COVID-19: England contracted players donate 5 lakh pound and volunteer salary reductions

England's centrally-contracted men's players have donated 5 lakh Pounds to the England Cricket Board (ECB) and to selected good causes while women's team has volunteered salary reductions for the months of April, May and June, to support the battle against coronavirus pandemic in the country.

"Following a meeting today of all of the England men's centrally contracted cricketers, the players have agreed to make an initial donation of £0.5m to the ECB and to selected good causes," Professional Cricketers' Association (PCA) said in a statement.

"The precise details of the charitable donation will be decided over the next week by the players," it added.

England captain, Heather Knight, said: "All the players felt like it was the right response in the current climate to take a pay cut in line with what our support staff are taking. We know how the current situation is affecting the game and we want to help as much as we can. We will be discussing with the ECB further ways we can help the game in the coming weeks."

The novel coronavirus has infected more than 1,030,000 people and killed more than 54,000 worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University. The novel coronavirus pandemic is now hitting the UK hard, with more than 34,000 recorded cases and the country's death toll rising to more than 2,900.