Bears Pilot Proposal

 

Warwickshire chief executive Stuart Cain has responded to the government's suggested roadmap towards bringing back crowds to sport by arguing the case for County Championship pilot fixtures.

The scheduled start for the return of the Championship is 8 April - four days before a key lockdown easing stage.

A series of 'pilot' events are to run in April ahead of opening grounds up to a maximum of 10,000 crowds from 17 May.

And Cain argues that Championship cricket would make an ideal pilot.

Warwickshire's Edgbaston home and Surrey's Kia Oval were both used as crowd pilot venues for pre-season friendlies in late July last year, ahead of the start of the Bob Willis Trophy on 1 August.

But plans for fans to be admitted for the first two days of the opening Trophy matches that followed were called off by Prime Minister Boris Johnson following a spike in coronavirus cases.

In the end, the truncated 2020 cricket season was played in empty stadiums. But Championship cricket does not attract anywhere near the sort of crowds that flock to England internationals or mid-summer T20 Blast games.

And Cain argues that Edgbaston is now better equipped than ever to host further crowd pilot games, especially for the Bears' opening Championship fixtures.

"It can't be any worse to have people in the Bullring shopping centre but not have people at Edgbaston," Cain told BBC CWR.

"If you think about it, Edgbaston is a four-acre park in the suburbs of Birmingham. It's an open air site with 25,000 seats, so if you can go shopping in the Bullring, surely you'd be able to come to Edgbaston, watching safely in the open air.

"We can stagger people's entrances. We've split Edgbaston into three segments now with three separate entrances. We can bring people in in a controlled manner in an hour or so.

"We've got contactless payments. We've built an app that allows people to get food and drink to their seats so people haven't got to stand in a crush at bars.

"We could do rapid testing. We could build a centre on the car park like we did with the testing centre last year.

"They're talking about a 10-minute test. We could do that. We could build a second perimeter if we decide to go down the vaccine passport route."

Cain still broadly welcomed the prospect of national lockdown measures being lifted and said that the announcement gave "much welcomed clarity on the way forward", both for cricket and Edgbaston's conference business.

"It means that limited crowds can start enjoying cricket from May with a full return in June," he added.

"However, if people can shop at the Bullring and Alton Towers can accommodate thrill-seekers from 12 April, why could we not stage spectator pilots at our County Championship matches at Edgbaston?

"This would help the wider professional sports industry to be equipped for welcoming more spectators in the following months.

"In early to mid-June we could then work with the government to host increased capacity pilots at the Test matches between England and New Zealand, at Lord's and Edgbaston.

"It is a big leap to go from 25% to 100% capacity, without pilots in between, to make sure that sport is operationally ready for large crowds." BBC Sport

Warwickshire County Cricket Club Chief Executive Stuart Cain comments on today’s announcement from Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the roadmap for lifting the national lockdown and subsequent restrictions.

“Today’s announcement gives much welcomed clarity on the way forward, both for cricket and Edgbaston’s conference business,” said Cain. 

“It means that limited crowds can start enjoying cricket from May with a full return in June.” 

“However, if people can shop at the Bullring and Alton Towers can accommodate thrill-seekers from April 12, why could we not stage spectator pilots at our LV= Insurance County Championship matches at Edgbaston at the same time? This would help the wider professional sports industry to be equipped for welcoming more spectators in the following months.

Stuart Cain

“In early to mid-June we could then work with Government to host increased capacity pilots at the LV= Insurance men’s Test matches between England and New Zealand, at Lord’s and Edgbaston, ahead of a full return a few weeks later.  It is a big leap to go from 25 per cent to 100 per cent capacity, without pilots in between, to make sure that sport is operationally ready for large crowds.

“Cricket is an open-air sport, and we have the technology, space and operational experience at Edgbaston to deliver a socially distanced experience. So why not get the venues match-fit before letting large scale crowds back?”...

Leicestershire County Cricket Club welcome the ‘roadmap’ out of lockdown announced by the UK Government earlier today.

CEO, Sean Jarvis said: “It is fantastic news that the roadmap out of lockdown has been announced today by the UK Government. We certainly welcome the news, particularly related to the return of recreational sport and the news of the planned return of fans to stadiums.

“There is a long way to go and we must stick to the rules as restrictions are eased, however this is fantastic news and a positive step.

“We will continue to work closely with the ECB and stakeholders to continue to do everything we can to make the Uptonsteel County Ground safe for our fans, members and partners to return this season.”

Kent Cricket is encouraged by today’s announcement by the UK Government of a ‘roadmap’ out of lockdown and COVID-19 restrictions.

The Club will continue to work closely with Government and ECB to understand the detailed steps as they relate to cricket. Further information explaining how the measures will be implemented at all levels of the game will be provided as soon as it is available.

Kent Cricket’s CEO, Simon Storey, said: “We were very pleased to learn that the return of both elite and recreational sport is an integral part of the roadmap out of lockdown.

“Coupled with a full summer of recreational cricket across the County, the prospect of Kent players walking out in front of crowds at The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence from mid-May fills everyone with hope.

“The players’ pre-season training is well underway and the off-field team are already working hard to ensure that we are ready to welcome Members and fans back to watch live cricket in a safe and secure environment as soon as possible.”