Australia's Aaron Finch raises concerns about mental health of players in 'bio-secure bubbles'

Australian captain Aaron Finch has expressed his concerns surrounding the mental health of cricketers as they would be playing all the upcoming series and tournaments while staying confined to bio-secure bubble amid COVID-19 pandemic. While raising his concerns, Finch said that the mental health of players will be tested over the next two years with the Australian staff working hard to prepare players for the challenges. 

Finch will lead a 21-man squad for the England tour consisting three T20Is and as many ODIs starting September 4. While the T20Is will be played in Southampton, the ODI series is set to be hosted by Manchester. 

Along with Finch, some of the high profile names in the Australian squad will head to the United Arab Emirates for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 before returning to Australia in a bid to prepare for India’s tour.

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However, players movement will be heavily restricted to curb the spread of COVID-19 and that could take a toll on the mental well-being of players. 

“I definitely feel it’s going to be a real issue and a real factor over the next couple of years, in particular,” Finch told reporters in a video call.

“It’s going to be something to monitor heavily. Because it could be a few months that guys are in these bio-bubbles and being stuck in a hotel room by yourself for a couple of weeks on end - or four-five months ... that could be really tough.”

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Finch confirmed that Australia’s sports psychologist Michael Llyod has chalked out plans for players and was talking about recongnising “when things might be a little bit off”. 

The 33-year-old opener added that players were on notice about adhering to biosecurity protocols, a month after England paceman Jofra Archer was sanctioned for a breach during the test series against West Indies.

“We’ve been really strong with the guys in the last couple of weeks .... Because at the end of the day, if that falls over then we’re all out of jobs.”