Most cricketers are not used to being stuck inside twiddling their thumbs – but it turns out that Liam Plunkett’s experience of franchise cricket has proved to be perfect preparation for life in lockdown.
England’s World Cup winning fast bowler should be in London with his Surrey colleagues as the start of the season approaches.
Instead, like pretty much every cricketer across the world, he’s in cold storage back home in Yorkshire, combining his studies for a personal trainer qualification with rides through countryside that, not too long ago, hosted the Tour de France.
With Great Britain, like the rest of the world, preparing itself for a marathon, not a sprint, Plunkett may have churned out a considerable number of miles by the time he ditches the bike and starts bowling again.
“Who knows how long this is going to last,” he says. “It’s a crazy situation but you just have to get on with it.
“As a cricketer, though, isolation is nothing new. Obviously, this is very different for a lot of people but when you’re playing in Twenty20 tournaments around the world you do spend a lot of time alone in your hotel room.
“You have a lot of time to fill because outside of training and playing matches, you’re on your own an awful lot. You have to develop some kind of routine. I’m trying to map it out every day.
“I’ll train in the morning, study for two hours, read for an hour and then train in the evening.
“It is what it is. You can’t do anything about it. Everyone is in the same boat.”
It’s certainly a far cry from England’s all-action displays at last summer’s World Cup – performances that had the 35-year-old assume centre-stage with the ball.
The Surrey quick – who made his England debut as far back as 2005 – took 11 wickets as Eoin Morgan’s side lifted a one-day world title for the first time, ending a 44-year World Cup drought.
Given those statistics, Plunkett could have reasonably expected to find himself as part of England plans moving forward.
Instead, he was ruthlessly dumped. Hardly the vote of thanks he was hoping for after playing a key role in England’s 50 over renaissance in the four years between their 2015 debacle and their 2019 rebirth.
If he was angry when he was first ejected from the side, the current international health crisis has helped him develop a fresh perspective.
“Cricket doesn’t seem that important when you compare it against everything that’s happening at the moment,” he says.
“Some people are going to take a massive hit, lives are going to be lost and it’s going to be a very, very sad time for this country.
“The frightening thing is the unknown and I think people have to stay positive.
“That can be easier said than done. You can stay positive for a couple of weeks but this may drag out longer, so people need to be wary of that and check in with their friends and family.
“You need someone out there to be that positive person.”
Plunkett was certainly a positive influence on that England dressing room last summer, with his quick bowling and no-nonsense lower order hitting helping to put a smile on the face of the nation.
Quite when any English cricket will get to do the same again is anyone’s guess.
Plunkett, meanwhile, is looking forward to returning to Surrey when the situation abates – and working with some of the brightest young players in world of cricket in the form of Ollie Pope and Sam Curran.
“You need to be on your A game just to get a game for that team,” he says. “The England team this winter was pretty much the Surrey academy side from a few years ago! You know you have to perform to keep your place in that side and that’s what I want in the twilight of my career.
“You want to be pushed and you want to be tested.”
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
MATCH INFO
Tottenham Hotspur 0 Everton 1 (Calvert-Lewin 55')
Man of the Match Allan (Everton)
How does ToTok work?
The calling app is available to download on Google Play and Apple App Store
To successfully install ToTok, users are asked to enter their phone number and then create a nickname.
The app then gives users the option add their existing phone contacts, allowing them to immediately contact people also using the application by video or voice call or via message.
Users can also invite other contacts to download ToTok to allow them to make contact through the app.
Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
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Points about the fast fashion industry Celine Hajjar wants everyone to know
- Fast fashion is responsible for up to 10 per cent of global carbon emissions
- Fast fashion is responsible for 24 per cent of the world's insecticides
- Synthetic fibres that make up the average garment can take hundreds of years to biodegrade
- Fast fashion labour workers make 80 per cent less than the required salary to live
- 27 million fast fashion workers worldwide suffer from work-related illnesses and diseases
- Hundreds of thousands of fast fashion labourers work without rights or protection and 80 per cent of them are women
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Countries recognising Palestine
France, UK, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Belgium, Malta, Luxembourg, San Marino and Andorra
Ways to control drones
Countries have been coming up with ways to restrict and monitor the use of non-commercial drones to keep them from trespassing on controlled areas such as airports.
"Drones vary in size and some can be as big as a small city car - so imagine the impact of one hitting an airplane. It's a huge risk, especially when commercial airliners are not designed to make or take sudden evasive manoeuvres like drones can" says Saj Ahmed, chief analyst at London-based StrategicAero Research.
New measures have now been taken to monitor drone activity, Geo-fencing technology is one.
It's a method designed to prevent drones from drifting into banned areas. The technology uses GPS location signals to stop its machines flying close to airports and other restricted zones.
The European commission has recently announced a blueprint to make drone use in low-level airspace safe, secure and environmentally friendly. This process is called “U-Space” – it covers altitudes of up to 150 metres. It is also noteworthy that that UK Civil Aviation Authority recommends drones to be flown at no higher than 400ft. “U-Space” technology will be governed by a system similar to air traffic control management, which will be automated using tools like geo-fencing.
The UAE has drawn serious measures to ensure users register their devices under strict new laws. Authorities have urged that users must obtain approval in advance before flying the drones, non registered drone use in Dubai will result in a fine of up to twenty thousand dirhams under a new resolution approved by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai.
Mr Ahmad suggest that "Hefty fines running into hundreds of thousands of dollars need to compensate for the cost of airport disruption and flight diversions to lengthy jail spells, confiscation of travel rights and use of drones for a lengthy period" must be enforced in order to reduce airport intrusion.
