covid-19 cases within their backroom staff over the previous five days, leading to the game being called off less than three hours before its scheduled 11am start time on Friday.

The entire India squad submitted negative PCR tests on Thursday but their concerns over the possibility of a further spread of the virus, the looming chance of isolation and the idea of missing much of the UAE leg of the Indian Premier League all played a part in their reluctance to take to the field.

Hussain expressed sympathy with the touring party, who have been in England for three months and, like the majority of elite cricketers, have lived much of their lives in bubbles over the past year and a half.

"This lot are going from bubble to bubble to quarantine to quarantine, and it is not sustainable," he said on Sky Sports.

^{Old Trafford was due to stage the fifth Test between England and India}

"The tight bubble is no longer sustainable and this Indian group will go from here - from a year in a bubble - to an even tighter bubble in the IPL. 

"Then they’re going to the World T20, which we’re hearing is an even tighter bubble in a hotel: you don’t go out.

"So it is about the IPL, but it’s also about players thinking ‘can I do another 10 days?’"

Hussain was part of the broadcaster bubbles within English venues during the height of the first Covid-19 wave in England last year, and spoke from experience about the frustrations of isolation.

"There’ll be a lot of anger out there, but what this week shows is how well the game has coped with things like this, how well players have coped," he said.

"We were in that hotel [at Old Trafford] last year and be honest, as broadcasters by the end of day seven we were scraping the walls saying ‘get us out of here, get us home’."

Is the fifth Test cancellation about the IPL?@nassercricket and @Athersmike join @WardyShorts to discuss the reasons for the Old Trafford Test being cancelled.

📺 Watch on Sky Sports Cricket 👉 https://t.co/fk7UysTMen pic.twitter.com/cx2A79TlKe

— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) September 10, 2021

India's players are currently due to fly to Dubai on Wednesday to link up with their respective IPL franchises, and catching the virus in the next few days would lead to another spell of quarantine and absence from the world's leading T20 tournament.

“Don’t give me the old ‘well, they’re well paid’ and all that," Hussain said.

"They know that.

"They are really well paid, some of these Indian players. But I do think that some of them are just at the end of their tether and 10 days more of quarantine could do their heads in."