Those players who are centrally contracted announced a donation of £500,000 ($623,000/€570,000), the equivalent of taking their wage cut for three months.

The start of the English season has been postponed provisionally until May 28, with scheduled tours looking to be on hold and uncertainty still lingering over The Hundred - a franchise 100-ball cricket tournament - which is due to take place in July 2020.

Jos Buttler, a member of the England cricket team, has already raised £65,000 ($81,000/€74,000) by auctioning his 2019 Cricket World Cup final shirt after being part of the winning team against New Zealand.

He said, "Everybody is very aware of our duty as players to contribute where we can.

"I think the Hundred's a big thing that may or may not happen this summer.

"It may get delayed - I know a lot of investment has gone into that.

"But as players we're all very aware of the other effects this is going to have drip-feeding down into the game - without grassroots cricket, we're nothing really.

"There are so many different areas that are going to be affected - grassroots, youth coaching and disability sports.

"I know the players are very strong on wanting that money to help that grassroots structure and pathway because we need to bring people into the game and make sure that is very strong."

It follows news that English Premier League football players are set to donate money to aid the United Kingdom's National Health Service.