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More spectators than the Test match, and more action too.
Simon Briggs.
London Daily Telegraph.
Sunday, 12 July 2020.
PTG 3192-15802.
“There’s more people here than at the Test match”, grinned one Panama-hatted spectator, escorting a black spaniel and a golden retriever around the boundary of Henley Cricket Club’s Brakspear Ground in Berkshire. “More action too”, replied John ‘Admiral’ Nelson, the Henley president, as he chomped his sandwich in front of the pavilion. As if to prove his point, one of the home team’s batsmen took a baseball-style heave that flew low and flat, before being brilliantly caught by the visiting Wargrave captain running forward from long-on.
Club cricket returned to the UK on Saturday, roughly three months later than scheduled. And at Henley, at least, these boys were not messing about. When my editor called on Thursday, and suggested a report on 2020’s first day of recreational cricket, I had imagined rummaging around in a bucket of village-cricket cliches. Blacksmiths puffing as they steam in from the sightscreen. Portly publicans standing at slip. Dogs on the boundary chewing the leather off the ball. But then, when I called my local village club, the secretary told me that they couldn’t get a team out. “The captain is 72 years old. Half the guys are shielding [in lock dowmn] right now”.
And so to Henley, where barely anyone is over the age of 30, and most have played some kind of county cricket – whether first-class, second team, or minor counties at worst. “We’ve won the Home Counties Premier League three years in a row”, said Nelson proudly. “And that’s never been done before”.
The first surprise, on pulling into the Brakspear Ground just as the players finished their warm-up, was that nobody was wearing whites. It was a pink-ball, 40-over-a-side fixture that put Wargrave in black, while Henley wore navy blue topped off by the logo of their sponsor. With the wicketkeeper standing well back for the first ball, this wasn’t the sort of cricket where you show up with nine men, and hope the other two are stuck in traffic rather than terminally hungover.
For top-flight clubs like Henley, lockdown has been a gruelling business. The budget sheet will show a significant hole where the parking fees from the annual Regatta on the nearby River Thames would normally go. More worryingly, director of cricket Stewart Davison expects the number of juniors involved this season to fall by a third, to around 200. “We’re very excited to be back”, said Davison, “but it has been a frustrating period, especially in the last few weeks, when we would have liked a little more information and advice”.
Everyone at Henley is all too aware that other sports – from tennis to basketball – have received more favourable treatment. And that the British Prime Minister’s apparently unscripted observation about a cricket ball being a “vector of disease” probably extended the wait by an extra fortnight (PTG 3183-15749, 4 July 2020). Former England captain Michael Vaughan’s uncompromising view has not gone unnoticed here “This is marvellous, isn’t it?” mused Nelson as the sun beat down on the trestle tables and first-team captain Michael Roberts – a 31-year-old who played a few games for Hampshire in 2013 – creamed the Wargrave attack to all points of the compass. Only a few weeks ago, Roberts had been running 122 laps of the outfield to complete a fundraising marathon, which contributed around £UK5,000 ($A9,080) to the club’s thirsty coffers.
You wouldn’t have thought, from the soothing melody of leather on willow, that we were dealing with anything atypical on this bright and breezy summer’s day. Until the end of the sixth over, when all the fielders trooped off the field to sanitise their hands – as well as the ball itself. This latest ritual – which would seem no more arcane to a cricket novice than googlies or nightwatchmen – had to be performed every six overs for the rest of the day.
If you looked closely, you could also see that the groundsman had cut two narrow strips of lighter green – one on each side of the pitch – that were meant to act as running tracks, encouraging the batsmen not to cross over in mid-run and commit an unnecessary breach of social-distancing. “The first document we received from the England and Wales Cricket Board was eight pages long”, said Nelson. “Then Brian [Kenworthy, the club chairman] had to send back a detailed risk assessment, and we got something else through. I don’t know how long it was, but I know that my printer ran out of ink, put it like that”.
At this moment, our conversation was interrupted by a dreadful howling from the extra-cover region. By now, Roberts had retired on 72, his selflessness acting as a reminder that this was only a friendly to prepare for the first league fixture next weekend. But Monty Bradbury had begun laying about him with even more vehemence. A beautifully driven six had just struck the aforementioned black spaniel in the chest, before bouncing up to cut his owner’s chin.
