Hard to plan anything, never seen something like this: Finch

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Sydney, March 18 (IANS) Australian captains Tim Paine and Aaron Finch spoke about the coronavirus pandemic and how it has been affecting cricketers in the country. Finch, the limited overs captain of the team, said that Australia's travel advisory issued on Tuesday makes things uncertain for those in the country who have contracts with Indian Premier League (IPL) teams.

The 2020 season of the IPL has been postponed from an April 15 start and Finch, who has been signed up by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) this season said that it is hard to plan anything under the circumstances.

"We've never seen anything like this," Finch told SEN. "That (travel advice) has changed over the last couple of hours. That could change in two weeks or three weeks, it's hard to plan anything. But it's just about making sure everyone around you personally is safe and you're doing everything you can to stop the spread," he said.

Paine said that while he would love to be playing in the Sheffield Shield now for Tasmania, the shutdown right now is for reasons bigger than cricket.

"I realise it's tough but it's something we should all take very seriously. I would love to be playing for Tasmania right now in the hunt for the Sheffield Shield final and there's no doubt our Australian men's team would love to be in Hobart trying to win back the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy. Certainly our female world champion team would love to be in South Africa," he said.

"But we are not and for a very, very good reason. As hard as it is for all cricketers at the moment, I think it is time we take a break. I know it's even harder this time of the year when you've got finals and trophies on the line and it's all there to be won but this is bigger than us, bigger than the game of cricket. I hope we all go back to playing the game that we love and going about our lives the way we want to as soon as possible but in the meantime, please take care of yourselves, take care of others and lets ride this out together. All the best."

--IANS

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