'Last year was terrible' - Tom Curran reveals gruesome bio-bubble experience in England, hails 'lot better' BBL bubble

England all-rounder Tom Curran has revealed what the team members went through in quarantine last year. Curran, who is currently representing Sydney Sixers in the Big Bash League (BBL) in Australia, was one of the players who had pulled out of the previous edition of the league, having spent nearly half a year inside bio-secure environments.

Curran is now participating in the league when the norms have been relaxed but are far from over. The all-rounder, however, is breathing a sigh of relief that at least the players need not be in a hard bubble like before when they were not allowed to step out even momentarily out of their rooms or meet with anyone from the outside world at all.

“For starters, it is different to how it was last year. Our bubble in England last year involved literally staying at the ground. We were moving between the Old Trafford Stadium which looks out onto the ground and the Southampton Ageas Bowl hotel which also looks out onto the ground,” Curran, who has played 155 T20I games across leagues with 1,145 runs and 182 wickets against his name, said in a press conference organized by Sony recently.

“That’s literally months of opening up your curtains in the morning and watching the grass being cut and the wickets being rolled. That’s the sort of bubble I am talking about; that was terrible. After months of that, it got real hard, and that sort of led to me pulling out last year,” elaborated Curran.

Adding on how the current bubble is different and a “lot better” than the ones he spent most of his time in last year, Curran said: “This year, it is similar to how it was in the summer for us in England; you’re living safer living environment and it’s the same for BBL.

It’s not a hard bubble where you’re locked in the hotel. The world is in a different place at the minute and we’ve got a bit more freedom than the actual strict bubble. We’re all adapting fine. It’s not ideal. It’s just great to be back here in Australia, playing in the BBL and playing cricket again. It’s a lot better than it was last year.”