It can be a dangerous business, watching cricket, even without a deadly virus on the loose. Happily, the dog seemed to recover well, and the owner later attributed the outburst to shock rather than injury. With perhaps 50 spectators dotted around the boundary, and the bar serving bottles and cans from 2.30 pm, the Brakspear Ground was as safe a setting as could be provided. “It always surprises me that we don’t get more people coming to watch”, said Nelson, “when the town centre is just a short walk away"
“[Our team today] isn’t quite our full strength”, said Davison, “because the players contracted to counties – like Jack Davies at Middlesex – aren’t allowed to play yet for insurance reasons. We would normally see ourselves as trying to bridge the gap between club and first-class cricket. This year, though, we’re thinking about more about participation. The idea is to give everyone a go”.
Ten different men had a bat as Henley piled up 8/275 – including two men retired out – from their 40 overs. Then came the innings break, in which the players snacked around the boundary rather than convening for their usual feast in the pavilion. “Poor Paula”, said Nelson. “She does these wonderful lunches and teas [for the club]. And now, no income. It’s been a tough time for everyone”.
Cricket clubs in England will need to maintain a rolling 21-day record of anyone taking part in cricket activity as part of the ECB's guidelines for the recreational game's imminent restart.
The guidance, sent to leagues on Wednesday and formally announced by the governing body on Thursday, includes a requirement for temporary registers to be kept to assist NHS Test & Trace.
Bars, restaurants and pubs - which were allowed to reopen last week - have to keep similar accounts of visitors, in order to be able to identify anyone who may have come into contact with someone carrying Covid-19.
The regulation is just one of an exhaustive list put forward by the ECB following conversations with the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Provided the relevant steps are followed, the ECB has not put a limit on the number of overs a game can last, while 11-a-side matches will also be permitted.
Clubs have been asked to ensure players arrive at the ground in their kit ready to play, with changing rooms to remain closed, while communal teas and drinks should not take place. Instead, recreational cricketers will need to bring their own refreshments with them to their matches.
Social distancing regulations - government advice is currently to keep at least one metre away from anyone outside your own household - should be kept to at all times, including during warm-ups and in post-match social events. However, there is special exception within the ECB guidelines made for wicketkeepers standing up to the stumps, and slip fielders bunching closer together.
A hygiene break should be taken every 20 minutes or six overs, during which players should wash their hands and the ball should be wiped clean. As part of the guidance, all players will be requested to bring their own hand sanitiser with them to the ground.
Clubhouse bars are expected to be allowed to open - though all clubs with alcohol licenses should check with their local authority - but mass congregation indoors should not take place.
Groundsmen will be asked to paint lines adjacent to the popping crease, and two metres away from the umpire and bowler, to indicate where batsmen should run between the wickets.
One of the trickiest issues for club cricketers to tackle as the game returns will be travel. ECB guidance stipulates that government guidelines regarding carpooling should be followed - currently, the advice from No.10 states that individuals from separate households should not share a car unless absolutely necessary. If the situation means vehicle-sharing is essential, everyone should wear facemasks and the vehicle's windows should be opened to allow for ventilation.
The sharing of kit - commonplace at many clubs, whose members do not necessarily own helmets, gloves or pads - is advised against.
Sir Jeremy Farrar, a member of the government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies and one of the world's foremost infectious disease experts, told The Cricketer that helmets and gloves are the most at-risk pieces of cricket equipment when it comes to the potential transmission of Covid-19.
"Sharing equipment is important and I do appreciate that many clubs do share equipment but I would strongly advise not to," he said.
"That will be difficult because a lot of clubs will share helmets but helmets would be where you would logically say would be higher risk. Gloves and bats are higher risks - you touch them with your hands, your hands touch your nose and mouth, and the rubber handle of the bat is somewhere where the virus could persist. Pads would be much less of a risk.
"Overall, if you can reduce the amount of sharing of any kit, the better."
Batsmen will be asked to disinfect the handle of their bats every time they leave the field of play, regardless of whether or not the bat is communal, and wicketkeepers will be asked to do the same with the gloves.
