More concerns about the mental health of cricketers forced to spend weeks on end in bio-secure bubbles have been raised by Tom Banton’s withdrawal from the Big Bash League. It was prompted by Banton spending much of last summer in England’s on-site bubbles at the Ageas Bowl and Emirates Old Trafford before heading to the Indian Premier League and facing similar conditions with Kolkata in the United Arab Emirates. Those players heading to Australia have to spend a 14-day quarantine spell in a hotel room before being allowed to play in the Big Bash after Christmas and it was that which proved a bubble too far for Banton. ‘It has been harder than I thought spending so much time in the hubs and bubbles and I came to the realisation that it wasn’t doing me much good,’ said Banton yesterday. We know he wouldn’t have made a decision like this without a considerable amount of soul-searching.

Source: Daily Mail December 05, 2020 20:04 UTC