Bring back club cricket! Root, Strauss and Knight back our campaign
England captain Joe Root has lined up to support The Telegraph campaign to save grass-roots cricket this summer, saying he wants to see “common sense prevail” and club cricketers return to action.
Root, who is at the Ageas Bowl preparing for the Test series against West Indies, was joined by his predecessor and double Asheswinning captain Sir Andrew Strauss, as well as women’s captain Heather Knight, in calling on the Government to lift its ban on recreational cricket.
“Recreational cricket needs to return sooner rather than later,” Root told The Telegraph. “We are all hopeful from an England team perspective that it will return in July. The next generation of players look up to the likes of myself, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Jos Buttler, but not being able to play themselves is a real challenge.
“When I look out my window at home and see my local club, Sheffield Collegiate, I can see it is tough for club cricketers who cannot play as they do normally. Hopefully common sense will prevail and we will get recreational cricket back on. I know the ECB are working hard to make sure this happens next month.”
Strauss worries that cricket could lose club players for ever if the 2020 summer is wiped out. Strauss, who is chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board cricket committee, believes enough work has been done to prove the
sport can be made relatively safe. “The medical community have been pretty consistent and while there is no such thing as no risk, the actual risk of being out there on the pitch and playing the game is low,” he said. “When you add handsanitising the ball, it is very hard to construct an argument to say that playing cricket is a heightened risk as opposed to anything else we will be doing in life.
“The other areas of concern, around dressing rooms, sharing kit and teas and stuff, well people just need to use their common sense and not do something that could allow the virus to transfer. The people who are hard-core cricket fans are desperate to get out there and it is important they have something to look forward to, but there are other people who can take or leave cricket. If we don’t play soon then they are probably going to leave it. I am very supportive of cricket being played and we have got to a stage now where we can be confident it is safe for it to go ahead.”
Zak Crawley, preparing alongside Root for the West Indies series, said the players shared the concerns of club cricketers and could not understand why the sport was unable to resume when other areas of life, such as pubs and restaurants, were reopening from July 4.
“We’re well aware of it, we have friends who want to play,” he said. “I feel like it’s time to bring it back. You can social-distance easily in cricket, you can’t put saliva on the ball at international level and you could easily do that at community level, so I’d like to see that decision reversed and get community cricket back on.”
Lobbying of the Government continues and the ECB remains hopeful of a return to play in July, with nationwide instructions to clubs about how to handle the ball and social distancing. Three members of the Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies have advised the board as it looks to move along its own roadmap to return from stage three, a limit of six people from different households taking part in practice sessions, to stage four, which would allow “adapted game-play”.
Stage five is a return to normality and requires a relaxation of socialdistancing rules, which is unlikely to happen until 2021. It is understood the board still believes a form of 11-a-side cricket can happen at stage four, as do many clubs, as long as Covid precautions are in place.
Some clubs may decide to give up on the season altogether given the complexity of Covid regulations they will have to follow. The ECB has cancelled several national competitions this week and its new junior initiative, Dynamos Cricket. The Bunbury Festival, which has featured many England stars of the future, has also been cancelled as the summer slips away from the game.
The Government’s small business grant has helped some to navigate the immediate financial challenge, but many are worried about 2021, when handouts could end and loans need repaying.
The ECB has been conscious not to lobby the Government publicly because it may need financial support later in the year. Tom Harrison, the board’s chief executive, has warned cricket is facing its greatest financial crisis even if the full international programme takes place to fulfil the Sky broadcast contract.
The board has made around £20million available in funding to grass-roots organisations and has pledged to continue its Inspiring Generations strategy that aims to plough millions into the recreational game. But with counties feeling the strain of a summer without spectators, and many worried about bills mounting up for 2021, the club game faces strong competition for future funding.