The upcoming Ashes is in doldrums after the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) virtually backed its players’ concerns about strict quarantine rules in Australia and said that it will decide this week whether the proposed arrangements Down Under are sufficient for the tour to go ahead.

The ECB statement comes at a time when voices are on the rise against Australia’s stand on quarantine measures for the tour.

“With health and well-being at the forefront, our focus is to ensure the tour can go ahead with conditions for players and management to perform at their best,” the ECB said in a statement on Monday. “Later this week the ECB Board will meet to decide whether the conditions in place are sufficient for the Tour to go ahead and enable the selection of a squad befitting a series of this significance.”

Former England captain Nasser Hussain has criticised Australia’s lack of empathy for England’s players.

“England have played 18 Test matches since the start of the pandemic in March 2020,” Hussain wrote in his Daily Mail column.

“That’s five more than anyone else — and 14 more than Australia, whose four Tests all came at home against India last winter.

“I’m quite proud of the way in which England’s Test team have kept the show on the road in difficult circumstances.

“It’s draining. Mental health has suffered. So for people in Australia to start lecturing them, and telling them they should simply suck it up, is a bit rich.

Former England skipper Nasser Hussain

“Unless you’ve spent time in a bubble — and some of these guys have done it repeatedly — you don’t get to lecture other people on how they should behave,” wrote Hussain.

England assistant coach Paul Collingwood recently took to Instagram to sum up the dilemma. “I love my job and I’m so excited for the winter of cricket ahead but saying goodbye to your daughters for potentially 3 months is not easy, no matter how tough you feel you are. We all make sacrifices in life.”

England are scheduled to play the first of five Tests against Tim Paine’s team at the Gabba in Brisbane from December 8.

While Cricket Australia has been negotiating with authorities and ECB over travel conditions, the tour, at the moment, is surely on a slippery pitch. “If the last 18 months have taught us anything, surely it’s the importance of empathy,” Hussain said in his column. One assumes that’s exactly what England expect from their hosts during a tour that coincides with the Christmas and New Year celebrations.