Chris Woakes has admitted that the England team cannot be “exempt” from the cost-cutting measures that the ECB have been forced to execute, after extending his sympathies to the 62 board employees who have missing their jobs because of the financial affect of the the Covid-19 pandemic.
On the other hand, speaking on the eve of the last international fixture of the summer, Woakes added it was once too soon to speculate on how the pandemic would affect on the next round of ECB central contracts, which are up for renewal at the start of October.
Instead, he reiterated just how important it had been that West Indies, Ireland, Pakistan and Australia all agreed to tour to prevent the board’s financial losses from being even worse.
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“It’s incredibly sad news, in point of fact,” Woakes said, after it was once confirmed that the ECB would be reducing its workforce by 20 percent, in a tender to mitigate projected losses of £200 million whether Covid continues to disrupt the sport in 2021.
“There’s a large number of people in the back of the scenes at the ECB who work incredibly tough, important cogs in the wheel,” Woakes added. “In the current climate, these sort of things are bound to happen in cricket, and in all sports all over the world.
“Of class lesson it is a sad time, and it does resonate with the players, but we’re also very lucky that cricket has gone ahead this summer, [because] that figure of £200 million could have been a lot worse. I imagine that’s the only positive outcome, in point of fact.
Victory over Australia in the third and last ODI would total England’s unbeaten record in international series across formats this summer, and defend a perfect record in bilateral ODI series at home that dates back to 2015 and the start of their emergence as a force in white-ball cricket.
But more importantly, the mere fact that the fixture is taking place means that England’s men will have completed their full roster of 18 international fixtures for 2020, an achievement that seemed unthinkable back in April, when the ECB projected worst-case losses of £380 million whether the full season had been wiped out.
“The truth that we in reality got some cricket on this summer is just a bonus,” Woakes said. “At one point it didn’t appear to be there’d be a ball bowled, so credit to everyone who made that happen.”
West Indies and Pakistan, in specific, went to extreme lengths to make the Test leg of the summer, happen, with every team spending two months in lockdown to total series that were worth in excess of £120 million to the ECB’s coffers. Ireland and Australia’s visits have been less extreme, but undeniably valuable in the current climate.
“We thank them greatly, in point of fact,” Woakes said. “They took the effort to encounter when no-one in point of fact knew what cricket was once going to appear to be in a bubble. We’re in point of fact thankful because getting cricket on our shores has been in point of fact important.”
But the England players themselves have had to play their part in arduous circumstances. Speaking on Monday, Jofra Archer told of the mental toll that life in the England bubble had taken on him, after 87 days in the bio-secure surroundings, the longest of any of the players. And Woakes agreed that it had been a challenge over and above the standard touring way of life.
Woakes’s comeback spell sparked England’s win in the 2nd ODI Pool/AFP via Getty Images
“There’s been times when it’s been brilliant, especially if you find yourself performing polite and we’re winning. And there’s times when it is not gone rather so polite, and when you’ve got a poor day, it’s tough to receive absent from. You’re constantly having a look at the pitch, which will also be hard at times, and you’re obviously absent from family and friends, which also makes it tough.
“So there’s definitely periods where you wish it’s worthwhile to get absent from the game and get back home and see family and friends, but I think we’ve all stuck to the task in point of fact polite. It’d be nice for us to finish on a high, but I think everyone has done a great job.”
In peculiar circumstances, such over-and-above efforts might qualify England’s players for hardship bonuses, fairly than the prospect of pay cuts. But, with the Team England Player Partnership group beginning their negotiations for 2020-21, and with the top multi-format men’s players earning near to £1 million before bonuses, Woakes was once realistic approximately the prospect of further financial sacrifice.
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“This can be a situation where we have to take a seat down as players and see what happens in relation to these contracts coming up,” he said. “We will realize more in the following couple of weeks. We will reassess at that point.
“At this moment of time, it is tough for me to say ‘we are going to take X cuts, and there are going to be donations here, left correct and centre’. Until we’ve seen what happens from above we’re going to then get more of a feel for it. I certainly wouldn’t rule that out.”
As Woakes pointed out, the England players have already made a voluntary contribution to the cause, donating a combined sum of £500,000 back in April when the pandemic’s affect was once first felt.
“That hasn’t in point of fact been discussed since and we have not been spoken to by the hierarchy of the ECB,” he added. “In the current climate, with contracts around the corner, you need to expect anything. We need to wait and see. as players, you’ll’t say we’re exempt from it.”
In the meanwhile, on the other hand, there is a series to be won on the field against Australia.
“The surroundings that we’re in certainly has had its hard times,” Woakes said. “But the team has pulled together and played some in point of fact good cricket, and that’s the reason obviously an important object for us when we’re in the market, performing in addition to we will. And we’ve certainly done that, which has been brilliant.”