Chris Woakes opens up on realities of post-coronavirus training
May 23, 2020
London [UK], May 23 : After having his first training session, England pacer Chris Woakes has said that he has gotten the idea of how the summer will pan out if cricketing action resumes in the post-coronavirus world.
He also said that ensuring social distancing while training and playing cricket will take up some headspace.
"The venues and counties have tried to make this as safe as possible. In my eyes, they have done a really good job. I knew exactly how I was going to go into the ground. You have to drive your own car -- at the minute there's a lot of testing going on at Edgbaston, with the testing facility so I parked in a safe area at the back, and walked onto the pitch through the Hollies Stand," ESPNCricinfo quoted Woakes as saying.
"I took everything I needed for training with me: bottles, towels, medicine balls, bands that I use for warming up. I was given a box of balls, ready there for me to use once I got into the ground. And then those balls are now mine. No one else will touch them - the whole thing of having one skin on each ball," he added.
The England pacer also said that cricket is not a contact sport so it will help all the players to wrap their head around playing in the post coronavirus world.
"I guess it's a bit of a window, cricket is not generally a contact sport, so that helps, but we will get more of an inkling when we start practising more as a team and have more people training at a venue. There are no changing rooms involved at the moment, match mode will look a lot different," Woakes said.
"Off the park, it will take up quite a bit of headspace. The world we are living does take up some headspace. But on the field, you want 100% concentration, whether that is batting or bowling, and cricketers and sportsmen in general are quite good at focusing on the job in hand," he added.
All cricketing action across the globe has been suspended since March due to the coronavirus pandemic, however, England is looking to play Test series against West Indies and Pakistan in July-August this year.
Earlier, the ECB allowed its players to resume training this week as the country plans for a return of international cricket.
With this, England became the first nation to commence training for its players after being hit by the coronavirus.
The board said by utilising venues across the country for individual sessions, it will be able to provide a controlled environment that ensures adherence to safety protocols and social distancing measures for players and staff as set out by the government.
If England and West Indies indeed go ahead with the Test series, then it can be a first international cricket series since March this year.
