Coronavirus: England bowlers' training session delayed

The training sessions involving England bowlers have been delayed due to complications in delivering safety protocols.

The England Cricket Board (ECB) was hoping that the training of players would start at the earliest in order to resume Test cricket in July but some issues emerged in establishing uniform practices to minimise the chances of infection and they turned out to be slightly harder to implement, ESPNCricinfo reported.

According to the report, the reason for the delay was scarcity in personal protective equipment (PPE) which was to be worn by physios and there was also a delay in getting the cricket balls delivered to the bowlers.

Earlier, it was established that each bowler would be using his own cricket ball as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus.

However, the ECB remains hopeful that the training sessions would get underway for the players later this week.

ECB had earlier established that the bowlers will require time to get into thick of things, and this was the main reason behind ECB's decision to allow bowlers to train first.

England is looking to play Test series against West Indies and Pakistan in July-August this year and both the series are most likely to be played behind closed doors in a bio-secure environment.

On May 14, the ECB had confirmed that their men's team will return to individual skills-based training amid the coronavirus pandemic.

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.

Currently, all cricket action across the world has come to a standstill due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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.