EwCB Cancel Programmes

EWCB cancel range of lower-tier competitions for 2020.

Cricinfo.

Friday, 26 June 2020.

PTG 3172-15700.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (EWCB) has cancelled a range of national club and age-group competitions, along with Dynamos Cricket, the new initiative aimed at 8 to 11-year-olds,

 as part of measures to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown.  However, in a statement, the board insisted it was continuing to press for the resumption of recreational cricket on or around July 4 (PTG 3171-15693, 25 June 2020).

The EWCB said that it would be prioritising local playing opportunities over national competitions, "to ensure maximum flexibility for all clubs pursuing a return to action and because we believe it is safer for clubs and players to reduce their amount of travel”.  Dynamos Cricket, which is a follow-up to the successful All Stars program that was launched in 2017 to introduce cricket to 5 to 8-year-olds, had been due to be rolled out through the EWCB's network of cricket clubs from May onwards (PTG 3041-15057, 2 March 2020), but will now be postponed until 2021.

Competitions cancelled for the season are: the National Counties Championship, National County fixtures versus first class Counties, Club Championship, men's and women’s Club T20 Cups and Plates, male Under-18 County Championship, Under-17 Super Fours, and County Under 14, 15 and 18 Cup competitions, female County Under-15 and 17 Cup Competitions, the Bunbury Festival, City Cup, Over 50s County Championship, female regional development centre festival, and female Under-15 festivals.

"While it is regrettable to have to cancel these competitions, the decision has been taken with public health as a priority and additionally to ensure that clubs are as free as possible to play as much cricket as they can in their local area”, said the EWCB.  Many of these tournaments would require rescheduling, which logistically could make it difficult for clubs to arrange other cricket, and the health and safety of everyone involved in the game has been our priority throughout this period”.

PM’ statement, July amateur club return likely.
Elizabeth Ammon.
The Times.
Thursday, 25 June 2020.
PTG 3171-15693.

Cricket chiefs are increasingly optimistic that government guidance will be changed within the next few days to allow for the restart of recreational cricket on July 4 or at the latest by July 18. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnston appeared to pour cold water on the prospect of a return for amateur cricket on Tuesday, saying that restrictions could not be relaxed because the ball is a “natural vector of the disease” (PTG 3170-15686, 24 June 2020).

It is understood that his statement surprised the England and Wales Cricket Board (EWCB), who had expected that the measures announced by the Prime Minister would allow them to recommence some form of club cricket, even if it was with restrictions, such as shorter formats or smaller playing numbers. The nature of the game means that cricket lends itself to being played with distancing measures. The EWCB medical team also believe that the epidemiological research backs up their theory that the ball does not spread the virus, particularly if saliva is not used to shine it.

Richard Bradbury, an epidemiologist from Federation University in Melbourne, said: “There is a risk, but if sufficient precautions are taken, that risk can be mitigated. If balls are sanitised between overs, and fielders have access to hand-sanitiser to be used after handling the ball, the risk would be so minimal as to be not a significant concern”.

Niki Popper, a disease modeller from Vienna University of Technology, also said that he did not think it was necessary to continue to ban grass-roots cricket if social distancing was observed. “As there is no personal contact there is no evident risk to playing club cricket”, Popper said. “What is important is there is no near contact between players before or after the game, at tea time or in the changing rooms. A good negative example is the tennis tournaments of [Novak] Djokovic, where unnecessary contacts occurred”.

Some leagues had already been briefing their clubs to begin readying their grounds for a July 4 restart, for friendly matches, and competitive league cricket starting two weeks later (PTG 3168-15672, 22 June 2020).

Officials from the governing body and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport had further discussions on Tuesday and Wednesday. Medics from the EWCB presented options for how cricket can return safely, including detailed plans on keeping the ball clean, which will include a ban on the use of saliva, regular cleaning of the ball by the umpires, breaks during matches for hand washing and clear instructions for players not to touch their faces or have any physical contact with other players (PTG 3169-15676, 23 June 2020).

There was a ferocious backlash from club cricketers following the Prime Minister’s statement in the House of Commons on Tuesday. Some accused him of destroying the recreational game and risking the loss of a generation of young cricketers, many of whom were inspired by last year’s World Cup win. The risk is that they might find another sport to play if they were to miss cricket for what would effectively be 18 months should the whole season be lost.

