If I can book myself in for a leisurely net at my local club, then shouldn't the pros be able to?

NICK FRIEND: For us amateur players, netting in the current climate provides a feelgood reminder of different times. Imagine, then, just how acute the frustration is for those for whom cricket - as an occupation and a passion - is on hold

I have netted six times in the last fortnight in my guise as a recreational cricketer. For what purpose, I don't really know: taking part in a competitive game still feels some way off.

But nonetheless, the opportunity has felt too enticing to turn down. The sense of normality brought about by each drive to the ground has lifted a weight from the mind. It has been heartening to see each available cage as busy as social distancing measures will allow, pleasing to know that others have similarly leaned on the club – a place we call home – for exercise and activity since it was announced that nets could reopen, albeit under strict guidelines.

I don’t find it an exaggeration to suggest that, for many, this is a way of life. And restarting that way of life, even tentatively, will only aid our emotional and physical wellbeing. I wrote in a previous column that, for several volunteers and amateurs, the hardest part of these months might not simply be the Saturdays without play, but the absence of the day-to-day buzz – the loss of that summer identity. I have certainly felt the impact of the void. And returning to practice has both alleviated and accentuated it.

While it has been lovely to feel leather on willow once more, the whispering melancholy of it all has been unavoidable. It is hard to take a panoramic scan of an empty field – squares fully prepared, grass mowed within an inch of perfection – and not wonder what in any other year would have been.

The blue skies, the throbbing sun in a magnificent early summer – it has been everything we ask of May. Only, devoid of cricket.

That said, just being there has softened the blow; being able to stroll up to the nets and strap those pads on has felt like an unusual privilege. 

Yet, for furloughed county cricketers, none of this is an option. It seems illogical that I can break up my day with an hour of hitting balls and turning over my arm, while professionals have been advised against doing so, even if solely for leisure.

For us weekend clubbies, netting in the current climate provides a feelgood reminder of different times. Imagine, then, just how acute the pain is for those for whom cricket as an occupation is on hold.

As one player on the county circuit told me: “In my head, going for a net is like going for a walk.” Another added: “I’m desperate to play.”

By the time Gloucestershire allrounder Ryan Higgins took to Twitter to voice his own frustration at the situation, others had already made contact with me, citing similar concerns.

“Struggling to understand why we can’t train as a recreational cricketer whilst in furlough,” Higgins wrote. “Not training for the employee, not training for money. Why can’t we train only for the love of the sport? Baffles me.” At the last count, his tweet has been liked more than 300 times, with several of those coming from fellow professional players and coaches.

It is a curious dilemma that has evoked consternation and confusion. There has been no particular blame game, but differing advice has come from the PCA and ECB, who are seeking clarification on the matter.

^{Recreational players have been able to return to nets, albeit adhering to social distancing measures}

One county player told The Cricketer: “At the very start of lockdown when it was just your 30 minutes of exercise, we were encouraged to find ways to keep bowling within the guidelines. We weren’t allowed to bowl in public parks, but if you had a garden or somewhere you could bowl into, you could use them.

“But we’ve now been categorically told that we’re not to train. We’ve been told that we are not allowed to partake in any explicit cricket training because although we are furloughed, we still come under the duty of care of the ECB. And as a result, we have to adhere to their codes of conduct.

“Having a duty of care to us, they cannot in all confidence allow us to train on those facilities [at local clubs] because they don’t meet the criteria that they deem necessary to return to training. That’s what we’ve been told and what I understand. It’s frustrating from a human point of view. It’s strange to see people playing and not be able to play.

“If it was purely a health thing, the lives of cricketers are no more important than those of other people who are able to go and net.

“Strange is a good word, but it is also a word that has been used a lot in the last ten weeks. So much is strange.

“I can’t imagine how hard it is for the people in positions of authority to make these decisions and I don’t believe that the ECB are doing it out of any motivation other than that they think it is the best way to protect the game to ultimately get the game back on.”

According to the terms of the furlough scheme, employees are prohibited from undertaking any work that makes money or provides services for their organisation.

Government guidelines state that job-related training is permitted as long as it does not involve “making money for your employer or a company linked or associated to your employer” or “providing services to your employer or a company linked or associated to your employer”. Yet, whether that meaning of “training” extends to the kind carried out by athletes seemingly remains unresolved. Insurance has also been mentioned as a possible stumbling block. It has left counties, governing bodies and players stuck.

Ian Cockbain, the Gloucestershire batsman, replied to Higgins’ initial tweet, adding: “I’m pretty sure employees are allowed to still further their knowledge through study/exams. Surely us training is the same as studying?”

Benny Howell, a teammate of the pair, has since tweeted on Wednesday evening: “Having a hit and a bowl in the local nets is something we would do in our downtime, so it's ridiculous we are not currently [allowed] to do anything right now. Common sense must prevail here.”

^{Furloughed county pros have been advised against netting at local clubs}

This feels especially relevant, of course, now that the ECB have selected 55 players to return to training ahead of the international summer.

With no start date to any domestic schedule yet confirmed and little clarity on what a shortened season – should it go ahead at all – will look like, it is hard to believe that county cricketers could be seen to be breaching furlough regulations simply by measuring their run-up or marking their guard down at their nearest amateur club.

These months have surely been complex enough for those in the current limbo of the domestic game without being restricted even from taking part in casual nets.

Another player told The Cricketer: “Since that recreational rule came out, it has almost created a greyer area for everyone. How can people be stopped from going to have a net? I know it’s a tough situation – I’m not for one second saying it’s not. But there has been so little communication.

“I think it’s mainly around the insurance of guys going to local clubs and the facilities not being up to the standard of professional sport, which is so ridiculous anyway.

“Half our training sessions during the summer are away from county grounds – they’re at club grounds. It does make me wonder going forward, can I go and play a club game or go and train with a club? It seems like the rule has been taken maybe a bit too far.

“Everyone has got their own way of dealing with [this period]. It has probably meant that the guys who really struggle without that training have just found it a little bit tougher because you can’t even go for a net with your mates. I don’t even know if we could go for a game of beach cricket.”

A Daily Mail report into domestic rugby last week has provided hope that a sensible solution can be reached.

Premiership clubs have been advised by the government that their players could return to training without being taken off furlough on the basis that HMRC had concluded that simply training would not contravene the conditions of the scheme.

A follow-up story in the same newspaper then suggested that the same rule could be applicable to cricket and football clubs.

Fingers crossed; a similar, logical outcome arrives for county players.

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