Cricket purists warned to accept truncated English season amid coronavirus pandemic

Nasser Hussain says all levels of the sport must be prepared to compromise after the ECB confirmed a delay to the new season until May 28

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Former England captain Nasser Hussain insists the cricketing community has to accept the inevitability of a heavily disrupted season due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The England and Wales Cricket Board have confirmed the season will be delayed by seven weeks until at least May 28, while recreational events have been postponed indefinitely.

Such a move leaves all levels of the sport - from the England national teams to grassroots village sides - facing a summer of uncertainty.

Scientific advisers for the UK government believes confirmed cases of the virus will peak in early June, but social distancing measures could be extended beyond that.

Contingency plans for the season starting in either July, August or September are currently being drawn up by the ECB, in consolation with the game's main stakeholders.

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The T20 Blast and The Hundred, as well as England's fixtures, are set to take priority - a decision Hussain believes is the only one available to the authorities.

"One thing the ECB will have to do is prioritise the financial decisions in all this - Test match cricket, white-ball cricket," he told Sky Sports.

"Maybe the purist will just have to suck it up this summer with the County Championship. These are the decisions the ECB will have to make with their stakeholders and their partners.

"Cricketers, groundsmen, clubs, umpires - anyone involved in the professional game - would have just wanted some kind of clarity and date to work to.

"I don't think the ECB had any choice [but to delay the season] but it was good there was a bit of clarity, even though the date is probably going to be arbitrary and probably going to be moved."