ECB also calls for consistency with other allowed sports over the Amateur Cricket ban.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan has slammed the British Prime Minister and self-confessed "village cricketer" Boris Johnson for his “utter nonsense” to uphold the ban on the recreational game due to the Coronavirus outbreak in the United Kingdom.
Apart from easing COVID-19 restrictions on pubs and restaurants, the Government has allowed the social tennis and golf to resume in England, but amateur cricketers will have to continue to wait beyond the boundary, as Britain PM has described a cricket ball as a “natural vector of disease” while confirming the sport remains banned outside the elite level in the UK.
Johnson told Parliament on Tuesday (June 23): “We're still working on ways to make cricket more COVID-secure, but we can't change the guidance yet.”
Tory chair of the science and technology committee Greg Clark asked about the return of cricket by saying “Cricket is perhaps our most socially-distanced team sport”. To which the PM replied: “The problem with cricket as everybody understands, that the ball is a natural vector of disease, potentially, at any rate, and we’ve been around it many times with our scientific friends.”
Mr. Johnson further added, “At the moment we’re still working on ways to make cricket more COVID-secure, but we can’t change the guidance yet.”
Meanwhile, Vaughan wasn’t impressed with the British government’s decision and criticized Johnson for not allowing recreational cricket to resume in England.
Taking to Twitter on Tuesday, Vaughan said: “Hand sanitizer in every player's pocket ... Use every time you touch the ball ... SIMPLE ... Recreational Cricket should just play from July 4th ... utter nonsense it's not being allowed back.”
Following the announcement, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) issued a statement, saying the board wanted to work with Johnson's government to get amateur cricket going again "on or around July 4" amid the COVID-19 pandemic as the global has already ruined entire season by terming cricket as a non-contact sport, it can be played "as safely as many other activities being currently permitted".
The ECB further went on to stress that the board would do everything to mitigate the risks of handling the ball and, while welcoming the return of ball sports such as tennis and basketball, adding: “We are sure that our interpretation of the risks around ball transmission is consistent with these other games.”
The statement further reads: “We are heartened that the government has already permitted the return of other ball sports, including tennis and basketball, and we are sure that our interpretation of the risks around ball transmission is consistent with these other games."
Noteworthy, England is set to become the first international team to resume the game after Coronavirus-forced hiatus when they will play West Indies in a three-match Test series starting on July 8.
(With Largsandmillportnews Inputs)