With the COVID-19 pandemic shutting international and domestic fixtures, subsequently leading to major financial damages, former England captain Nasser Hussain reckons the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) should prioritise the most popular, lucrative forms of the game whenever the on-field play resumes in order to make up for this phase.
This, effectively urging the administrators to focus on safeguarding only international cricket, inaugural The Hundred, and T20 Blast for the time being, which threatens to further marginalise the county championship, country's premier domestic first-class competition.
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“If and when cricket does come back this year, it has to prioritise the most popular and lucrative forms of the game, whether that’s internationals, Twenty20 Blast or the Hundred, because the game is not well enough off to do anything else," Hussain told Daily Mail.
"If that means the County Championship is put on the back burner, so be it. There will just need to be common sense decisions made to get as much cricket in as possible and to play as late as possible in the summer and even early autumn."
The outbreak, and its impact on the game, has also directly affected the players. But Hussain believes they are mature enough to cope up with the situation. "This is going to hurt the coffers hugely — but hopefully we can all get through it and come out the other side without losing any counties," he said. "Cricketers will, of course, be worried about their salaries and whether they are included in the Government’s bail-out scheme but they are a pretty mature bunch."
What Hussain suggested is likely to be followed not only by the ECB but also other cricket boards around the world. “In the wider scheme of things sport is, of course, irrelevant and there are far more important things to worry about at this time, but it’s amazing how big a role sport plays in so many lives and we want sport back as soon as possible."
“So, if we could give fans something to watch then fine but it would have to be when it is absolutely safe to do so because it would only take one player to contract the virus and it would all be shut down again quickly," he added.
(Inputs from Daily Mail)
