Cheltenham Festival Cancelled

Gloucestershire have confirmed the cancellation of this year's Cheltenham Festival fortnight.

BBCSport

The county have played at the College Ground every summer since 1872.

They were due to face Hampshire and Yorkshire in Championship games starting on 29 June and 5 July, plus Sussex and Kent in the T20 Blast.

No fixtures have yet been played in 2020 and cricket remains suspended in England until at least 1 July because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Gloucestershire said cancelling the festival was a "huge disappointment".

A club statement continued: "All matches currently earmarked to be played in Cheltenham will now be played at the Bristol County Ground, should these matches be confirmed on a re-jigged schedule the ECB are currently putting together.


"We trust that our supporters will understand that we cannot second-guess developments during this Covid-19 pandemic and need to make decisions based on the present situation we are faced with.

"As the festival requires detailed planning and logistics, and with so much uncertainty around a return to playing professional sport, we've had to make the call to reduce the club's financial liabilities in erecting this temporary facility."

Sweeping changes expected to global cricket’s schedule.
Simon Wilde.

The Times.

Sunday, 17 May 2020.

PTG 3126-15466.

The men's Twenty20 World Cup (T20WC) in Australia in October-November is set to be postponed for 12 months, and a decision could come as early as an International Cricket Council’s next board meeting next week (PTG 3125-15464, 17 May 2020).  It is also likely that the next 50-over World Cup, which is currently slated for India in February 2023, will also be put back as part of a wide-ranging rescheduling of cricket’s global tournaments because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The task of assembling 16 T20WC teams from around the world, quarantining them for two weeks and then housing them in biosecure environments at seven venues around Australia is reckoned to be impractical. India, the game’s economic driving force, are keen to prioritise domestic and bilateral programs which might have a greater chance of success, including the Indian Premier League (IPL), which was postponed last month but is yet to be given a new window (PTG 3083-15267, 15 April 2020).  The Indian government's announcement professional sporting events can go ahead behind closed doors is the first step to the event potentially occuring later this year (PTG 3126-15469 below).

“There’s a 99 per cent chance it [the T20WC] is not going to happen [in 2020]”, one national board source said. “That’s my gut feel. They are exploring different windows already, potentially moving it to October 2021 and the following T20WC that was due to be played in India in 2021 would then go to October 2022”. That scenario would, however, see India staging — within the space of six months — both a T20WC and the 50-over World Cup, and as a consequence, another source suggested that the latter could be put back to October 2023 or even later.

Counties working on plan to bring back T20 ‘Blast' in August.
Nick Hoult.

London Daily Telegraph.

Wednesday, 13 M ay 2020.

PTG 3121-15437.

A panel of county chief executives is working on proposals to play Twenty20 cricket in August and save the domestic season in England and Wales from being totally wiped out.  It is understood chief executives on the Professional Game Group, a body set up last year to look after the interests of the domestic game, hope to present a paper to the England and Wales Cricket Board (EWCB) and the UK government on how its T20 ‘Blast’ series could be played if restrictions on social distancing are eased this summer.

There is an acceptance that unless crowds are allowed to watch county cricket then it will not be cost effective to play this season. But if the clubs can convince the government that allowing a controlled number of supporters into grounds with social distancing restrictions in place can work then they are hopeful cricket could be played.  The announcement on Tuesday by Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, that the government’s furlough scheme would be extended until October has eased fears among counties that they could end up footing the wages of players without any income from cricket.

But they are also working on proposals to fit in a ‘Blast' tournament which would involve bringing playing and coaching staff off furlough. All but two counties have taken advantage of the Government’s job retention scheme.  

One county chief executive said: “We are working very hard to prepare a plan so if restrictions are eased in some way then we are able to get back on the field again quickly. We understand the ECB are concentrating on the international fixtures but we owe it to our players and supporters to at least be prepared to play a Blast tournament if an opportunity comes along.  We want our players playing cricket again and nobody wants grounds mothballed for a year unless it is absolutely necessary. It would be remiss of us not too have a plan of action if all of a sudden the situation improves and we can play again.”

The ‘Blast' is the only tournament that could be salvaged. The county directors of cricket are due to meet the EWCB this week and there will be calls for the board to formally announce county cricket is off until at least Aug 1 to give the players clarity they are not coming back soon.

From the Daily Telegraph

Good ol' Lisa!