Umpires, meanwhile, will not handle the ball during the innings - at the fall of a wicket it should be placed at the base of the stumps or returned to the bowler. The standing officials will, however, be solely responsible for the re-assembly of the wicket in the event it is broken. Bowlers should not hand any item of clothing to the standing umpire for safe keeping during an over, instead placing it themselves at the boundary's edge.
The ball should go through as few hands as possible between deliveries.
Although prime minister Boris Johnson described it as a "natural vector for disease" in the House of Commons just over a fortnight ago, a peer-reviewed scientific study has shown that sports balls including the cricket ball are low-risk transmitters of coronaviruses.
Research by experts from Imperial College London, the University of Manchester, the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, and the Phoenix Hospital Group of Harley Street, which took place in June and has been seen by The Cricketer, concluded that “the surface of sport balls, notably a football, tennis ball, golf ball, and cricket ball could not harbour inactivated virus when it was swabbed onto the surface, even for 30 seconds”.
It also illustrated that the basic use of disinfectants to wipe equipment, and good general hygiene practices, would prevent the virus from being spread via the passing of the ball.
The study has been examined by the ECB and has informed the new guidelines to clubs regarding recreational cricket’s resumption.
Club committees will need to ensure full risk assessments have taken place on their venues, supplementary hand sanitiser and hand-washing points are made available and clearly signposted, spectators are limited to groups of no more than six and kept separate from other groups, and the relevant personal protective equipment (PPE) required for first-aiders is provided.
The ECB guidance explicitly places the burden on clubs to make members and players fully aware of the relative dangers - however mild - of Covid transmission during a game of cricket. Ultimately, however, the rules ask for common sense.
Most importantly, Farrar said, if anyone is suffering from even the mildest of symptoms or has come into contact with someone who has since shown symptoms of their own, they must make themselves unavailable for selection.
"If anybody doesn’t feel well, the threshold for saying ‘I can’t play this weekend has to be much lower than normal," he said.
"We all know this infection can be transmitted by people before they get symptoms, and even by people with no symptoms at all. If you feel in any way unwell or you have been in contact with someone who has had Covid, excuse yourself from playing.
"You don’t want to put your teammates or the opposition at risk. Don’t play is the most important piece of advice.
"Think through the whole process, from starting at home to getting back home again: what can we do to reduce the risks and make it safe for everybody. The last thing we want is for sport to be shut down again because there is evidence that sport restarting again has been a nidus of mini epidemics."
Simon Briggs.
London Daily Telegraph.
Sunday, 12 July 2020.
PTG 3192-15802.
“There’s more people here than at the Test match”, grinned one Panama-hatted spectator, escorting a black spaniel and a golden retriever around the boundary of Henley Cricket Club’s Brakspear Ground in Berkshire. “More action too”, replied John ‘Admiral’ Nelson, the Henley president, as he chomped his sandwich in front of the pavilion. As if to prove his point, one of the home team’s batsmen took a baseball-style heave that flew low and flat, before being brilliantly caught by the visiting Wargrave captain running forward from long-on.
Club cricket returned to the UK on Saturday, roughly three months later than scheduled. And at Henley, at least, these boys were not messing about. When my editor called on Thursday, and suggested a report on 2020’s first day of recreational cricket, I had imagined rummaging around in a bucket of village-cricket cliches. Blacksmiths puffing as they steam in from the sightscreen. Portly publicans standing at slip. Dogs on the boundary chewing the leather off the ball. But then, when I called my local village club, the secretary told me that they couldn’t get a team out. “The captain is 72 years old. Half the guys are shielding [in lock dowmn] right now”.
And so to Henley, where barely anyone is over the age of 30, and most have played some kind of county cricket – whether first-class, second team, or minor counties at worst. “We’ve won the Home Counties Premier League three years in a row”, said Nelson proudly. “And that’s never been done before”.
The first surprise, on pulling into the Brakspear Ground just as the players finished their warm-up, was that nobody was wearing whites. It was a pink-ball, 40-over-a-side fixture that put Wargrave in black, while Henley wore navy blue topped off by the logo of their sponsor. With the wicketkeeper standing well back for the first ball, this wasn’t the sort of cricket where you show up with nine men, and hope the other two are stuck in traffic rather than terminally hungover.
