The England and Wales cricket season will be delayed till August in the UK until at least August 1st. The season was due to start on 12th of April but in fact was postponed until May 28th. However, this was then extended till July 1st.
The delay will now mean that 10 rounds of the county championship will have to be played at a later date. The T-20 blast will also not occur and the One-Day Cup will also be halted. The English Cricket Board have stated that it will try it’s utmost to create windows for red and white ball competition. However, the options for this will be planned by the Professional Game Group. Options as such may include splitting counties into regional groups, playing matches behind closed doors and social distancing measure put in place.
Additionally, the Guardian.com report that the season could potentially run into October. The T20 Blast and first class cricket will be played in three regional groups. In terms of first class cricket, teams will play each other once in their six team pool .The two teams with the most points at the top of the table across the three pools will then meet in the final. The T20 Blast could see teams play 10 games, 5 at home and 5 away. The three table toppers and next best side meeting for a finals day.
The English Cricket Board Chief Executive, Tom Harrison said the ECB is “hopeful of domestic and recreational cricket this season”. Harrison also addressed childrens cricket, he said, “As children start returning to school in the coming weeks, we look forward to exploring how those guidelines and learnings can be deployed for cricket,”.