However, it now appears that the Prime Minister was not fully aware of discussions between the EWCB, officials at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and members of the government’s Scientific Advisory Group who are finalising detailed guidance for leagues and clubs that they hope can be published by next week. That guidance will need sign off from Number 10 but there is increased optimism that can happen and it can be presented as a “next move forward in the easing of restrictions” rather than a u-turn from the Prime Minister.

If league cricket can get underway in mid-July, it means that many leagues will be able to salvage half a season and clubs will be able to have two months of both adult and junior cricket, giving them some much needed income.

Boris Johnson deals blow to UK's recreational cricketers

cricinfo

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has seemingly put paid to the hopes of recreational cricketers across the country that a return to action is imminent.

Responding to a question from Greg Clark MP in the House of Commons, Mr Johnson said that it was too soon to lift current restrictions preventing the return of recreational cricket, describing the ball as "a natural vector of disease".

His comments will have no bearing on England's Test series against West Indies, which is due to start on July 8, or on the possible return of county cricket, both of which are governed by guidance for elite sport.

Under current regulations, socially-distanced training sessions are the only permissible form of cricket. Some leagues have begun to cancel their formal calendars for this season already, though others had anticipated that a start date could come quickly, with the Prime Minister announcing that businesses in the hospitality and tourism sectors could begin to re-open from July 4.

Mr Clark, the Conservative MP for Tunbridge Wells, asked the PM to clarify whether "the ban on cricket has come to an end".

"Cricket is perhaps our most socially-distanced team sport," he said. "We've lost half the summer but there is another half left to be enjoyed by players and spectators alike." On Saturday, he tweeted that it was "absurd that no cricket can be played this midsummer weekend".

Mr Johnson said: "The problem with cricket as everybody understands [is] that the ball is a natural vector of disease, potentially at any rate. We've been round it many times with our scientific friends.

"At the moment, we're still working on ways to make cricket more Covid-secure but we can't change the guidance yet."

The ECB is expected to respond to Mr Johnson's comments later today, and has been working closely with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) throughout the course of the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to its most recent roadmap for the return of recreational cricket, England was in 'Step 3' of a five-stage process. The next step would involve adapted matches which allowed cricket "to remain socially-distanced", before the final step of unrestricted play which would be adopted once social-distancing measures were removed.

Mr Johnson later attempted to clarify his comments at a government press conference. "I want to make one thing clear - I would love to play village cricket again. I want to stress that we are working on all of these things," he said.

"We are working with all the industries, all of the performing arts, the theatres, gyms, all the bits that we can't quite do at the moment… sports such as cricket, we're trying to make it work as fast as we possibly can. So don't think that this package represents the summit of our ambitions - it's as far as we can go for now."

County Collective 24 May 2020

Rod Bransgrove is more heavily invested in finding a vaccine capable of fighting Covid-19 than most.

Firstly, he finds himself in a vulnerable age bracket and has spent the past six weeks holed up in his Winchester home making very occasional trips to the bottle bank at the local supermarket to ease the boredom. And secondly, his pharmaceutical company is one of the firms rushing to attempt to find an antidote to a disease that has brought the world to a standstill for much of 2020.

The CC initially caught up with Hampshire chairman to discuss the crisis facing the 18 counties who face paying a heavy price for the chaos wrought by the coronavirus, with the prospect of no cricket this summer looming large on an ever-more troubled horizon.

Bransgrove, though, has plenty else to occupy his mind, primarily finding a solution to a virus that no-one saw coming.

“One thing we’ve got wrong at the outset of the disease – and it’s a very virulent bug, a nasty bug that can hit people very badly – is that we were told most people would just get some flu-like symptoms,” he says.

“I’m not sure that’s quite true. Maybe a lot of people will but there are an awful lot of people going into hospital. There are still a large group of people who are still there and once you’re in there seems to be a 30% chance that you’re not coming out again.“That’s a huge percentage, that’s serious stuff. I don’t like those odds.

“I have a vaccine company and I’m seeing dates talked about but I don’t see anything happening any time soon. I think a vaccine is still a year away.”