For top-flight clubs like Henley, lockdown has been a gruelling business. The budget sheet will show a significant hole where the parking fees from the annual Regatta on the nearby River Thames would normally go. More worryingly, director of cricket Stewart Davison expects the number of juniors involved this season to fall by a third, to around 200. “We’re very excited to be back”, said Davison, “but it has been a frustrating period, especially in the last few weeks, when we would have liked a little more information and advice”.
Everyone at Henley is all too aware that other sports – from tennis to basketball – have received more favourable treatment. And that the British Prime Minister’s apparently unscripted observation about a cricket ball being a “vector of disease” probably extended the wait by an extra fortnight (PTG 3183-15749, 4 July 2020). Former England captain Michael Vaughan’s uncompromising view has not gone unnoticed here “This is marvellous, isn’t it?” mused Nelson as the sun beat down on the trestle tables and first-team captain Michael Roberts – a 31-year-old who played a few games for Hampshire in 2013 – creamed the Wargrave attack to all points of the compass. Only a few weeks ago, Roberts had been running 122 laps of the outfield to complete a fundraising marathon, which contributed around £UK5,000 ($A9,080) to the club’s thirsty coffers.
You wouldn’t have thought, from the soothing melody of leather on willow, that we were dealing with anything atypical on this bright and breezy summer’s day. Until the end of the sixth over, when all the fielders trooped off the field to sanitise their hands – as well as the ball itself. This latest ritual – which would seem no more arcane to a cricket novice than googlies or nightwatchmen – had to be performed every six overs for the rest of the day.
If you looked closely, you could also see that the groundsman had cut two narrow strips of lighter green – one on each side of the pitch – that were meant to act as running tracks, encouraging the batsmen not to cross over in mid-run and commit an unnecessary breach of social-distancing. “The first document we received from the England and Wales Cricket Board was eight pages long”, said Nelson. “Then Brian [Kenworthy, the club chairman] had to send back a detailed risk assessment, and we got something else through. I don’t know how long it was, but I know that my printer ran out of ink, put it like that”.
At this moment, our conversation was interrupted by a dreadful howling from the extra-cover region. By now, Roberts had retired on 72, his selflessness acting as a reminder that this was only a friendly to prepare for the first league fixture next weekend. But Monty Bradbury had begun laying about him with even more vehemence. A beautifully driven six had just struck the aforementioned black spaniel in the chest, before bouncing up to cut his owner’s chin.
It can be a dangerous business, watching cricket, even without a deadly virus on the loose. Happily, the dog seemed to recover well, and the owner later attributed the outburst to shock rather than injury. With perhaps 50 spectators dotted around the boundary, and the bar serving bottles and cans from 2.30 pm, the Brakspear Ground was as safe a setting as could be provided. “It always surprises me that we don’t get more people coming to watch”, said Nelson, “when the town centre is just a short walk away"
“[Our team today] isn’t quite our full strength”, said Davison, “because the players contracted to counties – like Jack Davies at Middlesex – aren’t allowed to play yet for insurance reasons. We would normally see ourselves as trying to bridge the gap between club and first-class cricket. This year, though, we’re thinking about more about participation. The idea is to give everyone a go”.
Ten different men had a bat as Henley piled up 8/275 – including two men retired out – from their 40 overs. Then came the innings break, in which the players snacked around the boundary rather than convening for their usual feast in the pavilion. “Poor Paula”, said Nelson. “She does these wonderful lunches and teas [for the club]. And now, no income. It’s been a tough time for everyone”.
Sky News
Club cricket can resume from this Saturday, with a limited number of spectators allowed and clubhouse bars will be able to open, subject to social distancing rules.
Guidance has been published to enable competitive grassroots team sports to resume - but each individual sport will have to submit an action plan to the government on how they will operate before they can be approved to restart.
For outdoor sports like cricket, supporters will also be allowed to attend in small numbers provided they are in groups of two households only, or no larger than six people from different households, and adhere to social distancing measures...
The CricketerCricket clubs in England will need to maintain a rolling 21-day record of anyone taking part in cricket activity as part of the ECB's guidelines for the recreational game's imminent restart.
The guidance, sent to leagues on Wednesday and formally announced by the governing body on Thursday, includes a requirement for temporary registers to be kept to assist NHS Test & Trace.
