This time last month touring life seemed a much more enjoyable prospect for Ireland’s cricketers. They were preparing for a series against the USA in Florida, but instead of the usual strict bio-secure bubbles, a ‘managed environment’ was to be introduced.
Outdoor restaurants, trips to the Florida beach and interaction with family members were all allowed. By no means a jolly (especially since family members paid for their own flights), but it seemed a better prospect than Christmas at home in a cold Ireland that was staring into a demoralising Omicron wave.
The end of the tour was a similar story to countless other recent sporting occasions. Cases in the families, support staff and the USA camp led to isolation periods and the cancellation of the final three matches. Now it’s back to a strict bubble for the next series against the West Indies, starting on Saturday at 2.30pm Irish time.
George Dockrell tested positive before flying out to America. Between that, the Covid scare in Florida and entry into Jamaica, he is one of a handful of Irish players who have recently spent a lot of time stuck in a hotel room. Given a brief taste of somewhat normal touring life in Florida, he still believes that managed environments are the way to go in future over strict bubbles, despite the Covid mishaps.
“It’s been a pretty unique month,” admits the 29-year-old from Dublin. “I and a few others have had a frustrating time, testing positive six days before leaving for the tour. Then when I got out to the US, British Airways lost my bags for four days.
“It’s been one of the more challenging trips in terms of the quantity of time spent in a room by yourself and a lot of that builds up over the year of bubbles. I wouldn’t be the only one to say it’s quite a challenge.
“We understand that the US was a managed environment because of that, they’re trying to find ways to alleviate some of the pressures of being in the bubbles. It’s unfortunate that that’s coincided with Omicron and what that’s done across the world, but it is important that more potential is given to that side of things, otherwise you might see a lot of player burn-out.
“It’s not surprising when you have some guys doing 17 days out of 30 in isolation and being away from their families in a room by themselves for Christmas.”
Harry Tector also tested positive before the tour and has made himself all too familiar with a lonely hotel room. For him, the method of managing tours comes down to an issue of priorities; that of player welfare versus governing bodies missing out on cash that comes from staging games. Has Omicron wrecked the possibility of more relaxed managed environments?
“There are budgets and people need to make money off series,” says Tector. “Cricket has to happen, whether you bubble it up or not is above our head. The managed environment was great but the new variant wrecked it with how quickly it spread.
“At the start of the trip we were told what was or wasn’t allowed and we never breached that or went beyond those boundaries.
“It’s really disappointing, I was desperate to play, but I think going forward we’ve got to do those managed environments.
The decision for governing bodies appears to be cash or making life more comfortable for players? We know what the cynical answer would be.
On the pitch, both Dockrell and Tector find themselves short of international game time since the World Cup – neither featured in the two USA T20s that did take place. Tector was dropped from the T20 squad after the World Cup, the selectors telling him that they were looking for more boundary hitting in the middle-overs.
Back in the ODI squad now in the Caribbean, he won’t be letting that disappointment change his approach in a format in which he feels more settled.
“I won’t be changing the way I try and go about it. I won’t suddenly go out and try and hit my first ball for six just because they said they need boundary hitters in T20 cricket.
“In one-day cricket I know where I’m strong and how to protect a slightly weaker part of my game. Over the last six months I’ve become clear as to what I’m trying to do.”
Dockrell did not feature in the T20 World Cup and has yet to nail down a specific role since becoming a specialist batter last year. Regardless, he certainly put his hand up for a return to the side with his knock of 82 in a warm-up defeat against the Jamaica Scorpions.
“I’ve done a couple of different roles from batting in that top five, being more of an anchor to then coming in at six or seven later in the innings and trying to add a little bit of impetus.
“I do think it’s a little bit more in that five/six/seven region that we’re trying to work things out. We’ve got three or four guys fighting for those slots, which is a good thing and I’ll be working towards them.”
