We just can’t take such a big RISK
OFFICIALS at Southport and Birkdale CC were this week becoming reconciled to the inevitability of this cricket season being a truncated affair at the very best as the effects of the coronavirus pandemic became apparent in contexts far beyond sport.
The Prime Minister’s strong advice to avoid social gatherings, including those at clubs, merely confirmed the belief among the vast majority of Liverpool Competition cricketers that their season had no chance of starting on its scheduled date of April 25.
“Realistically, our ‘soft signal’ to clubs at the current time is that we find it difficult to foresee the season starting as scheduled,” read a statement from the Comp’s management committee, and it is difficult to see any compelling evidence to overturn their decision.
Even if games were to be possible between sides none of whose members exhibited signs of infection, a cricket match requires considerable preparation and the hard work of many other people, all of whom may be at risk in even a moderately sized gathering.
“To play a game of cricket, you need a lot of people,” said the Liverpool
Competition chairman, John Williams.
“You need a venue, you need facilities, you need players. And you need the ground and pitch to be prepared in the days leading up to the game as well.
“To expect that all those people would not have been affected by the virus at the start of the game is a big ask.
“If the tea lady or the people who look after the bar get the virus, then they have to be isolated, and the clubhouse itself has to be deep-cleaned – it’s such a big circle of involvement.”
In truth there were signs early last week that this would be a Competition season unlike any other.
Some clubs that use school facilities for training or playing have been advised that this would not be possible due to the virus and S&B’s own indoor net sessions had been suspended.
However, neither Williams nor S&BCC’s chairman, Andrew Carney, were in any doubt about the impact a long delay could have on clubs, some of whom rely on their bar takings and had contracted overseas players on their books.
“It is a desperate situation,” said Williams. “Our hope is that if we don’t start on time – and we don’t really think we’re going to – that we take enough action so that when things improve and the all-clear is sounded we can run some form of competition towards the end of the season.
“That’s not a priority, but we will be ready to do that. We are mindful of sport’s many social benefits and we remain hopeful that we can have some sort of cricket season later in the summer.”