Restarting game should not compromise its quality, says Joe Root

England Test captain Joe Root is keen to play international cricket this summer but not by compromising on quality of the game or its intensity, the 29-year-old has said.

With professional cricket suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is considering playing the series against West Indies and Pakistan behind closed doors.

“If the game is compromised, it shouldn’t be going ahead,” Root told Sky Sports.

“The game itself, the intensity it is played at - if you can’t play Test cricket at its absolute best we shouldn’t play it. It’s not a fair reflection of the sport.”

Root, like any professional cricketer, longed for international cricket but stressed public health was paramount.

“The guys are all missing playing and desperate to get back out there but safety is paramount for everyone involved. As soon as that is compromised, this can’t happen,” he said.

According to a Guardian report here ECB's plans to play in 'bio-secure' venues could keep the players away from their families for up to nine weeks.

Root has said he is "very optimistic" Test cricket will take place in his side's 2020 home season even if that means the squad have to go into more than two months' of quarantine.

In a bid to salvage the most lucrative matches following a warning from England and Wales cricket Board (ECB) chief executive Tom Harrison that a totally wiped out season could cost the board £380 million ($469 million, some reports have suggested an expanded squad of up to 30 could remain in camp for as long as nine weeks, with Tests played behind closed doors.

Root said as long as the British government relaxed lockdown rules sufficiently to let the matches go ahead some international matches could yet be salvaged from an otherwise possibly barren campaign.

"I'm very optimistic, hopefully that can be the case and it would be a real shame if it wasn't," he told the cricket show on Sky Sports on Thursday.

"I think a number of people are desperate to see live sport back on telly (television) and the guys are all very much missing playing and would love to get back out there."

Fast bowler Mark Wood said most players were fine with the idea after their chat with director of cricket Ashley Giles and the chief medical officer Nick Pierce.

“We trust what Ashley and the doctor are saying and if an environment is set up where it works then I think most players would trust that,” Wood said in a video conference.

“We are all willing as long as the environment and everybody - people working at the ground, management, cameramen - is safe.

“Everyone is desperate to get going and it would be good to get out there but the bigger picture is what is going on the front line,” added the 30-year-old.

Meanwhile, England all-rounder Moeen Ali feels he can play at the highest level for 2-3 more years and that is why he wants to play as much as possible. Moeen hasn't featured for England in the longest format since being dropped from the second Ashes Test last year.

Moeen has now expressed his desire to play all three formats for 'The Three Lions' considering he doesn't have too much time left on the international arena.

"Since the whole pandemic thing I want to play as much as I can," Moeen said during a Doosra podcast.

"Cricket at the highest level will probably finish for me in two or three years.

"I want to make the most of it and play as much as I can. I only did it (stepping away from international cricket) for a bit of a break, and I've had that now."

Moeen also spoke about being part of the England team that lifted the ICC World Cup last year. He gave an insight into the minds of players who were under immense pressure to end their trophy drought in front of home support.

"It was an amazing time," Moeen said about England historic victory last year.

"I think the whole emotion of four years build up to it and so much went into it... so much pressure for us to win it at home.

"It took us couple of seconds to think we have won the game (final). I wasn't playing the game but it didn't feel like I wasn't playing.

"I can't describe the feeling but just to see all the guys celebrating and to be part of that journey was simply unbelievable," he said.

Agencies