England players and the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) have agreed to tour Australia for another installation of cricket’s oldest rivalry, The Ashes. After a lot of discussions and debates, the players are now willing to tour Australia despite its harsh lockdown rules and varying mandates in different states. Earlier, Joe Root thought about skipping the tour to escape bubble fatigue but now he is going to continue captaining the England side and will take part in the Ashes as per some newspaper reports.
Cricket Australia’s CEO Nick Hockley has assured that the COVID situation is improving and since the vaccination rate has seen an increase, the lockdown measures may ease up when the teams play in December. Here is the schedule for the Australia-England Men’s Ashes:
- First Test: 08 December @ 12:00 AM UTC;
- Second Test: 16 December @ 04:00 AM UTC;
- Third Test: 25 December @ 11:30 PM UTC;
- Fourth Test: 04 January @ 11:30 PM UTC;
- Fifth Test: 14 January @ 02:30 AM UTC.