Despite the majority of players joining the rest of the country in isolation, each of England’s centrally contracted male and female players have still been given an individual training programme to follow.
The ECB have already announced a seven week delay to the start of the new English cricket season, but with uncertainty growing over how long the COVID-19 pandemic will last, players are unsure when their return to the cricket field will come.
Heather Knight and the rest of the women’s team have therefore been given “home training” packages which include ropes, resistance bands, kettlebells and medicine balls. Speaking about the situation, Knight told Women’s Cric Zone that “It’s obviously not ideal, but it’s a great way of trying to stay in shape and keep ticking over.”
The ECB are intent on ensuring that if the international summer does go ahead, then players will still be in peak physical condition. Rob Ahmun, the ECB’s national lead for strength and conditioning says “If the season does come about and we know we have, say, a six week build-up to the season we’ve ensured the players aren’t starting for a training base of zero, they’re starting from a decent base so they can hit the ground running.”
It has already been established that international games will take precedence over domestic cricket, with the inaugural season of The Hundred set to be postponed until next year. England women are due to face both India and South Africa this summer, with the former scheduled to get underway in July.