ECB delay season to July 1 due to coronavirus outbreak but postponement of The Hundred yet to be signed off

SAM MORSHEAD: Following a board meeting on Thursday, the governing body announced on Friday morning that the entire June schedule will be moved or abandoned in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak

No professional cricket will be played in England and Wales until at least July 1, the ECB have announced, but the formal postponement of The Hundred until 2021 has yet to be signed off.

Following a board meeting on Thursday, the governing body announced on Friday morning that the entire June schedule will be moved or abandoned in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

Administrators had previously pushed the season’s start date back until May 28 but, with the UK only now reaching the peak of the Covid-19 outbreak and with the country remaining in lockdown for at least the next two weeks, that always appeared unlikely.

The ECB have taken into account the advice and guidance of health officials and the government in coming to the decision to further delay the campaign.

Nine rounds of County Championship matches have now been formally lost, but the intention is to play the Vitality T20 Blast at some point before, or perhaps during the autumn.

The Blast is the counties’ primary source of income and is most crucial to the ongoing sustainability of the first-class structure. 

An elongated season remains possible, with suggestions that the domestic campaign could be extended into October. ESPN Cricinfo reported on Thursday, meanwhile, that Abu Dhabi is set to offer its Sheikh Zayed Stadium complex to the ECB in an effort to complete some semblance of a season in the months between October and January.

England’s international summer is up in the air. In their statement on Friday, the ECB said that matches against West Indies for the men and India for the women would be shifted backwards in the calendar and played, if possible, during the July to September period.

^{The County Ground at Taunton lies empty}

Whether or not these series remain viable is currently impossible to predict, with the coronavirus pandemic prompting many countries to significantly limit international travel. Many governments are also expected to warn against their citizens travelling abroad for much of the rest of the year, in an attempt to negate the potency of a second wave of the disease.

The ECB continue to look into the possibility of creating bio-secure settings for matches, which would be played behind closed doors and with minimal man power on site.

Stadiums with on-location hotels - such as Emirates Old Trafford and the Ageas Bowl - are thought to be under consideration, with only individuals integral to the delivery of the event - players, officials, backroom staff, security, stadium management and broadcast crew - permitted to attend.

There are numerous complexities to this sort of arrangement, however, and events held in such circumstances remain at risk to the virus. 

A scenario whereby England’s white and red-ball teams play matches concurrently has also been investigated.

The Hundred - the ECB’s new flagship competition, which was meant to launch in mid-July - is expected to be postponed until 2021, but a decision has not been formally reached.

A second board meeting on the topic has been scheduled for Wednesday. 

ECB chief executive Tom Harrison said: “Our role as a national governing body during a crisis of this scale requires us to carefully plan alongside cricket’s stakeholders and supporters to attempt to overcome COVID-19’s impact on this season.

“As much as we remain hopeful that we can deliver some cricket this summer, we are in the midst of a worldwide crisis and our priority – over and above the playing of professional sport –  will be to protect the vulnerable, key workers and society as a whole over.

"Our biggest challenge, along with other sports, is how we could seek to implement a bio-secure solution that offers optimum safety and security for all concerned"

“That’s why, simply put, there will be no cricket unless it’s safe to play. Our schedule will only go ahead if government guidance permits. 

“Our biggest challenge, along with other sports, is how we could seek to implement a bio-secure solution that offers optimum safety and security for all concerned. The guidance we receive from Westminster will help us shape how we deliver this. 

“I want to thank everyone involved in this complex and sensitive work.  There have clearly never been times like this and my colleagues at the ECB and across the game have been exemplary in this period. It has been refreshing, but not surprising, to see how cricket has come together.”

The UK nationwide lockdown was this week extended for a minimum of a further three weeks. The country has seen 18,738 deaths in hospitals as a result of the illness, with nearly 150,000 cases reported. In reality, those figures are believed to be several times higher owing to a general lack of testing in the population, and the numbers of deaths in care homes and at home not being included in the headline statistic.

Even if the government relaxes the lockdown restrictions over the coming weeks, allowing some businesses to reopen, strict social distancing measures are likely to remain in place.

That will have a major knock-on effect on professional sport, which would find it incredibly hard to safely operate within such boundaries.

Recreational cricket, like its professional cousin, will continue to be hit. On Friday, the ECB said that the amateur game remains suspended until further notice.

A £61million relief fund for the grassroots game has already been launched by the ECB, with clubs able to claim grants in an effort to help see them through the summer.