Shifting England Test series to West Indies labelled 'unrealistic' by Windies chief

Cricket West Indies head Johnny Grave says it's 'unrealistic' to switch the venue of their upcoming Test series to the Caribbean from host nation England.

The two countries were set to play a three-Test series early in June beginning at The Oval. However, due to the current pandemic caused by COVID-19, all forms of cricket have been suspended for the immediate future and this series is also in jeopardy, given that there are no guarantees of the situation getting any better.

The ECB are set to have a meeting with the future of the English cricket season being the main agenda. The defending World Cup champions were supposed to play Sri Lanka in the subcontinent but the series was suspended last week as a precautionary measure.

Skipper Joe Root branded this decision a 'relief' as the Englishman admitted that the players were distracted thinking of their families in the UK. The players have returned to their home country since the suspension of the series.

Speaking on a potential change of venue ahead of the Test series, Grave said,

"I have not had any discussions with England over whether we can host. It would be strange that England can't have cricket but the Caribbean can."

Grave added, saying,

"Realistically, without knowing anything about pandemics, if England can't hold cricket then it almost certainly means the rest of the world can't hold cricket either. I think it is an unrealistic option."

The West Indies chief also confirmed that he has been in contact with the ECB about the developments ahead of the series in June. He has also reassured them about being as flexible as possible for the series to be held.

"I have been in contact with [England and Wales Cricket board chief executive] Tom Harrison a few times over the last week."

"The only discussions we have had are, in principle, having flexibility over warm-up games, when the series would start and how many rest days [there would be].