Australian Test captain Tim Paine has bluntly rejected any concerns from both current and former England players on whether or not the Ashes series will take place as planned this summer.
“The Ashes are going ahead, the first Test is on December 8 whether Joe’s here or not, to be honest with you,” he said on SEN.
“They all want to come, there’s no doubt about that. They’re trying to get themselves the best possible conditions that they can get, but at the end of the day we all are.
“We don’t want to give them poor conditions because we’re going to be in the same boat as them.”
The skipper said the governing bodies would work out all the details, and the choice was simple: you either make the trip or you don’t.
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“I don’t care who comes, I really don’t. I hope their best team comes,” Paine said.
Attention then turned to former great Kevin Pietersen, who recently said that players were done with travel bubbles.
“If you want to know anything on any topic in the world, you just ask Kevin Pietersen. He is an expert on everything,” Paine said sarcastically.
“The great thing about it though, if anyone is talking to Kevin, is no one is forcing you to come. No one is forcing any England player to come – that’s the beauty of the world we live in, you have a choice.
“If you don’t want to come, don’t come.”
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Paine’s comments came in response to Root saying he was “desperate” to be a part of the series, but that he and the rest of the team would seek clarity on the travel and quarantine situations should they head down under.
“It’s one of those things, we just have to be patient, we have to wait until we know what’s happening,” Root said.
England will almost certainly be without the services of both their world class all-rounders Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali, the former a long shot to travel for the series, and the latter announcing his retirement from Test cricket earlier this week.
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