Amid BCCI guidelines to reduce time spent with family on long foreign tours, England captain Jos Buttler on Tuesday said that family company is very important on long foreign tours and it does not affect performance much. BCCI has recently issued a ten-point disciplinary policy for players, in which there is a debate on the provision of spending limited time with family during tours.
India’s Test and ODI captain Rohit Sharma has expressed apprehension regarding this. According to the board’s guidelines, players cannot spend more than two weeks with the family on a tour of more than 45 days. Butler said before the five-match T20 series against India, “This is a very heavy question.” He said, “This is important. We live in the modern world and it is very good to have family together on tours.”
He said, “Nowadays, so much cricket is being played and players spend a lot of time outside the house. After Corona, there has been a lot of discussion on this. I do not think that being with the family makes much difference to the game.”
Butler said that the presence of family does not interfere with professional commitments. He said, “Everything can be managed. Personally, I believe that the burden of being away from home can be lightened by staying with the family and this is very important.”
Board changed rules regarding players’ families
Let us tell you, with the defeat in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series on the Australian tour, India’s dream of reaching the final of the World Test Championship was shattered. After this, BCCI took some strict decisions and issued 10-point guidelines. In these rules, some decisions have been taken regarding players not traveling with the family and keeping the family together during any tour or series.
As per BCCI rules, all players are expected to travel with the team for matches and practice sessions. To maintain discipline and team cohesion, separate travel arrangements for players with their families will no longer be encouraged. However, a player will be exempted from this only if the head coach and chairman of the selection committee have given permission for it in advance.
Apart from this, the board has made a rule that if a player stays on a foreign tour for 45 days, then his wife and child below 18 years of age can stay with him for two weeks. During this period, BCCI will only bear the expenses of his stay. After the expiry of the time limit, the player will bear the expenses of his family.
