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Leicestershire still plan to return to training this week despite local coronavirus lockdown
Sam Morshead
The club took the necessary advice overnight and, subject to confirmation from both Leicester City Council and Leicestershire County Council, the players will train at the Fischer County Ground from Wednesday
Leicestershire expect their players to return to training as normal from Wednesday, despite the region being put into local lockdown following a spike in Covid-19 cases.
Non-essential shops in the East Midlands city will shut, most schoolchildren will have to stay at home and the proposed opening of pubs and restaurants this weekend will not apply, with health secretary Matt Hancock claiming that 10 per cent of England’s confirmed coronavirus cases over the past week have come from the Leicester area.
Despite the reinforced restrictions, however, Leicestershire’s first-team squad are still due to restart preparations for the new campaign on July 1, after the ECB confirmed on Monday that the season will get under way on August 1.
The club took the necessary advice overnight and, subject to confirmation from both Leicester City Council and Leicestershire County Council, the players will train at the Fischer County Ground from Wednesday, chief executive Sean Jarvis confirmed to The Cricketer.
A contingency plan, involving the use of an outground outside the lockdown area, is also being worked up. For the club to switch venues for training sessions, a fresh risk assessment would need to be undertaken.
The new lockdown is only planned to be in place for two weeks but, should it extend into August, there is a possibility that Leicestershire’s matches may have to be moved.
A travel ban to and from Leicester has not been implemented as part of the lockdown measures, but only essential travel will be permitted. Jarvis said that the immediate advice to the club was that players would be permitted to travel to and from Grace Road to train.
Recreational cricket in the region is still trying to establish how it will be affected by the revised guidelines.
In Hancock’s statement to MPs on Monday night, no mention was made of tightening the restrictions on the maximum number of people from different households who can gather together, which currently stands at six.
An ECB spokesperson said the governing body has been aware of the possibility of local lockdowns being enforced.
“UK government guidance will take precedence,” they said.
“If and when these local lockdowns occur, those affected will revert to the UK government situation until local lockdown is over.”
A statement from the county's cricket board on Tuesday, however, advised that the recreational game in the area is temporarily suspended until a full assessment of the restrictions' implications has been undertaken.
27/06
Derbyshire County Cricket Club can confirm that the squad will return to training on Wednesday 1 July and begin preparations for the 2020 season.
The phased return, which will closely follow current government guidance, initially allows players to train in one-hour, one-to-one slots with coaches.
This schedule will gradually increase over the next few weeks to include larger group sessions, while the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) continue to plan for the return of domestic cricket in August.
Head of Cricket, Dave Houghton, said: “This is another positive step towards playing competitive cricket this summer and that’s something everyone at Derbyshire is working towards.
“All of the players have been proactive in managing their fitness, but now we can pick up a bat and ball again with the aim of returning to competitive cricket in August.”
Somerset have announced that their First Teamers will be returning to training on 1st July
Is Ravi Rampaul still with them ? If so, wonder what state he'll come back in ?
ReplyDeleteLeaner and meaner if last winter (2018-2019) was the direction of travel
ReplyDeleteWell its a very messy situation all round . With local flare ups and local "lockdowns"its obvious that nothing that the ECB come up with can be set in tablets of stone . It looks like a very flexible position all over the Country . Poor cricket fans may not know from week to week which matches will actually take place .
ReplyDeleteI fully understand that . If the virus got out of control than we would be back to square one . Lets hope the good people of Leicester fully co operate with their fresh lockdown instructions .
The BIG question remains ! When will fans be allowed into Trent Bridge ( in controlled numbers) to witness the action first hand . The general opinion seems to be the first week in September. Cooler days and fading light will play a big part .
We await developments with baited breath and its fingers crossed !!
I've contacted the club and asked them to painstakingly calculate who are the fans who have been to the most games on the most days since the membership cards replaced the paper stubbs. If only 500 or a 1,000 are allowed entry priority must be given to those who have suffered down there in all forms of weather. The 'sunshine' glory boys should play second fiddle. I realise this is harsh and discriminatory but the last thing we all want is for someone to 'cry off' if it's a cold, windy bleak day when they've deprived someone else a chance to go who wouldn't be put off by our lovely British weather.
ReplyDeleteI just hope some crowd is let in. The economics side has to be looked into. Read Mark Wood's blog on the bbc cricket website regarding the procedures the players have to go through to stay in their bio bubble. So why are the counties even contemplating playing 4 day cricket, hotel stays have to be a no no. Stick to 50 overs and 20 overs, the costs will be lower. My other worry is, what happens if the whole 2020 domestic season is behind closed doors, the clubs would lose a fortune. Wigan have gone into administration today, behind closed doors sport only suits the rich.... the long term future has to be the priority
ReplyDeleteYes, Mike, worst case scenario guess the counties would have to cough up the membership fees as wouldn't have thought too many would be happy with just watching the stuff streamed ? Has anyone seen the current England warm up game on the ECB website, surely it's got to get better than this ? At least our picture quality is good though. Apparently the Forest in-house streaming is awful quality. Aberdeen are hoping for 7,500 if distancing down to a metre, so if we can accommodate 5 or 6,000 at our place majority of members will be ok, presumably. There's bound to be some elderly members who would consider it still to risky this year or don't want to take the dogs blanket from him for games scheduled for December.
DeleteThe Forest ifollow stream is more than adequate, picture quality is fine, has multiple camera angles and with commentary provided from BBC Nottingham is probably better to watch than that provided for the disciples of Murdoch TV. Regarding Aberdeen they hope to get crowds in by the end of September...after the planned Blast has finished. I hope the government sees sense and lets a reduced crowd into cricket grounds in August, it will a good testing ground for the return of crowds into football. This will only happen if the cricket authorities lobby them. First though they have to get recreational cricket started...
DeleteHaven't seen it myself as will not cough up a tenner for each game, I was going on what Reds fans at work were saying. Suspect crowds will be allowed in on reduced capacity basis no earlier than September unfortunately as think they'll be committed to get back playing behind closed doors first to see how it goes, then make the dreaded decision.
DeleteForest offered access to i player for the rest of the season as an option instead of refunds to us season ticket holders.Many people had problems getting the service on the first game, since then the coverage has been very good.several camera angles and replays augmented by the Radio Nottm commentary .think you can still buy a pass on a match by match basis, which I had never done before, but may do as an option in the future.
ReplyDelete