MELBOURNE – British prime minister Boris Johnson asked his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison to ease strict quarantine rules to allow the families of England’s cricketers to tour with the players during the upcoming Ashes series.
England players are seeking assurances their family members will be allowed to join them in Australia during the five-Test series between December and January.
Australia’s borders are effectively shut to control COVID-19, with caps on international arrivals and limited places available in the country’s mandatory hotel quarantine regime.
Johnson said he discussed the Ashes with Morrison this week in Washington when the pair met for dinner.
“I raised it and he said he was going to do his best for the families,” Johnson told reporters in Washington.
“He totally got the point that for cricketers it is very tough to ask people to be away from their families over Christmas.
“He merely undertook to come back and see if he could find a solution.”
Morrison said he thought there would be no need for “special deals” allowing the families of players to accompany them.
“I’d love to see the Ashes go ahead, as I shared with Boris,” Morrison told reporters. “But there are no special deals there, because what we’re looking to have is vaccinated people being able to travel.”
Australia plans to ease border and quarantine restrictions by the end of 2021, when at least 80 per cent of adults are expected to have received two COVID-19 vaccination shots.
(Reuters)
