If you're feeling low, lonely, bored or fed up this summer, The Cricketer will be there for you

SAM MORSHEAD: In these surreal times, cricket remains a crucial outlet for so many of us. With that in mind, I'm delighted to today unveil how The Cricketer intend to keep you entertained over the course of the coming weeks

We all face a summer unlike any we have ever experienced.

In the wake of the Prime Minister’s address on Monday evening, lamenting the lack of our silly little game seems a tad absurd. Around the United Kingdom, and across the world, thousands of people of all ages are fighting for their lives, aided by the extraordinary bravery of frontline medical staff.

Of course cricket is secondary. Of course it is.

Yet our sport, like all sports, remains important in these times. 

It provides a welcome distraction from the increasingly surreal nature of the year 2020, a way out for those struggling with isolation, a release for pent-up emotions which might otherwise manifest themselves in more malicious ways.

Cricket is a friend, and at a time when we all find ourselves distanced from those we care about most, we need that friend more than ever.

So, this summer, The Cricketer promises to be that friend. 

We promise to fill lonely moments. To distract you when you’re bored. To give you cricket where there otherwise would be none. 

Our usual news service will be taking a break. We won’t be giving our journalists a story quota each day, instead allowing them space to generate yet more detailed, interesting, absorbing, lose-yourself-in-the-story content. 

We won’t bombard you with articles about coronavirus, starting right now. We won’t chase 150 words of nonsense to satisfy an appetite for clicks. 

Today we’re unveiling an alternative summer schedule of cricket which we hope will provide many of you and your loved ones with a reason to love staying at home.

The Quarantine Cup

In mid-April, we will launch The Cricketer’s Quarantine Cup - a PS4 showdown between the counties and representatives of the wider cricket community - with one match broadcast every weekday evening and four over the course of the weekend. 

We’ll give the competition all the trimmings we usually reserve for the county season so be prepared for previews, post-match interviews and dedicated commentary.

The identities of the players taking part will be released via our social media channels over the coming days, so keep an eye out.

The National Corridor Cup

As we all know, the enjoyment of cricket is not only in the watching. 

With that in mind, in late April we will open entries to the National Corridor Cup, a competitive hybrid of corridor cricket, office cricket and one-tip, which is open to absolutely everyone - from England internationals to kids stuck at home. 

All you need is a bat (or something that can be used as a bat), a ball (or equivalent), a cameraphone, and an inside space. That could be a kitchen, living room, hallway, bathroom, garage or even the cupboard under the stairs.

Rules and instruction videos to come, plus a dedicated microsite on www.thecricketer.com.

The Cricketer’s Club Cricket Quest

A summer without club cricket will be hard for many of us. But with The Cricketer’s Club Cricket Quest you’ll be able to invest yourself fully in all the petty politics and crap captaincy you’d usually endure. 

Our text adventure challenge is pure 80s gaming - with every decision you make having a knock-on effect on the future of Downton Graves CC. 

Can you lead the club out of the Melton Mowbray Premier League Division Two, without upsetting the players and losing your outfield to a swarm of badgers? 

Find out from early May.

Pub Quiz @ The Cricketer

For those of you worried about missing out on your weekly (or more) trip to the boozer, fear not. We’ve got you covered.

Every Wednesday evening at 6pm, starting next week, grab yourself a beer, get on our social media channels and take part in the fiendish Pub Quiz @ The Cricketer. 

We’ll be keeping a leaderboard each week, with prizes on offer for those with the most points once normality has returned.

Cricket Captains play Cricket Captain

Have you ever stood at fine leg and thought to yourself, “skip really doesn’t have a clue”, but always been too shy to say it? Well, this summer we’re going to establish once and for all whether captains are actually any good at captaincy.

Our Cricket Captains Play Cricket Captain series will challenge skippers from various levels of the game - from top to bottom - to take on a single season on International Cricket Captain. 

Who will thrive, who will struggle, and who will resort to holding down the spacebar and getting it all over and done with as quickly as possible?

Keep up to date with the challenge with a regular podcast and blog.

New podcasts and online initiatives

Talking of podcasts, we will place The Cricketer’s Cricket Club on temporary hiatus and introduce two new shows - “The XI” and “A Moment In Time”. Details to come. 

We’re also introducing a regular online Q&A - “Ask The Analyst” - in which our editor Simon Hughes will answer readers’ questions.

The best cricket writing

And then there’s the content for which we’re most famous.

Next year is The Cricketer Magazine’s 100th birthday, and across that century we have consistently provided engaging cricket writing. Even without live action, that won’t stop in 2020 - and we’ll be taking that same outlook with our digital content.

Our writers have been freed up to dig out stories you have not heard before, interviews you can’t put down, and features which broaden the mind. 

We will have a line-up of columns through the week from our staff writers - Huw Turbervill, Nick Friend, Nick Howson and James Coyne - as well as Simon Hughes.

I’m delighted to have also recruited the doyen of county cricket writing, Paul Edwards, for a weekly column which will take you away from the madness of the moment. His first piece will be live on Good Friday.

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All I ask of you today is to buy into it all.

It won’t be perfect by any stretch; we’re a small team on The Cricketer’s digital desk, spread across various living rooms and kitchens in Wiltshire, High Wycombe, darkest Sussex, Suffolk and north London, and this summer is unlike anything we have experienced before from an operational and logistics perspective. 

But we’re confident we can offer you the cricket fix you crave, and be that friend when you’re feeling sad, lonely, bored or fed up.

This summer gives us the opportunity to give the ambiguous concept of “the spirit of cricket” indisputable definition once and for all.

Go well. Stay safe. Speak soon.

Sam