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LANCS NEW BOY IN CHARGE OF ENSURING OT IS SAFE FOR TESTS
LANCASHIRE’S new operations director Steve Davies is no stranger to working with socially distanced cricketers.
But this time it’s different for the former general manager of Madame Tussauds.
After 15 years working with visitor attraction company Merlin Entertainments, Davies has been thrown in at the deep end as he is tasked with helping to deliver the biosecure environment that will soon bring international cricket back.
Emirates Old Trafford will host the second and third Tests of the forthcoming three-match series against the West Indies.
The operation is already in full swing. The tourists are using Lancashire’s home, which all importantly has a 150-bed Hilton Garden Inn Hotel on site, as their training base before relocating to the Ageas Bowl for Wednesday’s first Test.
They, along with England, will then return to Emirates Old Trafford for the second and third Tests of the behind closed doors series on July 16 and 24.
“I’m three months into the job,” said Chesterfield-born Davies, who joined Lancashire in the midst of the pandemic lockdown in April.
“I did nine years at Alton Towers, three at Chessington World of Adventures as operations director and was then general manager at Madame Tussauds in London.”
Cricket lover Davies is not fazed by the huge ‘challenge’ he and his team of Red Rose staff have been handed.
“The positive side is it’s fasttracked my learning,” he said. “Normally when you start a new role, you take a bit of time to see things happen. But with this, I didn’t have any choice but to sit and read every document going to learn as much as I could. That’s no bad thing.”
Davies has been staying on site at the Hilton, and has been one of very few to witness live cricket during the last fortnight as the West Indies played out their intra-squad warmup games.
“It’s slightly eery, but it’s great to have some sort of cricket back,” he said, describing the ‘new-look’ Emirates Old Trafford as ‘different.’
That includes The Point conference and banqueting centre being turned into an entertainment hub for those staying on site.
“We have golf simulators in there, table tennis, pool tables, basketball hoops, arcade machines and giant screens for Sky Sports,” said Davies.
“It all sounds great, but next to every bit of kit there are gloves and sanitiser machines. Even fun has been made safe, and rightly so.”
The knowledge-gathering and sharing has been one heck of an operation in itself for the club whose successful hosting of the One Love tribute concert following the Manchester Arena bombing in summer 2017 has given them experience of delivering such a high-profile event.
“There’s a lot of people still here who were part of that event and can demonstrate experience and composure. It’s been referred to quite a lot,” said Davies, who has also spoken to football contacts dealing with bio-secure venues in Germany’s Bundesliga and the Premier League.
There will be a maximum of 300 people on site during the Tests.
Not all will have to stay on site, though many will use the Hilton Garden Inn and a local hotel, which the club and the ECB have booked out. All visitors - except for brief visitors - will have to be coronavirus tested and remain in their allotted zone, of which there are three.
“England will have their own floor
Steve Davies in the hotel, the West Indies will, and then some of the broadcasters, ECB staff and the likes of myself and our chief executive Daniel Gidney would be on another floor,” explained Davies.
“The three floors don’t interact, and there are one-way systems in place and separate eating areas.
“We’ve taken a decision that we want to maintain a two-metre social distancing policy within all zones.”
He is confident Lancashire will look back on this summer with significant pride.
“To be part of such a momentous occasion - the first international sports fixtures during the pandemic - is something we should be proud of,” he said.
“The work is intense on a daily basis, but it’s 100 percent worth it.
“You can’t underestimate the amount of work that it’s taken from everyone at the club too, it’s been a phenomenal effort from all involved.”