Former captain Nasser Hussain believes the real challenge for the England and West Indies teams when they face each other in the three-Test series will be “training their brain” not to shine the ball or mass celebrate wickets.
The three-match series between England and West Indies will begin on July 8, subject to approval from UK government. The matches in the series will be played behind closed doors and could also see the implementation of saliva ban put in place to stop the transmission of novel coronavirus.
“Some of the stuff they have trained their brain for 10 years to do, shining a cricket ball, celebrating a wicket, will be the difficult thing for them,” Hussain told Sky Sports News.
“They are used to putting saliva on a cricket ball and can’t do that anymore, so they will have to re-train the brain,” he added.
According to the former England captain, players of both the teams are unlikely to be too negatively affected by having no fans in attendance.
“There will be a slight effect but a lot of these players would have played in venues where there aren’t any crowds in England domestically and they have been to the UAE (to play Pakistan) where there is not much of a crowd,” said the 52-year-old.
“And, I’m afraid, unless England are in town and hoards of fans go over, West Indies at times play in front of low crowds. It’s not ideal but they have no other choice. They will have to create their own atmosphere,” he added.
Earlier, pacer James Anderson had said that his teammates will have to motivate each other when cricket resumes in front of empty stands.
The first Test of the series will be played at the Ageas Bowl from July 8, followed by two Tests at Old Trafford from July 16 and July 24 respectively.