Drastic changes in climate will add to health dangers for players, opines Ian Chappell

Ever since the World Cup in England, the number of matches washed out across all formats has been staggering. However, the 76-year-old Chappell noted that the threat posed by climate change goes beyond rain gods spoiling cricket matches. 

“Drastic increases in temperature will add to the health dangers for players. If temperatures keep rising, players will need to be protected from heatstroke or more lasting skin-cancer damage,” Chappell wrote in a piece for ESPNcricinfo, reported The Indian Express. 

According to Chappell, with the ICC Test Championship underway with a fiercely contested Ashes series, it is of high importance that ICC looks after the popularity increase for the longest format of the game.

“The destruction of Test match venues is a very real prospect; the picturesque ground in Galle – already partly destroyed and then restored after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami – is a prime case,” Chappell wrote.

He also pointed out Indian batsman Rohit Sharma’s tweet in support for the teenage activist Greta Thunberg and her Strike for Climate campaign. He concluded his piece by calling out to the players and those who run the show from behind the curtains to take necessary steps to be well prepared to secure the future of the game.