Cricket aim for half a season

Cricket

The Kent Cricket League have plans in place for playing the second half of the season but accept they may be forced to abandon the entire 2020 campaign.

No domestic cricket will be played until July 1 and recreational cricket is on hold “until further notice” according to the game’s governing body the ECB.

The Kent Cricket League, as well as the Kent Regional Cricket League, have already scrapped the first half of fixtures for the 2020 season, meaning a restart would see teams playing each other only once, with games running from July to September.

No decision has been made on whether promotion or relegation will take place upon half a season being completed. The leagues have stated though that if play doesn’t resume by mid-july then the season will be abandoned. Brian Smith, who is administrator for both the KCL and the KRCL, remains optimistic that play can resume but admits there will be obstacles to overcome. He said: “The earliest we will be starting is in July. I will remain optimistic, personally, because I want cricket to be played, for myself and everyone in Kent, but there is a part of me that thinks the whole season might get wiped out. “There are issues with cricket, in that everyone is handling the ball, people put saliva on it, stuff like that.

“Generally you are playing in a large field and you could socially distance for most of the game, but there are situations where you can’t. Other things like two scorers being in the box, a lot of scorers and umpires are classified in the vulnerable bracket because of their age and all of these factors we need to take into consideration.” At present, the league would expect all teams to be playing, despite the financial problems that some might have encountered. Help has come from the ECB and the government in the way of grants and loans, which many clubs have already taken advantage of. Clubs were asked to contact the committee by the end of the month if they felt they would struggle to commit to the proposed schedule. Mr Smith said: “As far as I know nobody has said they wouldn’t be able to start playing cricket in July. I know two or three clubs are financially struggling and we will do whatever we can to help them get through this situation. “I know a lot of the clubs have applied for the council government grant and have been successful with those. “Sport England have also offered a grant scheme, as have the ECB, who issued a loan and a grant system. There are funding opportunities out there.

“If balls don’t get used this year they will get rolled over for next year and Kent Cricket have confirmed that their club affiliation fees will be rolled over to next year.

“I would like to think that if clubs are proactive and can do everything they can then they will hopefully get through the next six months and we will be able to try again but it is an uncertain situation, as it is for everyone. We have no fixed answers.”

The league say they are happy to defer any outstanding payments until a definite schedule is known and said: “The priority at present is for clubs to maintain reserves and keep going during these difficult times.”

Under the current plan, play would start on July 4, at the earliest, a date put in as a spare week before a full set of fixtures take place a week later. Should recreational cricket still be suspended, then the league will be abandoned.

“This is the worst case scenario which we are hoping to avoid at all costs,” said Mr Smith. The contingency plan remains subject to change, based on further advice and guidelines as set out by the government, the ECB and Kent Cricket. The KCL have already agreed to cancel both the Twenty 20 Cup competition and the 50th anniversary dinner.