Bars, restaurants and pubs - which were allowed to reopen last week - have to keep similar accounts of visitors, in order to be able to identify anyone who may have come into contact with someone carrying Covid-19.
The regulation is just one of an exhaustive list put forward by the ECB following conversations with the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Provided the relevant steps are followed, the ECB has not put a limit on the number of overs a game can last, while 11-a-side matches will also be permitted.
Clubs have been asked to ensure players arrive at the ground in their kit ready to play, with changing rooms to remain closed, while communal teas and drinks should not take place. Instead, recreational cricketers will need to bring their own refreshments with them to their matches.
Social distancing regulations - government advice is currently to keep at least one metre away from anyone outside your own household - should be kept to at all times, including during warm-ups and in post-match social events. However, there is special exception within the ECB guidelines made for wicketkeepers standing up to the stumps, and slip fielders bunching closer together.
A hygiene break should be taken every 20 minutes or six overs, during which players should wash their hands and the ball should be wiped clean. As part of the guidance, all players will be requested to bring their own hand sanitiser with them to the ground.
Clubhouse bars are expected to be allowed to open - though all clubs with alcohol licenses should check with their local authority - but mass congregation indoors should not take place.
Groundsmen will be asked to paint lines adjacent to the popping crease, and two metres away from the umpire and bowler, to indicate where batsmen should run between the wickets.
One of the trickiest issues for club cricketers to tackle as the game returns will be travel. ECB guidance stipulates that government guidelines regarding carpooling should be followed - currently, the advice from No.10 states that individuals from separate households should not share a car unless absolutely necessary. If the situation means vehicle-sharing is essential, everyone should wear facemasks and the vehicle's windows should be opened to allow for ventilation.
The sharing of kit - commonplace at many clubs, whose members do not necessarily own helmets, gloves or pads - is advised against.
Sir Jeremy Farrar, a member of the government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies and one of the world's foremost infectious disease experts, told The Cricketer that helmets and gloves are the most at-risk pieces of cricket equipment when it comes to the potential transmission of Covid-19.
"Sharing equipment is important and I do appreciate that many clubs do share equipment but I would strongly advise not to," he said.
"That will be difficult because a lot of clubs will share helmets but helmets would be where you would logically say would be higher risk. Gloves and bats are higher risks - you touch them with your hands, your hands touch your nose and mouth, and the rubber handle of the bat is somewhere where the virus could persist. Pads would be much less of a risk.
"Overall, if you can reduce the amount of sharing of any kit, the better."
Batsmen will be asked to disinfect the handle of their bats every time they leave the field of play, regardless of whether or not the bat is communal, and wicketkeepers will be asked to do the same with the gloves.
Umpires, meanwhile, will not handle the ball during the innings - at the fall of a wicket it should be placed at the base of the stumps or returned to the bowler. The standing officials will, however, be solely responsible for the re-assembly of the wicket in the event it is broken. Bowlers should not hand any item of clothing to the standing umpire for safe keeping during an over, instead placing it themselves at the boundary's edge.
The ball should go through as few hands as possible between deliveries.
Although prime minister Boris Johnson described it as a "natural vector for disease" in the House of Commons just over a fortnight ago, a peer-reviewed scientific study has shown that sports balls including the cricket ball are low-risk transmitters of coronaviruses.
Research by experts from Imperial College London, the University of Manchester, the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, and the Phoenix Hospital Group of Harley Street, which took place in June and has been seen by The Cricketer, concluded that “the surface of sport balls, notably a football, tennis ball, golf ball, and cricket ball could not harbour inactivated virus when it was swabbed onto the surface, even for 30 seconds”.
It also illustrated that the basic use of disinfectants to wipe equipment, and good general hygiene practices, would prevent the virus from being spread via the passing of the ball.
The study has been examined by the ECB and has informed the new guidelines to clubs regarding recreational cricket’s resumption.
Club committees will need to ensure full risk assessments have taken place on their venues, supplementary hand sanitiser and hand-washing points are made available and clearly signposted, spectators are limited to groups of no more than six and kept separate from other groups, and the relevant personal protective equipment (PPE) required for first-aiders is provided.
The ECB guidance explicitly places the burden on clubs to make members and players fully aware of the relative dangers - however mild - of Covid transmission during a game of cricket. Ultimately, however, the rules ask for common sense.
