West Indies could step in to host Test series against England
West Indiesare open to stagingthis summer’s Test series against England in the Caribbean should the coronavirus pandemic prevent it from taking place in the UK.
Joe Root’s side are due to play their first Test of the home summer from 4 June when West Indies arrive for a three-match series at the Oval, Edgbaston and Lord’s that counts towards the ongoing World Test Championship. But with May and June the projected peak months for Covid-19 in the UK, this original scheduling looks unlikely. England, however, face a fixture pileup, having already postponed the WTC series in Sri Lanka that was due to start in Galle on Thursday.
One option is to push the West Indies series back to September – a move that might mean England’s Test side playing at the same time as Eoin Morgan’s one-day team is hosting Ireland - but Cricket West Indies would consider a switch to the Caribbean using the original window. Barbados, Antigua and St Lucia, the islands that hosted last year’s series, have recorded just five coronavirus cases to date and though there would be numerous hurdles to overcome - not least uncertainty over international travel and whether an influx of England supporters would be prudent - the offer is genuine.
Johnny Grave, the CWI chief executive, told ESPNCricinfo: “I’ve spoken to [ECB chief executive] Tom Harrison a couple of times in the last few days and assured him that we will be as flexible, supportive and helpful as possible. To that end, yes, we have offered to host the series here in the Caribbean if that is deemed helpful. The ECB would retain all commercial and broadcast rights.
“This is not about us trying to take advantage of the situation. It’s about the cricket community working together at a difficult time for everyone and, one of the many great things about the Caribbean is, we can play cricket all year round.
“There has long been a special relationship between the cricket communities in the Caribbean and England and we wanted to make it clear we will do everything we can to help.” The proposal comes while the ECB is trying desperately to salvage the 2020 season and stage as many of its most lucrative fixtures as possible.
Australia and Pakistan are due to tour in July and August respectively, while the inaugural edition of the Hundred and the T20 Blast are also deemed high priority. Whether it is desirable to launch the Hundred this year remains to be seen.
Further conference calls between the ECB and the counties are due on Thursday, with Colin Graves, the ECB chairman, expected to share the latest thinking at the end of the week.