Recreational cricket could still be back in early July as ECB remain confident government will give all-clear

SAM MORSHEAD: The ECB has been lobbying government for the amateur game's return for 10 weeks and was surprised by the prime minister's comments on Tuesday. They are still encouraging leagues to prepare clubs for a July 4 comeback

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Recreational cricket may well still return in early July, despite the government failing to give the all-clear this week.

The sport was not included in a raft of lockdown relaxations announced by prime minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday, sparking consternation in clubs across the country.

While bars, restaurants, cinemas and outdoor gyms were told they could reopen from July 4, Johnson said that cricket would have to wait while the government took further advice on the possible dangers of transmission via the ball - which he described as a “natural vector for disease”.

The ECB were understood to have been surprised by the prime minister’s comments in the House of Commons, given the collaborative nature of the work between the governing body, its recreational stakeholders and the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport over recent weeks.

During the weekend prior, the ECB directed leagues across the country to communicate to clubs the need to prepare for a resumption of recreational cricket from early July.

Short-handed matches of six or eight-a-side were part of the proposal, along with detailed guidelines for how to minimise the risk of transmission of the coronavirus.

This included specific guidance on how the ball should be handled before, during and after each innings. The use of saliva to shine one side has already been banned for the immediate future, throughout the game.

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The ECB have been telling leagues to keep clubs ready for an early-July return

The ECB believed negotiations with DCMS had been positive for some time - lobbying for the recreational game’s return has been taking place for 10 weeks - and were therefore caught off guard a little by Johnson’s description of the ball.

The ECB sit on the government’s advisory body for team sports returning, and its chief medical officer - Professor Nick Peirce - has been involved in high-level discussions relating to both the elite and recreational game.

While the ECB has received plenty of public criticism for a perceived lethargy in delivering the green light for the amateur game - most notably from former England captain Michael Vaughan, there has been activity behind the scenes.

The ECB pursued expert advice on the science, and independently sought guidance from three members of the government’s Scientific Advice Group for Emergencies (SAGE) relating to the protocols needed for the safe return of recreational cricket.

An infectious diseases expert, an environmental engineer and an epidemiologist - all very senior in their respective fields - were consulted as the ECB put together their roadmap for the amateur game, which currently sits at stage three. Stage five, which would allow full league cricket to return as normal, requires the relaxation of social distancing in its entirety.

On Tuesday, the government announced that from July 4, the two-metre rule would be downgraded to one-metre-plus, and these guidelines are likely to remain in place for at least the rest of the year.

That has sparked concern that stage five, and therefore full, normal league cricket, is unachievable in 2020. 

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However, stage four could still include 11-a-side matches, and The Cricketer understands it is not necessarily the nationwide limit on mass gatherings, which currently stands at six, which will dictate the point at which recreational cricket can return.

At present, casual cricketers may take part in outdoor net or practice sessions in groups of up to six people from different households, but other sports have been allowed to welcome back competitive matchplay.

The permission for basketball to be played outdoors in groups of up to six, and the Lawn Tennis Association’s recent missive to clubs that states the shared use of balls is no longer banned have intrigued figures in the game.

Yet, despite these frustrations, there remains optimism that the recreational game could return on or around the weekend of July 4-5.

Indeed, Johnson’s comments in the Commons have seemingly brought the sport to the front of the national conversation.

The ECB will go back to DCMS this week and urge the secretary of state for culture, media and sport, Oliver Dowden, to make their case to No.10 once again. And the governing body can, it seems, take some consolation from the fact that there is at least one dissenting voice in cabinet.

In Vaughan’s column in the Daily Telegraph, the pundit claimed health secretary Matt Hancock had told him he too is frustrated by cricket’s delayed comeback.

Meanwhile, Greg Clark - the MP for Tunbridge Wells whose question to the prime minister prompted the outcry of the past 48 hours - wrote in the same newspaper that he was “amazed and disappointed” by Johnson’s response.

“I would be more wary of the door handle of a pub loo than I would a cricket ball touched by a bowler and a few fielders whose hands have been sanitised,” he added.

