Australia’s opening batsman David Warner, who is currently plying his trade as the skipper of Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League (IPL), is most likely to miss the Big Bash League (BBL) 2020-21 season.
With the home series against Afghanistan and New Zealand getting postponed, the top Australian International players became available for 2-3 weeks of the latter part of the BBL action, which will start from December this year and go on until February 2021.
Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald, Warner’s manager, James Erskine said that Warner is most likely to spend time with his family after being in the bio-bubble for such a long time due to the COVID-19 playing protocols.
Warner was with the Australian team in England for the limited-overs tour in the latter half of August and came straight to take part in the IPL from there. With India’s tour of Australia scheduled in December-January, the fatigue of staying in the bubble for 5-6 months for the top Aussie stars might come into the picture.
"It's not to do with the money, it's to do with whether he wants to do it," Erskine told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
"I haven't discussed it with him but I would think he's more than likely to spend time with his family than in the BBL. The fact we haven't had the conversation probably tells me he won't, said Erskine.
The Australian players will be subjected to 14 days of quarantine after reaching Australia when they are free off their IPL duties in November.
Meanwhile, it is also understood that Cricket Australia (CA) is exploring the possibility of relaxing the restrictions if the COVID-19 situation improves and allow the players to be with their family outside the bubble when the matches are in their home cities.
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