[Sport] When will the cricket season start after lockdown?

[Mark-x]

The England & Wales Cricket Board hope that international cricket will resume on July 8, when England host the West Indies in their rearranged Test series. But the fate of domestic cricket in 2020 is altogether less clear. Any matches that can be played in the 2020 season seem almost certain to be played behind closed doors. The ECB is also discussing how women’s international cricket could proceed, with England due to host India and South Africa. 

 

In order to play matches safely, the ECB plan to play in biosecure grounds - those venues which have hotels on-site, with sufficient capacity to house all players, match officials and broadcasters during the games. The only two grounds in England with sufficient capacity in hotels on-site are the Ageas Bowl and the Emirates Old Trafford.The plans are for these two grounds to share all six Tests in the English home summer - three each against the West Indies and Pakistan - between them, as well as England's six one-day internationals and Twenty20 internationals. But as there aren’t other grounds which are biosecure, the fate of the entire domestic season is in major doubt, as Telegraph Sport first revealed. Due to the lack of biosecure venues, insiders believe that it would require the government to move into a different phase of lockdown - allowing mass gatherings of up to 500 people - before county cricket can resume.

 

The most notable change in how the game itself is played will concern the way the ball is treated. Experts have warned that spitting on the ball could be a way of transmitting COVID-19, as well as other illnesses. So applying saliva to the ball is set to be banned. The International Cricket Council are considering legalising ball-tampering in some modified form to ensure that bowlers can still get assistance from the ball and preserve the balance between bat and ball.

 

The ECB have already announced that the start of the Hundred will be postponed until 2021, with the governing body now considering the tournament more important than ever for the sport’s long-term health. In theory, the county season could still resume in July. But the ECB is braced for the domestic season - if it is played at all - to run for far less time than the international season.The final point that the season could begin is regarded as being at the start of September, playing the Twenty20 Blast - from which counties earn around 90 per cent of their cricket revenue - until the end of the month or into early October. At this stage getting the T20 Blast in, together with the full men’s international season, would be considered a good result, although there could also be some first-class matches between counties.