Locked in: Brathwaite braces for further isolation

Carlos Brathwaite is dreading the prospect of another fortnight of hard quarantine in Australia this summer, but says the lure of another season with the Sydney Sixers outweighs the negatives.

On Monday, the West Indian allrounder became the first overseas star this year to commit to a new contract for the upcoming KFC BBL|11 season.

A globe-trotting T20 star who has played in leagues in Australia, Pakistan, the UAE, the UK and the Caribbean since the pandemic began labelled Australia's strict 14-day hotel quarantine "the toughest thing I've ever done in my life".

"Just being locked away in a small room, no balcony, no fresh air for 14 days, no human interaction. That was very, very tough," Brathwaite said of his experience in a Perth hotel before last season’s competition.

"I think when you weigh up the tough quarantine with the opportunity to play in Australia, travelling around Australia, experience an Australian summer again and potentially challenge for a trophy and play with a good bunch of guys.

"As much as the quarantine was a con, a lot more pros outweighed that one massive con."

Braithwaite is currently in quarantine in the Caribbean ahead of this year's CPL season that begins later this week after a person on his flight from the UK tested positive to COVID-19.

Brathwaite had been in the UK playing for the Birmingham Bears in the T20 Blast competition before he was a late addition to the Manchester side for the inaugural season of The Hundred.

"I've just being told that I need to continue to quarantine, as opposed to being able to walk around the hotel, as was initially allowed," Brathwaite said.

Brathwaite and another dozen players that featured in The Hundred are set to play in this year's CPL, although it was not immediately clear if they were all on the same flight and also caught up with the COVID-19 case.

That list includes Hobart Hurricanes big-hitter Tim David as well as Imran Tahir, Wahab Riaz, Sunil Narine, Colin Munro, Glenn Phillips, Qais Ahmed and Mohammad Amir.

Brathwaite, who captained the Manchester Originals for their last four matches, said some of the tweaked playing conditions from The Hundred have merit for more traditional T20 competitions, all in the name of speeding the game up.

In The Hundred, fielding sides that didn't complete their innings within the cut-off time were forced to bring an extra fielder inside the circle for the remainder of the innings, an idea the West Indian endorsed.

"I think that will give more of a team effort to get the overs in quicker," he said.

"T20 has gotten really, really slow. It was supposed to last less than three hours and sometimes you've got T20s going on to four hours plus.

"The two overs from the same end is something that could probably catch on as well. Again, just with speed of play, it now means that you twist around 10 times instead of 20."

Preventing batters crossing after a catch is taken was another change that had merit and Brathwaite welcomed such tweaks, including those introduced last summer to the BBL that "forces you to tactically think about something else".

"Majority of the time it still comes down to bowling well, batting well, doing all the cliche things that you need to do in Twenty20 cricket, but it just adds a nice tactical dimension," he said.

"It was just nice to see new innovations and it kept you wondering what will happen next, who will do what and watching everything unravel and unfold was kind of exciting."

Brathwaite, who played a key role for the Sixers in their BBL|10 title win, said the dressing room chemistry as much as the club’s on-field success made him want to return.

"As much as you want to win trophies, there's a process behind winning trophies,” he said.

"Having good camaraderie is one, having a team that trains hard, and intense is another. And then having a team that believes in each other and believes in themselves is also another important component.

"I think that as a team and as a club, we tick all those boxes, and a lot more."