London, June 16 (IANS) England all-rounder Chris Jordan hailed the West Indies cricket team for agreeing to come to England for their three-Test series, starting July 8, in the wake of coronavirus pandemic.
The series will mark the resumption of the sport which was suspended in March as a precautionary measure against the spread of the virus.
Jordan also lauded the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for being able to pull-off this historic series amid such uncertain times.
“Obviously those talks must have gone on for a few months and I guess the bottom line is that I’m just happy that agreement was reached and that they took the steps to even come here,” Jordan told Sky Sports.
“A lot of guys might have had concerns and raised a lot of questions around coming to England but that’s credit to the ECB and all of the medical staff at the ECB for obviously relaying the correct information and being very thorough and basically painting a vivid picture for them of what life would look like here for them.”
Jordan believes that players’ desire to get back on the field trumped their apprehension regarding playing in such unprecedented times. He also hoped for an exciting series considering the number of viewers around the world.
“I guess that all of the guys who came were willing to accept that in terms of having to isolate and probably being as not as free as they normally do when they come on English tours.”
“But I guess just like everyone else they just want to get back out there and play cricket and they obviously saw it as an opportunity to do so and we must be very grateful for that and hopefully both teams can put on a great show because I’m sure the whole world will be watching.”
West Indies had famously beaten England during the previous series between the two sides that was played in the Carribbean Islands. A draw in the series would be enough for them to retain the Wisden Trophy.
The first Test of the much-anticipated series will be played on July 8 at the Ageas Bowl, followed by two Tests at Old Trafford on July 16 and July 24.
–IANS
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