ECB announces no professional cricket in England before May 28

The decision to delay the start of the home summer has been taken due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The English summer has been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak | Getty

No professional cricket will be played in England and Wales until at least May 28 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has confirmed. 

The board has also begun the process of working out a revised schedule that would allow the season to probably start in either June, July or August. 

Read Also: The Hundred, T20 Blast ECB's priorities as COVID-19 threatens to ruin English summer 

"The decision to delay the start of the season has been essential, given the circumstances the nation faces. With the information available to us at the moment a delay to the start of the professional cricket season until May 28 was unavoidable," ECB CEO Tom Harrison said in a media release. 

"This also allows us time to keep pace with a fast-moving situation and continue to plan for how a revised season might look. Critically, we can also remain as flexible and adaptable as possible, within the obvious restrictions we face."

"Securing the future of the game will be a primary focus as we plot a revised schedule with an emphasis on the most financially important forms of the game for the counties across international and domestic cricket.''

With international cricket, inaugural The Hundred, and the T20 Blast being priorities for financial reasons, this season's County Championship and List A competition are likely to be heavily curtailed or not played at all if the situation doesn't improve. 

The board says the "immediate focus (is) on options for cricket in June, including the three-Test series against West Indies, the Vitality Blast and England Women’s schedule against India", which, however, seems unlikely given the UK government's assessment that the peak of the pandemic will only occur in this country in June, making the mid-July or August start more likely.

"Close liaison with the Government will continue, with discussions on the potential of starting the season behind closed doors and giving sports fans the opportunity to live broadcast action," the board statement reads. 

The ECB will meet as needed over the next few weeks to review the position and make further decisions as the UK situation unfolds. 

The board would announce further measures in the coming days to support the recreational game and its community projects.

The decision will also have direct effect on the players, although the announcement gives them clarity not to continue with their pre-season preparations as some counties kept doing despite knowledge that the summer won't begin on time. 

Included in the discussions between county chiefs, the MCC and the ECB this week, the Professional Cricketers' Association also supported the decision to delay the start of the season. 

"These are unprecedented times which require the right decisions to be made for all, including everyone working, and involved, in cricket," PCA Chief Executive Tony Irish said. "The PCA supports this decision to delay the start of the season based on expert advice relating to health and wellbeing and taking into account the government's position."

"The decision has at least given clarity to players following a week of uncertainty about whether or not they will be playing over the coming weeks."

"Naturally, players have concerns around when they will be able to start playing again, about what the schedule will look like when cricket resumes and about employment security around their contracts," he added. 

"It is extremely important that the PCA is there to support all of our players and we will continue do that through our dedicated player services team."

(Inputs from Cricbuzz)

 
 

By Kashish Chadha - 21 Mar, 2020

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