With their international commitments postponed indefinitely, Joe Root and Heather Knight, the captains of England’s men’s and women’s teams respectively, along with their teammates, are following customised ‘home training’ packages from the ECB, in a bid to stay fit during isolation.

After their Test series against Sri Lanka got canned, Root and team returned home to the ECB training programmes, tailor-made for each member. “I’m an active person anyway, with my young son keeping me busy,” Root was quoted as saying by AFP, “but having a structured plan will help me improve in certain areas.”

There will be no professional cricket played in England until at least May 28.https://t.co/dJirxDoK1H

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“While it has been good to get some downtime after our return from Sri Lanka, keeping my fitness up is really important so I can be at the top of my game when we get back on the field.”

The idea behind the individualised programmes is to ensure that the cricketers don’t have to start from scratch, whenever the season, currently facing a seven-week delay, is good to begin. The home packages, for both Root’s and Knight’s teams, include equipment such as ropes, resistance bands, medicine ball and a kettle ball.

Knight, whose team endured a heart-breaking exit from the Women’s T20 World Cup owing to a rained-off semi-final, insisted that keeping fit in the enforced off-season is ‘a new challenge’.

“We’ll all just be doing what we can to maintain our levels and, hopefully, be as ready as we can when we get back playing, whenever that comes.

“It’s obviously not ideal, but it’s a great way of trying to stay in shape and keep ticking over.”