County cricketers left frustrated due to COVID-19, says Buttler

England wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler said that it is in periods like these that cricketers realise how lucky they are to play the game.

Cricket, like almost every other major sport in the world, has been under a near total shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic and all future tournaments, including the 2020 Indian Premier League (IPL) and the 2020 T20 World Cup, are under a cloud of uncertainty.

“A lot of the times because of the schedule you get so busy and sadly, you sort of think, ‘When is the next break. I could do with some time away.’ Now we have this enforced break and we all realise how lucky we are to play,” Buttler told his Rajasthan Royals teammate Ish Sodhi in a video chat hosted on the team’s Facebook page.

Buttler last played a full match in February when England played their last T20I in South Africa. He then played a tour match in Sri Lanka on March 12 before England’s tour of the country was called off due to the pandemic.

He was supposed to turn out for the Rajasthan Royals after the Test series in Sri Lanka but the IPL was first deferred from March 29 to April 15. It is now set to be further postponed with the Indian government extending the nationwide lockdown till May 3.

“I haven’t picked up a bat for a while now and I was thinking I’d love to got out for a hit. Especially for us in England, our summer is just about to start so all the County cricketers are so frustrated. They have been indoors all winter and were to get going and now they can’t,” he said.

Buttler has contributed in his own way in the fight against coronavirus in the United Kingdom. He auctioned off the jersey he wore in England’s successful 2019 World Cup final against New Zealand and the proceeds went into buying equipment for the Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals located in London.