Nasser Hussain says ECB shall consider sacrificing County Championship for the season 

The COVID-19 pandemic threatens to ruin the English international, domestic fixture list.

Reiterating his stance as the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) contemplates options to save the game this summer, former skipper Nasser Hussain said the board shall look to salvage the profitable part of the summer. And if that means not playing the County Championship for the season, so be it, especially since a truncated version of the first-class competition won't do justice to it anyway. 

Professional cricket remains postponed in UK till May 28 but given the circumstances, the suspension period could be extended as the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to ruin the entire English international, domestic summer. 

Read Also: Sir Alastair Cook not in favor of a shortened County Championship season

The ECB has already set aside a £61m package to help the game best deal with the financial implications of the outbreak. But whenever the on-field play resumes, Hussain reckons the focus, for the time being, shall be on big-ticket fixtures such as international matches, inaugural The Hundred and the T20 Blast. 

"If you can't do the County Championship justice, or do it properly, then I can't see the point of doing it at all, to be honest with you," he told Sky Sports. 

"You are better off going down the more lucrative, money-grabbing ways of promoting the game such as international cricket, then white-ball cricket."

"The Blast becomes a very, very important tournament if and when they do get back on the cricket field, because it does get a good audience."

Hussain also gave his opinion on the 13th edition of the IPL in India. The tournament was suspended by the BCCI and IPL governing council until at least April 15. However, with the growing number of positive cases of the virus here, the annual event is likely to be further postponed. 

"I think they are making an announcement next week on that," said Hussain. "That has been delayed until the 15th and you can't see that happening. There may be a window later in the year for the IPL - maybe in October, leading into the World T20 in Australia so that players get ready for that by having a shortened IPL."

"So everything is up in the air. You've got to be flexible from here on in," he added. "The World T20 is a long way off. The major thing is the travel element - how do you get players there, do they need to self-isolate when they get there?"

"Hopefully by then the pandemic has cleared through and people can have their international sport back."

(Inputs from Sky Sports)