Most importantly, Farrar said, if anyone is suffering from even the mildest of symptoms or has come into contact with someone who has since shown symptoms of their own, they must make themselves unavailable for selection.
"If anybody doesn’t feel well, the threshold for saying ‘I can’t play this weekend has to be much lower than normal," he said.
"We all know this infection can be transmitted by people before they get symptoms, and even by people with no symptoms at all. If you feel in any way unwell or you have been in contact with someone who has had Covid, excuse yourself from playing.
"You don’t want to put your teammates or the opposition at risk. Don’t play is the most important piece of advice.
"Think through the whole process, from starting at home to getting back home again: what can we do to reduce the risks and make it safe for everybody. The last thing we want is for sport to be shut down again because there is evidence that sport restarting again has been a nidus of mini epidemics."
EwCB statement
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is delighted that the UK Government has given the green light for recreational cricket in England* to return from Saturday 11 July.
The latest update from the UK Government signals progression from Step 3 to Step 4 of ECB’s roadmap to return for the recreational game, meaning competitive cricket matches in England with adjustments to respect hygiene and social distancing would be permitted.
ECB has maintained a constant dialogue with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) throughout this process and the UK Government have stated that COVID-secure guidance will be published in the coming days.
Guidelines are already prepared for the return of recreational cricket and following the Prime Minister’s comments, will now be finalised and published early next week.
ECB Chief Executive Officer, Tom Harrison, said: “It will come as great news to our nation of recreational cricketers that the UK Government has given the green light for the game to return from next weekend. We are grateful for the support of Government to achieve this, in particular Oliver Dowden, Nigel Huddleston and those across DCMS who have helped the return of international, professional and now recreational cricket.
“We have had a responsibility throughout this period of time to work with the UK Government and to plan alongside the cricket network to try and mitigate COVID-19’s impact on the 2020 season. We have maintained a constant dialogue with UK Government and they've been supportive of our desire to see recreational cricket return when it is safe.
“They now agree that with appropriate measures in place to mitigate the risk, it is safe.
“We know how difficult it has been for everyone to go without cricket this summer, and we thank you for your patience.
“As the nation's summer sport we believe we have a role to play in getting people active across the country, especially young people, and it is heartening to know that club cricket – albeit with social distancing in place and some other adaptations – will soon be back across England.”
*The UK Government's announcement pertaining to recreational cricket applies at this time to England only.
NottsCCC
After a substantial early-season stoppage, we are heartened to be able to welcome domestic cricket back to Trent Bridge in a matter of weeks.
The ECB has confirmed that the county game will return from 1 August,with a revised fixture schedule set to be confirmed in July.
The Nottinghamshire squad will return to training during the second half of this week, with requisite safety measures in place to ensure that all activity complies with government requirements.
With all professional sport in the UK currently only allowed to take place behind closed doors, we will share any meaningful updates from the government as and when they arrive. However, all competitive action that takes place at Trent Bridge will be live streamed.
ECB Statement
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has given its approval for the professional men’s county cricket season to begin on 1 August.
The formats to be played during the delayed men’s county season are due to be agreed by the 18 First-Class Counties in early July, with a new fixture schedule to be published thereafter.
A commitment to play women’s domestic cricket in 2020 has also been made, but may differ from the planned rollout of the new women’s elite domestic structure.
The women’s elite domestic structure is the equivalent of the men’s county set-up and is formed of eight regions. Establishing a structure for a new competition during a pandemic has provided specific challenges for the women’s domestic game, most notably having the required medical personnel in place to handle stringent return-to-play protocols.
Preparation and planning for the season across the men’s and women’s domestic game remains subject to ongoing advice from Government and medical professionals with the safety of players, staff and officials the first priority.
The ECB Board has also approved the return to training of Men’s First-Class County players on or before 1 July. Plans for the new men’s season include options for red-ball and white-ball cricket.
A dedicated working group with representatives from the First-Class Counties and ECB has been formed to provide specific focus to Domestic Cricket, while COVID-19 continues to impact the game.
