England will decide this week if their long-awaited Ashes tour to Australia this winter can go ahead.

The famous five-match series is due to start in Brisbane on 8 December but the tour hinges on whether enough England players want to live under coronavirus controls for an extended stay Down Under.

The England playing squad and management have been briefed over the weekend on how the tour will work and players and staff are now weighing up whether they want to join the Ashes tour.

In a statement the England and Wales Cricket Board said: “We remain in regular and positive dialogue with Cricket Australia over these arrangements as the picture is constantly evolving.

“With health and wellbeing at the forefront, our focus is to ensure the tour can go ahead with conditions for players and management to perform at their best.

“Later this week the ECB Board will meet to decide whether the conditions in place are sufficient for the tour to go ahead and enable the selection of a squad befitting a series of this significance.”

The issue of whether families would be able to join any part of the tour, and what rules they would then be expected to follow, is one of the issues that players have been seeking clarification on.

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Australia has taken a hard stance on international arrivals during the pandemic and has only just announced a phased reopening of the border – domestically COVID restrictions also differ from state to state.

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The tour is due to start in Brisbane with further test matches in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth.

Last week, England captain Joe Root said that he would wait for more information before making a final decision.

Australian captain Tim Paine has said it should go ahead regardless of which England players want to make the trip.

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