On Wednesday, ECB chief executive Tom Harrison held constructive conversations with sports minister Nigel Huddleston about the stalemate, while Paul Bedford - the ECB’s league and competitions manager - has written to all Premier Leagues reaffirming the intended July 4 restart. 

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There is a concern participation numbers will be badly affected

It is expected that leagues will ask their clubs whether or not they wish to take part in abridged seasons, and it is unlikely promotion and relegation will be enforceable.

Some leagues are also obliged to give 14 days’ notice to their members ahead of any return to action, which may eliminate a July 4 comeback.

The ECB do not see a great deal of benefit in lobbying in public, and have been keen to stress their desire to work with the government.

There are sensitivities involved in any conversation between the two institutions, given the £10million annual central and Sport England funding which is sent cricket’s way. 

Furthermore, the sport - particularly at a professional level - has benefited substantially from the government’s Job Retention Scheme, with 16 of 18 counties furloughing the majority of their staff between early April and late June.

There is also the possibility, given the financial hit cricket is set to take this summer, and regardless of the proportion of its contractual obligations to broadcasters it can fulfil, that the ECB will need to look for government support in the coming years.

Harrison has previously intimated that the best-case scenario for the game is a £100million hole in 2020. Recovery in 2021 will not be easy either.

Meanwhile, this week the ECB has been forced to abandon and cancel many of its traditional and new programmes as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak and subsequent lockdown.

Dynamos Cricket - the scheme for children designed to tie in with The Hundred - has been called off for 2020. The governing body had intended to train clubs wishing to take part in March and April but were prevented from doing so by the coronavirus crisis.

AllStars Cricket will still take place in a modified form, and the ECB has written to clubs this week to give a brief overview of how the programme for five to eight-year-olds will look this year.

The National Counties Championship - the three-day competition formerly known as the Minor Counties Championship - has been cancelled, as has the famous Bunbury Festival: often the starting block for future England internationals.

The ECB’s 50 and 20-over Club Championships will not take place this year, neither will the majority of county age-group competitions. Decisions on the Women’s County T20, under 13 and under 15 boys and girls’ Club T20, Lady Taverners Club T20 and Lady Taverners Softball competitions have yet to be made.

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Net sessions are all that is able to take place currently

The cancellations are designed to prevent clubs from being tied to fixtures or competitions that could prevent them from being able to play as much cricket as possible, as well as to limit the travel a club might need to undertake given restrictions on vehicle-sharing.

Clubs, and the grass roots game in general, are in need of a boost.

Many are concerned about the immense financial implications of a summer without cricket. The ECB have made £20million available in funding through loans and grants, while Sport England, Sport Wales and local authority handouts have also been an option for those sides who have found themselves struggling to stay afloat.

But no figures have yet been made public either for the amount of money claimed via the ECB schemes nor the number of clubs which have benefited. And there is a major concern among the recreational community about the two to three-year fallout from the coronavirus lockdown.

Clubs which typically exist hand-to-mouth on membership subscriptions, bar and venue hire revenue, and junior coaching fees have been deprived of all forms of income, and in 2021 loans will have to be repaid, running costs fulfilled and essential maintenance work - which should have taken place this year - completed.

As The Cricketer reported in May, there has been a worrying surge in the number of crowdfunding pages relating to the payment of cricket clubs’ basic bills on sites such as JustGiving since the beginning of April.

Furthermore, there is a real fear that participation numbers will take a substantial hit, just a year after England’s World Cup victory and a dramatic Ashes campaign had reignited the sport in the public consciousness.

And even if cricket does get the green light to return, those on committees will have difficult decisions to make with regards to how they can confidently implement the relevant Covid-secure measures to allow matches to take place safely, without compromising insurance and welfare policies. 

The Cricketer has spoken to dozens of club players and representatives from across the country during the course of lockdown, and there is a split of opinion over the sport’s return: those involved in active organisation within their club, while enthused by the prospect of games taking place, voice much more caution over the practicalities involved.

The ECB are hopeful that the tens of thousands of recreational players who have missed out on the sport they love in the middle of a scorching summer will receive positive news out of No.10 next week. 

But that is just the first step on a long road to recovery.

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