The Big Bash League has suffered a major blow as the England and Wales Cricket Board has asked West Indies-bound players in the BBL to head home and isolate ahead of their tour of the Caribbean, starting January 2022 amid growing Covid-19 concerns.

The ongoing edition of the BBL, which runs until January 28, has been rocked by Covid-19 cases. Melbourne Stars, led by Glenn Maxwell, have been one of the worst-hit sides by the outbreak in the league as they saw as many as 10 players and 8 members of the support staff test positive for the virus last week. However, their match against Perth Scorchers on Sunday is set to go ahead as Cricket Australia is keen to keep the show running.

As it turns out, the ECB doesn’t want to take any risk and put the West Indies tour in danger as they have asked England stars to return home by January 7.

The likes of Saqib Mahmood, Sam Billings, James Vince, Reece Topley, Tymal Mills and George Carton have ben asked to return.

Mahmood and Billings were picked by the Sydney Thunder to play the BBL game on Sunday while Chris Jordan has already left home, according to the Cricketer.

Billings has been in fine form for the Thunder, hitting 265 runs in 8 matches at a strike rate of close to 150.

England are scheduled to play 5 T20Is in West Indies from January 22 to 30 before a 3-Test series. Eoin Morgan will lead a side that was announced by England last month.

Meanwhile, the England touring party in Australia for the Ashes has also been hit by Covid-19 as their head coach Chris Silverwood tested positive for the virus. He will miss the 4th Test, starting January 5 in Sydney along with 3 other members of the support staff who are also in isolation.