After a wait of five months to see any sort of competitive cricket being played by England, we’ll finally see bat take on ball again when the clock chimes 11am at the Ageas Bowl tomorrow morning.
The game itself will essentially be the same – barring bowlers being unable to apply saliva to the ball, therefore potentially aiding reverse swing later in the innings, there are no other fundamental changes in terms of how the game is played on the field.
Players can practice social distancing throughout, even in a packed slip cordon. With Old Trafford normally being a spinners’ paradise, expect to see plenty of short legs in place for Dom Bess and Roston Chase for the second and third Tests.
All of that makes Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s refusals to allow the return of recreational cricket all the more questionable. Johnson told the House of Commons two weeks ago that a cricket ball was a “natural vector of disease”.
I find that difficult to accept, given that every other ball sport has been given the go ahead. What makes cricket so different, if safety protocols are correctly followed?
What was even more difficult to accept was Johnson’s assertions last Friday that it was the teas and dressing rooms that prevented cricket’s return. Let’s just say it seemed a remarkable statement from a government that has supposedly discussed these issues at length with the relevant authorities, and come up with that response.
The idea that a cricket match cannot take place if players don’t drink teas is laughable. You don’t need a dressing room either. Players can turn up, put their kit on outside the facilities, and either go out to field or sit behind the boundary waiting for their turn to bat (or nick one to the keeper first ball, as a few club cricketers can testify to).
Thankfully, however, the government performed another one of their ‘U-turns’ and allowed the return of recreational cricket from this weekend.
Johnson often criticises his fellow politicians for performing U-turns on different issues. His latest was to accuse Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer of “wibble wobble” (me neither) over the schools issue. There is an irony in the fact that Johnson’s government has performed several over the last few months.
But, from this weekend onwards, this isn’t about Boris Johnson, nor is it even about the lack of decisive action from this government. It’s about the club cricketers around the country that can finally take to the field again.
County cricket also has a provisional return date of August 1. There’s no confirmation yet of which formats will be contested, but the expectation is that some form of T20 competition will be played, alongside a watered-down County Championship.
The return of T20 is a financial nightmare for some of the smaller counties, who need crowd revenue to sustain themselves. Hopefully a large share of the matches will be televised, or failing that, a paid streaming service set up to encourage loyal members to tune in. It is a scheme that Lancashire have already announced, with further details still to come.
Lancashire are, thankfully, in a solid position despite the pandemic. They announced a club-record turnover of £34m for the 2019 financial year in May, mainly due to the hosting of the fourth Ashes Test, a 34% increase in T20 Blast crowds and several World Cup matches.
They will be without the services of overseas players BJ Watling, Glenn Maxwell and James Faulkner this season, the trio’s contracts having been cancelled due to the lack of cricket, but most counties are in this position.
There has been movement in terms of player transfers, however, and it will be strange to see a Yorkshire side without Warwickshire-bound Tim Bresnan take to the field for the first Roses match of the campaign. Whether that will be in the Championship or in one of the white-ball formats remains to be seen.
What we do know is that red-ball cricket will be the first to be played this summer. I personally cannot wait for either Rory Burns of England or Kraigg Brathwaite of the West Indies to face the first ball of the summer on Wednesday morning, weather permitting. It will be different without crowds, although we’ll get to clearly hear Stuart Broad loudly appeal, arms aloft, whenever there is an lbw shout to be had, before turning back to the umpire and then the keeper with a look of confusion.
Here’s hoping he takes a bag of wickets this summer. Here’s hoping for a great cricketing summer for all.
RS Sport 