To club players who don't want to play even a shortened season, I say remember the love of the game

HUWZAT ON WEDNESDAY: With the recreational game on its knees and clubs crowdfunding to survive, surely paying pros is no longer viable

• More from Huw Turbervill

Even if some club cricket survives this summer, apparently there are players who don't want a truck of it.

Hard to believe, isn't it? But it's true.

Now I'll make allowances for people who fear for their health. Maybe they have an underlying condition. Perhaps they just feel it's safer to sit this one out.

I just want to get out there and play.

Feel the camaraderie, enjoy the fresh air. Score some runs. Have a bowl. Even enjoy fielding. (I do love a bit of goalkeeping at point).

For some, though, that's not enough – especially players at the top end of the club, the 1st and 2nd XIs.

They crave competitiveness. They need the chance to win titles, and fight for promotion/relegation.

They apparently intend to sit out the season and start afresh in 2021.

I find it baffling, but there you are.

With at least the first half of the recreational season wiped out, it seems incredibly unlikely that anything resembling a normal league campaign will survive.

It's possible that the second half may survive, but will teams want to risk relegation at the end of a truncated campaign?

It's the same logic that suggests the County Championship will not be played this summer in any form – teams fought so hard to scramble into the new 10-team top flight that they will not want to risk that for a five-match season.

^{Cricket clubs around the country will lie empty for the foreseeable future}

So what could survive in the club season this summer?

Perhaps new, more local, one-off tournaments. Or maybe just a series of friendlies. That will do for me.

There is a financial angle to the reticence of some. A lot of the top club players are paid. It is doubtful they will be this season, though.

Many clubs are in the brown stuff. This is like a recession hitting small businesses. Nay, all businesses.

The ECB have announced £21m in interest-free loans, but it remains to be seen what this can do.

Clubs are asking players to pay their subs now. Others are launching crowdfunding campaigns on websites like GoFundMe.

"They shouldn't be doing this if they pay players," a team-mate says to me.

He has a point.

"I have a huge issue with clubs paying players and then asking lower-team members for subs and match fees."

Will paying amateurs become less frequent now? I have always thought it's a bit daft.

I've seen northern league games where a pro will get 70 and take an eight-for, then his oppo scores 80 and takes seven. That's fun for the others!

Of course some of the pros' greatness will rub off on the others. And they bring a lot of money in through sponsorship and coaching. And some clubs have YouTube channels that are starting to make some money. But still...

Are there really club cricketers out there who will not play this summer, if given the chance?

Come on, remember the love of it.

^{Could Joe Root and Eoin Morgan captain England teams concurrently later this summer?}

Could the coronavirus crisis reduce the number of first-class counties?

There was a rumour over the winter – denied by the ECB – that Leicestershire want to withdraw from the Championship and play just white-ball stuff.

What if there was a 40-county T20 set-up? A Premier League of 10, then north and south 'championships' of 15 each.

It will allow the likes of Leicestershire to keep going, and see Lincolnshire and others have a go.

If there is no County Championship this summer, what about North v South trials for Test places?

North: Keaton Jennings, Dom Sibley, Joe Root (c), Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wk), Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Matt Parkinson, Stuart Broad, James Anderson

South (from): Rory Burns (c), Zak Crawley, Dan Lawrence, Joe Denly, Ollie Pope, Ben Foakes (wk), Sam Curran, Craig Overton, Jofra Archer, Moeen Ali, Jack Leach or Dom Bess, Olly Stone

Could be fun, especially with tour spots to India – hopefully – at stake.

But I hate the idea of two England teams playing at once. It devalues the cap.

It's true that there are fewer players excelling in all three formats now.

And it's not without precedent. Different England (Test) teams played simultaneously in 1891/92 (one in Australia, one in South Africa); and in 1929/30 (New Zealand/West Indies).

It's also quite fun to predict what the sides would look like:

Test: Burns, Sibley, Crawley, Root (c), Lawrence, Pope, Foakes, Leach or Bess, Archer, Broad, Anderson

White-ball: Jason Roy, Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Eoin Morgan (c), Stokes, Buttler (wk), S Curran or Tom Curran, Moeen, Woakes, Wood, Adil Rashid

But I still despise it.