Joe Root concerned about England cricketers workload if coronavirus causes a fixtures backlog

Joe Root has warned that England must not “overwork” players this winter if a backlog of international cricket caused by coronavirus needs to be squeezed in.

England have already lost two Tests in Sri Lanka to Covid-19, and the three-match series against West Indies in June looks highly likely to be postponed.

After that they are due to face Pakistan in three Tests. But England’s winter is already brutally busy, with a white-ball tour of India, then the T20 World Cup in Australia. After Christmas they play five Tests in India and are due for a white-ball tour of South Africa, but that could be moved to December.

“It would be a very tough winter,” said England captain Root. “It would be a huge amount of workload on some of the players, especially the multi-format ones.

“If it goes ahead that way, we will have to be able to adapt, and look at the size of squads we take over. We will have to make sure guys are not overworked.”

The ECB were this afternoon due to announce a bailout package for counties and clubs suffering financial losses due to coronavirus.