Justin Langer, the Australia head coach, has urged his players to make sacrifices for the greater good of the game as they prepare for the limited-overs tour to England.

Australia are scheduled to play a three-T20I and a three-ODI series against England, starting with the shorter format on September 4. After the ODI series ends on September 16, some of their players will leave for the UAE to feature in the Indian Premier League, which will be followed by the Australian cricket summer.

Langer warned that, with bio-secure restrictions in place, players will have to stay away from their families for long durations. Some might even “have to miss some international cricket so they can spend some time seeing families”. It’s the sort of sacrifice he wants his players to make for the greater good of the game worldwide as cricket slowly returns after losing a good chunk of the year to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We might not be able to see our families, because we need to keep the show on the road,” he told reporters. “Some of our best players might have to miss some international cricket so they can spend some time seeing families. Those are some of the compromises we might be looking at; we are aware and work through it as they come up.

“We know it’s not going to be like it has always been. If we can just accept that and all work together then we’ll get the best outcomes. What is so crucial is we get the men’s internationals up and running, the Big Bash, some of the women’s internationals and Women’s Big Bash up and running. They are crucial for the health of our game, so we’ve got to work together; there is going to be some compromises made. There has to be and if we do that then we will all benefit.”

“That’s going to be something that’s going to be a real issue, it’s going to be something to monitor heavily.”https://t.co/Z7lsnRZw9L

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) August 18, 2020

Langer further added that the administration will make sure of the well being of the players with them having to spend an extended period of time away from home.

“We’ll keep an eye on how the boys are travelling with the England tour then, the IPL, the quarantine then the summer kicking off,” he said. “It’s certainly something we’re aware of. The guys are going to already spend a lot of time away from home but we’re going to make sure we manage it really well.

“We’ve got to make some sacrifices for the greater good of the game of cricket in Australia but also the game worldwide. We’ve got to make sacrifices to make sure people get to see the Australian cricket team play again.”