More Plan B

 

ECB reconsiders schedule to get T20 ‘Blast’ crowds back.
Elizabeth Ammon.
The Times.
Monday, 15 February 2021.
PTG 3422-16983.

The England and Wales Cricket Board’s (EWCB) 2021 summer domestic schedule could be rearranged to push its Twenty20 ‘Blast’ series to the end of the season after indications that restrictions on spectators at sporting events could still be in place until July.

The present schedule has the ‘Blast' beginning in June, but several counties have suggested that the first class County Championship, starting on April 8 and scheduled to be played in two blocks in early and late season, is either played in its entirety by mid-June or cancelled. A shortened first-class competition, similar to last year’s Bob Willis Trophy, would be played instead, perhaps with 10 rounds of matches instead of 14.

Contingency plans are being drawn up by the EWCB and the counties’ professional game group, which is led by officials from Surrey, Durham, Sussex and Nottinghamshire, to rearrange the domestic schedule to play the majority of the ‘Blast' in September — as it was in 2020 — to allow the maximum chance of counties being able to welcome spectators. The ‘Blast' is the primary source of ticket income for most counties, bringing in about £UK25 million ($A44.7m) a year.

The Championship and the ‘Blast' must both fit around the flagship eight-team The Hundred series. The EWCB is determined that its new competition, postponed last year, is played during the school holidays to maximise ticket sales and television viewing figures.  However, no decision will be made on altering the summer schedule until the UK government has set out a clearer plan for the return of spectators.

14/02/2021

SUNDAY MAIL EXCLUSIVE: County Championship could be postponed again as ECB draw up contingency plans... but the Hundred will remain in summer slot whatever happens.

• County Championship will be postponed if contingency plans come into force

• The Bob Willis Trophy was presented to the first-class champions last year

• Regardless of the potential outcomes the Hundred will go ahead in the summer

By RICHARD GIBSON FOR MAIL ON SUNDAY

• The County Championship will be postponed for the second season in a row if contingency plans being drawn up for the 2021 domestic schedule come into force.

• Discounting wartime, the Championship pennant was not contested for the first time in 130 years last summer and only the Bob Willis Trophy will be presented to the first-class champions once more in the event of the ECB revamping the fixture list they published in two stages either side of Christmas.

• Plan B of the county calendar is ready to be implemented amid concerns that crowds will still not be permitted to attend matches in June when the Vitality Blast is set to begin.

The County Championship could be postponed in 2021 for the second year in a row

The Blast has long been viewed as essential to county finances and playing matches behind closed doors again would cost them £25million based on recent years when combined attendances have hovered around one million.

Therefore a decision on whether to flip the season, pushing the majority of the Twenty20 back from midsummer to September — increasing the prospects of venues operating at greater than base-level capacity — is expected soon after February 22 when the road map out of lockdown is presented by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Some MPs suggest Covid restrictions will begin to be lifted in May, but county chiefs view it as prudent to wait for the chance for fans being welcomed in significant numbers for as many T20 games as possible. One said: ‘It is without doubt the most sensible option.’

If the switch happens, the Championship aspect of the first-class competition — when the teams are restructured into three divisions on points won during the 10-game group stage — would be removed from the final weeks of the season.

Whatever happens, the new Hundred tournament will remain in its slot between July 21-August 21 because of TV commitments.

Cash issues currently dog the county game.