BBL 2021-22: ECB asks England's white-ball cricketers picked for WI tour to come back home

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has instructed its players to leave the Big Bash League (BBL) tournament quickly. This decision has been taken due to the increasing number of cases in Australia.

England are also slated to take on the West Indies later this month in a five-match T20I series, starting from 22nd January 2022. All those players who have been picked in the England squad for the series should leave to the United Kingdom (UK) by 7th January 2022.

The players who are a part of the England squad and are participating in the Big Bash League (BBL) are Saqib Mahmood, Reece Topley, George Garton, Sam Billings and James Vince while pacer Chris Jordan has departed to the UK.

Melbourne Stars have been ravaged by Covid-19

The Melbourne Stars camp has been ravaged by Covid-19. As many as 10 players in their side have been infected with Covid-19. Former Aussie cricket legend Brett Lee said that it is ‘hard’ for the BBL when these quality England players leave their respective sides. Lee also added that if Covid-19 had not spread so quickly, then the players would have been available for more matches in the BBL.

“They’re six quality players, too. They’re obviously thinking about their next tour, but it’s hard for the BBL. I think it’s more so the fact they’ve brought that forward a lot quicker than they would have if Covid hadn’t struck,” said Brett Lee in a chat with Fox Cricket.

Here is the complete England squad for the West Indies tour

Eoin Morgan (C), Moeen Ali, Tom Banton, Sam Billings, Liam Dawson, George Garton, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Tymal Mills, David Payne, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, James Vince