ENGLAND’s players will learn the conditions they face on the Ashes tour by the end of the month, with a number still harbouring major reservations about going to Australia for this winter’s tour.

England plan to select their Ashes squad in the first week of October. A number of senior players have major concerns about a two-week quarantine period at the start of the tour, which would also apply to their families, and the England & Wales Cricket Board have been liaising with Cricket Australia over the matter. Cricket Australia (CA) are in continual discussions with the Australian government about England’s tour.

Cricket Australia will give the ECB clarity on the situation by the end of the month. Players considered for selection will then be briefed by the ECB, and asked to declare their availability for the series before England select their squad.

A number of players could withdraw from the tour if they are unhappy with arrangements for their families in Australia. Players who play in multiple formats – and so have experienced more bubbles – and who have young families are considered particularly likely to decide against touring.

In an unprecedented move, some players could also declare that they are only available for three of the five Tests, to minimise the time away from home.

England will select the largest ever party for a Test tour of Australia to give themselves the flexibility to cope with every eventuality. As Telegraph Sport revealed in March, England plan to send both a Test squad and an England Lions squad – made up of the second string players – to Australia, a total of around 30 players.

Warm-up matches for England will be exclusively against the England Lions – partly because of fears over Covid-19, and partly because of frustrations over the poor quality of warm-ups on previous tours. While there will notionally be separate England and England Lions squads, any Lions player who performs strongly in the warm-up games is likely to win quick promotion to the main squad.

England intend to send their Test specialists to Australia in early November, to give the players – especially their fast bowlers – ample time to acclimatise before the first Test on Dec 8. Players involved in the T20 World Cup, which concludes on Nov 14, will then travel direct from the UAE.

In a further sign of players’ concerns about the schedule and the demands of living in biosecure conditions, Jonny Bairstow, Chris Woakes, David Malan and Jos Buttler withdrew from the rest of this year’s Indian Premier League, which begins on Sept 19. The quartet are expected to be selected both in England’s T20 World Cup and Ashes squads.

Ten English players are still due to participate in the IPL this season – Moeen Ali, Sam and Tom Curran, George Garton, Eoin Morgan, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Liam Livingstone, Sam Billings and Jason Roy. Some players left for the UAE, where the remainder of the competition is being played, on Saturday. (The Telegraph).