The main objectives for this group are;
· To develop a single set of operating procedures that will incorporate cricket operations, venue operations and medical protocols
· To provide a single delivery model that can be implemented across all 18 FCCs and regional women’s teams
· To provide feedback and progress to the ECB Board and FCC Chairs
ECB Chief Executive Officer, Tom Harrison, said: “It is a significant step for our game that we are able to approve the start of the men’s domestic season for 1 August and one which will be welcomed by everyone connected with County Cricket.
“It follows extensive consultation between the 18 First-Class Counties, the Professionals Cricketers’ Association and ECB and has only been achievable thanks to the significant hard work that continues to occur as we prepare for a domestic season unlike any the game has faced before.
“It must be stressed that the safety of our players, staff and officials has been the first priority through all discussions and Government guidance will continue to shape our planning and preparation.
“We will continue to work closely with both the men’s and women’s domestic game to ensure necessary safety measures are in place to protect the wellbeing of everyone involved.”
Recreational team sports in UK to get green light.
Martyn Ziegler.
Martyn Ziegler.
The Times.
Monday, 22 June 2020.
PTG 3176-15721.
Plans for recreational team sports to return in the UK are expected to receive government approval this week, which could give the green light for club cricket to resume on Saturday week. Sport England submitted a framework on Friday on behalf of all major team sports detailing plans for maintaining social distancing and reducing the risk of coronavirus transmission.
The sports hope this will be signed off by Public Health England, meaning recreational cricket could start as soon as next week, while there are hopes that football and rugby union seasons can start as usual in September, with restrictions on training eased from next month. It would also mean that team sports can be played in schools from the start of the autumn term, subject to social distancing and hygiene measures.
The framework was developed by medical chiefs from team sports including cricket, football, rugby union, hockey, basketball, netball and rugby league, along with input from the department for culture, media and sport. There has been growing confusion among sports leaders that the government has announced that pubs, theatres and cinemas will reopen on July 4 but has not laid out a roadmap for the return of team sports, especially those played outdoors where transmission risk is greatly reduced.
At the moment, training can only take place in groups of six people with no contact. The framework sets out how sports will minimise transmission risk in training and in matches. Each individual sport would then publish its own action plan on the return.
British Asians counting cost of no grass-roots cricket.
Tim Wigmore.
Tim Wigmore.
London Daily Telegraph.
Monday, 29 June 2020.
PTG 3176-15722.
British Asian communities are particularly suffering from the lack of grass-roots cricket this summer, Gulfraz Riaz, the chairman of the National Asian Cricket Council (NACC), has claimed. He says “The NACC would like the government to give the green light to all forms of recreational cricket as soon as possible. I am sure the recreational cricketer will follow guidelines with regards to the use of sweat and saliva and will adhere to work within these”.
While Riaz supports all club cricket returning, he said that he was particularly surprised that tape ball cricket – which uses a tennis ball covered in tape – remains barred among groups of more than six. “If the argument is that there’s more danger of spreading or catching the coronavirus through sweat and saliva, then obviously with tape ball, there’s no usage of sweat or saliva”, said Riaz. “That’s no different to tennis players sharing balls. What’s the difference?”
He added that the lack of grass-roots cricket this season has had “a huge impact”, among many British Asian communities. “It can have a huge detrimental effect to the game in a community that’s hugely passionate about the game”, said Riaz. “A lot of people go and watch their village cricket, club cricket, community cricket – so it’s an interaction of people”. British Asians account for an estimated one third of grass-roots cricketers in England and Wales.
Riaz said that he was particularly concerned that parks cricket, which is often played among British Asian communities at local authority grounds, was in danger of not being played at all this season. Many of those who play parks cricket, said Riaz, were not members of formal clubs so did not have access to good nets. “The deeper we go into the season, the more local authorities might say, sorry, we’re going to need three or four weeks to get the square and outfield ready, and then that may just jeopardise the whole season for the South Asian parks cricketing community”, he explained. “So, there are huge ramifications in terms of not getting any cricket at all”.
As well as supporting the return of club cricket, Riaz called upon clubs to do more to engage the Asian community – notably, by trying harder to ensure that their facilities were used by British Asians. “Where the traditional outfits have got nets, facilities and training outfields, the South Asian cricketing community often don’t have that at all”, he said.
“They’re in the parks, there are no facilities to train on, there’s no invitation from English clubs to possibly look out for the cricketing family. There’s a lot that can be done and there’s probably a lot that isn’t being done. Where is the cricketing family in supporting a part of the family that is making up 35 per cent of the landscape?”
