No family, no Ashes tour for England’s Buttler
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — England v ice- c aptain Jos Buttler has insisted again he will miss the upcoming Ashes tour if his family is unable to join him in Australia.
Buttler will fly out to the United Arab Emirates next week as a member of England’s squad for the Twenty20 World Cup.
But whether the wicketkeeper-batsman also features in the five-Test Ashes series is open to doubt amid questions over the severity of COVID-19 restrictions confronting Joe Root’s men in Australia.
England players are still awaiting specific details about quarantine, bubble and entry regulations, although there are reports that information will be available this weekend.
But, in the meantime, even Test skipper Root has been unable to commit fully to touring Australia for one of the showpiece events in the global cricket calendar.
Buttler, having just become a father for the second time, wants to know as many details as possible before making himself available for the tour.
But asked yesterday if an Ashes series where his family were unable to join him for even part of the tour represented a red line, the 31-year-old replied: “Yes, definitely for myself. If I had to do a World Cup and an Ashes — four, five months without seeing my family — I wouldn’t be comfortable doing that.”
“We’re still waiting for more information, as soon as possible,” he said when speaking at Sixes Cricket Club, where he was unveiled as the official ambassador of Booking.com’s sponsorship of the T20 World Cup.
Buttler, yet to play in an overseas Ashes, added: “It’s tough to make a decision when you don’t have all the answers. In Covid times, there is always going to be some sort of question that is difficult to answer.
“It could be changeable, it would be naive not to say so in the times we’re living in, but you want to go there with as many assurances as possible.”
ECB chairman Ian Watmore said he was prepared for more twists and turns ahead of the scheduled Ashes opener in Brisbane on December 8.
“There is no simple date it must be decided by, apart from when that plane goes to Australia,” Watmore told the Daily Mail.