Amar Virdi, the Surrey off-spinner, and Ollie Robinson, the Sussex seamer, are reportedly among the 18 England bowlers set to begin individual, socially-distanced nets training from Thursday, ahead of the international summer.

The ECB is hoping to stage six biosecure Tests against West Indies and Pakistan behind closed doors, provided they get government clearance, from July 8. According to the Guardian, the bowlers will be the first to return to training, at seven venues across the country – Chester-le-Street, Edgbaston, Hove, Old Trafford, Taunton, The Oval and Trent Bridge.

Among those 18 are Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad, Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes, as well as the uncapped duo of Virdi and Robinson. The report suggests their sessions will feel very different from usual net practice.

There will be temperature checks at the very start, and one-on-one sessions with a coach or a physio will require all parties to be physically distanced. The players will be given individual sets of cricket balls as well, and they will not be permitted to use sweat or saliva on them. They will also be required to wipe down the equipment they use with disinfectant once they’re done.

England’s batsmen and wicketkeepers are set to return to practice from June 1, in the second phase of the plan to ease back into international cricket.