London, Jul 30 (IANS): The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has promised to discuss the possibility of having players accompany their wives and partners on tour of Australia for the Ashes series which begins on December 8.

"With player and management's welfare paramount, the ECB will discuss planning and operational requirements with Cricket Australia in the coming weeks and how they seek to implement their policies in partnership with state and federal governments," said ECB and Professional Cricketers' Association (PCA) in a joint statement.

Recent reports in the British media had claimed that several England players had voiced misgivings about touring for the Ashes this winter if Australia refuse to allow families with them.

"This week, several meetings have been held between the England Men's players, ECB and Team England Player Partnership to discuss provisional plans for the tour of Australia later in the year," they added in the statement.

The ECB has been very active in keeping the welfare of players as priority. Earlier this year, ECB ensured rotation of players through the tour of the subcontinent which included six Test matches -- two in Sri Lanka and four in India -- as well as ODIs and T20 Internationals in India.

Then some of the players who had returned home from the Indian Premier League (IPL) were allowed to rest and miss the two-Test series against New Zealand.

"All stakeholders are committed to putting player and staff welfare as the main priority and finding the right solutions that enables the England team to compete with the best players and at the highest possible standard that the Ashes series deserves," they said further.