Using the crisis to develop ways of sharing facilities between traditional clubs and park or tape ball teams, said Riaz, might be a way to encourage more British Asians to join formal club set-ups. “You may be able to even pick up some players from the parks cricketing community that may want to go and join the hosting or the parent English club. Members of the cricketing family coming together creates greater understanding and it goes a long way to promote integration”.
Two years ago the England and Wales Cricket Board unveiled an ambitious plan to tackle neglect of south Asian cricket communities in its regions (PTG 2447-12382, 10 May 2018), and later secured £UK1.2 million ($A2.1m) of lottery funding to develop a network of 2,000 volunteer female coaches and mentors as part of a goal to encourage more girls and women to play cricket (PTG 2650-13264, 22 November 2018).
I am confused
ReplyDeleteIs this the final no to any spectators being at matches at Trent Bridge his year ?
I read it almost the opposite. The emphasis on 'currently' - and that the Club will update when this changes.
ReplyDeleteYes, from what I can gather the initial stuff in August, whatever format, will be behind closed doors, streamed live by Teflon Mick personally with his 80s cine camera. We await further updates as to then whether a reduced spectator entry will be allowed, presumably for September games ? Teflon was on Radio football(sorry, Nottingham) this morning. I think he said the new schedule/details will be thrashed out by the counties early next week and confirmed by the EWCB on the Wednesday shortly afterwards. If it transpires it is all behind closed doors then what could be better than watching 6 hours of championship cricket on an i-pad accompanied by the dulcet commentary of Dave" King of the airwaves" Bracegirdle himself ?
ReplyDeleteSJ gives a tongue in the cheek welcome back to Bracey Dave and his fellow commentators . I for one have missed them a lot . We are very lucky to have ball by ball commentary (plus static video cameras)on all 4 day County Championship matches . The various commentaries must be a boon to cricket fans who are in hospital or a care home and unable to visit the grounds personally .There comes a time when the effort is too great to attend in person but still being very interested in whats going on .
ReplyDeleteI dont know if Dave Bracegirdle reads these NottsView postings but I will make a plea just the same . When an upper order Notts batsman gets four "ducks" in a row thanks to loose shots then please dont say how "unlucky" that player has been . Say something a little more valid like " throwing your wicket away like that merits a run in the second team!" or something even a little stronger . I fully realise Dave is a pal to all the players but comments made last season during the Notts dreadful run in 4 day games was not helpful .
But anyway -welcome back to Dave - whenever it happens . His cricket knowledge is very entertaining and he has good re call of incidents from years ago ,and these snippets help to liven things up on slow days out in the middle .
What do others on here think of the Notts radio ball by ball commentary ?
Nobody I've spoken to is interested in live stream. They are members so they can be there to actually watch and experience the match. When we will they be able to get refunds for this season if we aren't able to gain entry as members.
ReplyDelete100 percent spot on Anon. There is a valid argument as 77no points out reg. supporters who can't get to the games due to being unwell or elderly etc that games should be streamed online but yes, we are staunch supporters of the mighty green&golds and we want to be at the games to watch our heroes perform. So yes, surely it's refund tImes if not ? It's just not the same seeing The tattooed forearms of Baz and Trego on the small screen.
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ReplyDeleteHooray, you're back PJ. Hope you are ok ? I thought Tennant and his lynch mob had silenced you for good !?
DeleteWent with friend to West Park, Sir Julian's old ground, with a friend to see West Bridgford Legion v Kimberley
ReplyDeleteLads so happy to be out there playing again. As per article a good and socially distanced crowd, sunshine and the sound of willow on "vector"
Walked Burton Joyce and back as weather so nice and passing Jubilee Park in Gedling, for the very first time ever I saw some sort of cricket match was being played on there. Half in whites, some in tracky bottoms, some even in shorts but nevertheless a game was being contested. And even at this basic level as you state above very pleasing to see and hear the sound of willow on "vector"
DeleteSome of the rules seem a little abstact but not this one - "the Umpires will not handle the balls during the innings". Can't think of a way that this could have been avoided but still a chuckle at least for me. They should have added "oh do stop it Aggers". Light relief when most needed methinks.
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