ECB confident Ashes series will go ahead amid desperate plea to Australian government

Chief-executive Tom Harrison believes seeking for an exemption to the country's closed-border policy to allow player families to attend is "reasonable" and that a resolution is imminent

The England and Wales Cricket Board are adamant the Ashes series will go ahead but the strictness of restrictions facing players remains up in the air.

Cricket's authorities have enlisted UK government assistance to help reach a breakthrough with their Australian counterparts over allowing families to travel this winter and limiting the strictness of quarantine.

Multi-format players face being away from loved ones for four months, with the T20 World Cup and the five Tests against Australia scheduled back-to-back.

The ECB are keen to prioritise player welfare in the light of Ben Stokes taking an indefinite break from cricket following 18 months of Covid restrictions and bio-secure bubbles.

But England will require special dispensation if they're to reach a suitable resolution, with international arrivals into Australia currently capped at 3,000 per week and travellers having to undergo 14 days of self-isolation upon arrival.

Should a breakthrough not be reached it could impact the likes of Stokes, Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali, who have young families and would be available in both tours.

^{Ben Stokes has decided to take an indefinite break from cricket}

ECB chief executive Tom Harrison has appealed to his Australian counterparts to ease their hardline stance - highlighting the sacrifices made to accommodate India's players and families this summer - but believes the tour will go ahead. 

"All the right conversations are happening at government level in Australia and we will be using diplomatic channels in the UK to ensure the view of the players, who are not asking for anything unreasonable are given some leniency towards," said Harrison in a rare written media round table.

"It is important we give the comfort to players that their families are set to be in Australia and the conditions their quarantine will be reasonable and enable all the players to be at their best for the Test series. 

"I expect that conversations will take place over the next few weeks. We won't have an answer over what is happening by the end of this Test (vs India at Lord's), for example. But I am confident that we can get to a place where we can fulfil our obligation to tour. 

He added: "Australia have a certain perspective on how they're dealing with this. That is a concern given the 18 months our players have been through. 

"We have raised those concerns and we expect the right conversations to be had over the coming weeks. 

"To get us to a place where we and the players together can get on the flight to Australia knowing that when the families arrive they can have a positive or fulfilling experience when they're in Australia. That is what we're working on."

Such adamance that the five-Test series will go ahead opens up the possibility of an under-strength England heading Down Under, which would undermine the stand-out series on the Test calendar for which domestic TV rights and tickets are already sold.

"The Ashes is so important to global cricket," added Harrison. "Much like an England-India series, and even more so in certain parts of the world for global cricket fans. 

"We don't want to compromise the integrity of the series for any reason. The integrity of the Ashes is going to paramount and Cricket Australia understand this just as well as we do. 

"The issue is the process we need to go through to get the assurances we need to be comfortable that our players can get on a plane to Australia and be confident that they can be at their best without having to cope with the mental weight of being massively concerned about the conditions.

"It is a critically important series to Cricket Australia as it is to us."

Harrison had better news in regard to the ongoing Hundred competition, which is continuing to enjoy substantial interest both on television and live in grounds.

^{Grounds hosting Hundred matches have been healthy but familiar}

In an update on the numbers reported by the ECB at the end of the opening week, more than 11 million people have now watched the tournament on television. Early estimates are that 47 per cent of those are new viewers to the game in 2021.

Additionally, ticket distribution have outstripped pre-tournament targets. More than 90 per cent of the total Covid-impacted capacity, exceeding the 60 per cent which was originally outlined, has been sold or issued.

Among the early observations, the atmosphere around particularly men's matches has mirrored that of the T20 Blast, a particular concern given the family-friendly, inclusive foundations the tournament is supposedly built on.

"The experience of watching cricket at The Hundred need to offer that family entertainment perspective," said Harrison. 

"We have had isolated incidents of anti-social behaviour. That is a response of people coming out of 18 months of restricted living conditions and we've seen some of that in other sports. Police reports are saying anti-social behaviour is on the increase because society is opening up again and sometimes people get that balance wrong.

"We'll be taking further steps over the winter to assess what conditions we're going to put in stadia for next year to guarantee that the family experience doesn't flip into something less enjoyable for people who are enjoying the cricket and the spectacle."