Campaign to save grass roots is launched

» The Telegraph is leading a campaign to end grass-roots game’s lockdown so cricket does not miss out on players of the future

Former England captains Michael Vaughan and Sir Geoffrey Boycott led the calls for recreational cricket to return as The Daily Telegraph today launches a campaign to save the club game.

Vaughan and Boycott were joined by England bowler and World Cup winner Mark Wood in calling for the Government to review its decision to stop cricket from returning this summer.

On Tuesday the Prime Minister said cricket could not return because the ball is a “natural vector of disease”. But leading scientists have told The Telegraph the risk “would be so minimal as to be not a significant concern” if hand-sanitiser is used on the field.

Vaughan, who has been vocal in backing club cricket’s return and has been in dialogue with Government, said: “Cricket is a socially distanced sport. It is played outside where the disease does not have the same potency. You can sanitise your hands. Cricket should have started midway through June. Why we are not playing now, I have no idea. Let’s get it back and save half our season.”

Boycott fears children will not come back to cricket next summer if the season is wiped out. “Give them strict instructions like we have in shops on social distancing. If we wait until the virus has gone completely we might be waiting years.”

The Government is under growing pressure to lift its ban on club cricket as The Daily Telegraph launches a campaign to bring back the nation’s summer sport. Scientists have told The Telegraph cricket is as safe from Covid-19 as any other sport with the risk “so minimal as to be not a significant concern” just 24 hours after the Prime Minister blocked the game’s return by describing the ball as a “vector for the disease”.

Telegraph columnists Michael Vaughan and Sir Geoffrey Boycott have expressed fears that young children will drift away from cricket if the summer is wiped out while Conservative and Labour

MPS have told this newspaper they believe the Government should rethink its decision. It is understood that Tom Harrison, the England and Wales Cricket Board’s chief executive, was assured by the sports minister, Nigel Huddleston, yesterday that the sport will soon be given clearance to return.

The ECB has put a raft of proposals to the Government to ensure safety and social distancing. Players might have to leave their contact details to help with any track-and-trace issues, and they will be instructed to turn up ready to play and not share kit. Saliva will be banned on the ball and hand-sanitiser used on the field, while jumpers and caps cannot be handed to umpires. Wicket celebrations and other close-body contact will not be allowed, and there will be guidance for coaches on social distancing in junior cricket.

“Many of us adore cricket. It is not just about international Eng-

‘Why we are not playing now, I have no idea. Let’s get it back and save half our season’

land stars, counties and those paid to play,” Vaughan said. “Cricket is about where we all started, which is playing at the local club, arriving on a Saturday morning, paying your fees, playing a game and having a beer with your team-mates. I was lucky, I had a career out of cricket, but for 99 per cent it is a joy, a hobby they love, which is why this campaign is so important.

“Cricket is a socially distanced sport. It is played outside, where the disease does not have the same potency. You can sanitise your hands. Cricket should have started midway through June. Why we are not playing now, I have no idea. Let’s get it back and save half our season.”

Boycott, who joined Barnsley Cricket Club at 16, believes children should be allowed to play first. “We just need kids playing cricket again. They have been sat at home bored to death for weeks. We understand why, but kids have ants in their pants and need some activity. They want to play,” he said. “Cricket should try to come back for them. Give them strict instructions like we have in shops on social distancing. If we wait until the virus has gone completely we might be waiting years. It is hard for the Government and nobody has a magic wand. It is a balance. I am all for cricket to come back, but saving lives is the one thing that matters.”

The Telegraph understands ministers were prepared to give cricket the green light at the end of last week but backed down in the light of scientific advice. which viewed the sport differently, for example, to tennis because of the greater number of players involved.

The Government was ready to announce an easing of restrictions for team sports, gyms and swimming pools, but scientists said it was too much of a risk when combined with the easing of lockdown in other areas. In the end the Government chose pubs and restaurants over team sports.

Part of the reason for allowing international cricket but not club or village cricket is the sheer volume of matches, which is seen as too great a risk in the same way that amateur football is still banned.

Julian Knight, the chairman of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee and treasurer of the All-party Parliamentary Group for Cricket, said: “It does seem strange that we have four-ball golf being played safely throughout the country, yet no amateur cricket, particularly as cricket is not the fastest-paced of sports and social-distancing could be worked into a game quite comfortably. I’d urge the Government to think hard on this, have a conversation with the likes of the ECB and cricket bodies and find a way to get people playing the game once again – safely.”

Alison Mcgovern, shadow sports minister, said Labour may table an urgent question in the Commons.

For the ECB this is a delicate political game. It has only so much political capital with the Government and has worked hard to be given permission for international series against West Indies and Pakistan to go ahead, saving the sport around £280 million in lost TV income.

It is mindful of not pushing too hard, but understands the frustration and said in a statement it is “our strong desire to work with government to see the return of recreational cricket on or around July 4, as they continue to lift other restrictions more broadly across society.”

England bowler Mark Wood believes cricket is as safe as going to the pub. He said: “It is disappointing to hear that [the ball is a problem], clubs across the country are desperate for some cricket, just to keep that club alive. With pubs and restaurants opening, I don’t see how cricket is so far away from that.

“Being a non-contact sport, the examples we’re trying to show at international level, there must be something they can do around the ball at grass-roots level because we don’t want to miss out on the next Ben Stokes, Joe Root, Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer.”