Despite headlines to the contrary, it’s hard to argue with Bransgrove’s logic. This is, after all, a man who made his fortune in the pharmaceutical industry and someone who has, for the past 14 years, been heavily involved in attempting to find a universal vaccine against the flu virus in all its forms.

That puts into perspective the challenge facing those companies embarking on a race against time to save lives and prevent the world from slipping into the sort of economic depression not witnessed since the 1930s.

For those who have only known Bransgrove as one of county cricket’s most high-profile investors, the current crisis it also offers a window into his previous life.

“I was working for a multi-national company in the 1980s before I founded my own company,” he says. “In 1995, I think it was, I merged it with a local company here (in Hampshire), a company called Shire Laboratories, and then formed one big company called Shire Pharmaceuticals, which was listed on the stock market the next year.

“That was my pre-cricket days. That’s when I was sensible with my money and people could say I was actually quite a good businessman!

“There are plenty of companies coming out and saying that they have made significant breakthroughs when it comes to a vaccine but what happens in reality is that companies make these statements, it gives their share price a bit of a boost for a period time so they can invest more money in it.

“But I can’t see anyone really accelerating the process of development. We’re doing the same thing, we’re in the same race but it’s a long, long way. You have to do things sequentially. If there are nasty side-effects during the testing process you have to take a step-back. I can’t really believe some of the things I’m hearing in relation to acceleration.

“We have been developing a universal flu job for 14 years – that’s how long it takes to take these things through a clinical process.

“You can probably develop a vaccine in five years in normal circumstances but if you’re doing something that we’re attempting (with the flu virus) then things get more complicated.”

“I HAVE A VACCINE COMPANY AND I’M SEEING DATES TALKED ABOUT BUT I DON’T SEE ANYTHING HAPPENING ANY TIME SOON. I THINK A VACCINE IS STILL A YEAR AWAY.”

Things could hardly be more complex for the 18 counties at the current time. With hundreds of cricketers in furlough, kicking their heels at home when they would ordinarily be beginning their County Championship season, the future has rarely, if ever, looked so uncertain.

That goes double for Hampshire, with the county’s hotel and golf course also shutdown at a time of year when business would be ordinarily ramping up alongside improvements in the weather.

“There are a lot of county members out there wondering what on earth they’re going to do this summer,” he says. “I’ve got people writing to me because they need an outlet, they need to talk about cricket to someone because there’s nothing on the television, nothing on the radio. No live action anywhere.

“It’s very hard for the players as well. These are guys who are with their mates for a large proportion of their lives. We’ve got the manager (Adi Birrell) over here and he’s in constant contact with them. They all have daily programmes for their fitness but that’s all they can do for a period of time.

“They know we all want them to be able to hit the ground running if we have a short-route to playing again, so we’re just doing the best we can under the circumstances.

“We’ve got 350 other staff furloughed in the stadium and the hotel, so everybody is keen that we can get started again.

“But we also have to be mindful that start-up costs are going to be very high as well. We’ll re-open the hotel with no capacity, considering then when we closed it we had been enjoying 90% plus capacity during the week.

“That’s going to be a big cash flow burden and all these things have to be calculated. We just really need to get going as soon as possible.”

There is a growing acceptance that this unprecedented storm will impact the county game for a period of time that will extend well beyond the end of his season, whenever that may be.

Just beginning the 2021 season with 18 counties on the start-line would be seen a qualified triumph in some circles. Playing staff may also be trimmed considerably to reflect this new financial reality.

“I think it was likely that the number of players was going to reduce over the next few years, I think that was likely anyway,” he says. “As much as anything, this was a result of the new PCA (Professional Cricketers Association) contract. There’s one thing increasing the benefit for cricket players but, as a knock-on effect, this tends to knock people off the bottom end.

“People coming into the sport will be more rigorously examined before they’re given a chance. I think counties will have slightly smaller staff within three years as a consequence. This particular year, I think there will be a wash-through effect that will run into next season.

Counties will still be licking their wounds after the financial imposition of this year. Hopefully full recovery won’t take too long, although central distribution (of money by the ECB) will also be hit because we can’t fulfil our international obligations.”

A vaccine against Covid-19 is a rapid work in process. Finding a remedy for county cricket’s financial problems could take a good while longer.