Saturday 2 May 2020 18:56, UK
Seamer James Anderson says he and his England team-mates would not be comfortable returning to playing cricket if it means taking coronavirus tests away from key workers.
All professional cricket is postponed in England and Wales until July 1 at the earliest due to the pandemic, while the launch of The Hundred has been put back until 2021.
When cricket does return it may do so behind closed doors in biosecure environments at grounds that have hotels - like Hampshire's Ageas Bowl and Anderson's home county ground, Old Trafford.
But anyone at the location - including players, groundstaff, broadcasters and caterers - would need to be tested for COVID-19 and Anderson told The Cricket Show on Sky Sports that doing so presents a moral issue.
"Over the coming weeks we'll have more chats as players and the ECB in general," said England's leading Test wicket-taker of all time.
"I'm sure they are being guided by the government on what we can and can't do, and what the likelihood is of us actually getting some cricket in.
"As players we definitely wouldn't be comfortable if that was the case - there's still a serious situation in the UK and we're taking tests away from people who actually need them in vital areas.
"So I wouldn't like to see anything like that and I also think that as much as everyone wants to get back to playing cricket and watching cricket, which would be fantastic, every sort of stone has got to be unturned in terms of 'is it the right thing to do morally' and the obvious safety issues that there could still be about this virus still being around."
Anderson agreed one of the prime fears would be contracting coronavirus at the ground without showing symptoms, then going home and passing it onto his family.
"Of course that would be a worry," he said. "We're talking about how many times would we have to be tested during a match? Would it be every two or three days - not just in a match but leading up to it? And how long are we together in this bio-secure environment before and after the games?
"So there's lots to be talked about and I'm sure there are lots of meetings going on with people who are better skilled than I am to talk about it.
"We'll just have to wait and see; there's still a lot up in the air. We're still on lockdown. We can't get out and practice. Until we can do that, I'm just going to stay focused on looking after my family and trying to get through this next few weeks or however long it might be."
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