Gidney: Crowds may be back this summer
RED ROSE CHIEF HOPEFUL COUNTY CRICKET – AND FANS – CAN RETURN BEFORE END OF SEASON
DANIEL Gidney is hopeful Lancashire will be playing cricket before the end of the summer - and that some spectators will be there to watch them.
Cricket has been suspended until July 1 at the earliest following the coronavirus pandemic.
Lancashire are yet to start their season, and there are no guarantees there will be any county cricket this year.
The ECB are prioritising England’s international fixtures, and plans are moving along for the Test series against the West Indies and Pakistan to go ahead.
If they do, it is likely Emirates Old Trafford will be selected as one of the bio-secure venues along with Hampshire’s Ageas Bowl to share the six Tests due to the hotel facilites on both grounds.
Along with three ODIs against Ireland, Lancashire could host 18 days of international cricket this summer, but all behind closed doors.
However, Red Rose chief executive Gidney believes it could be possible for Lancashire to be playing Vitality Blast matches in front of around 3,000 at the 26,000 capacity Old Trafford before the end of the summer - government rules allowing.
“I’m hopeful that we can get some domestic cricket away in the back end of August and September, at least behind closed doors, but possibly even with some small crowds,” Gidney said.
“Sometimes you can get into this negative box. And when I’m being positive, I’m not being reckless or saying things that can’t happen from a safety perspective.
“We could have domestic cricket with 2,000-3,000 people in with seats separated out in the stadium, Perspex barriers on counters.
“There are ways that we can make a sanitised, smaller crowd, domestic cricket environment possible at the back end of the year based on the current trajectories that we’re looking at from the science and the infection rate keeping down.
“As long as the infection rate continues to drop, then I believe we should be able to get some form of domestic cricket back and, hopefully, with some small crowds.”
Lancashire have suffered financially through the lockdown, but this week announced record net profits for 2019 of £5m.
But once cricket is back up and running again, Gidney has global ambitions for the club as he is looking to tap into the Indian market.
Earlier this year, the Red Rose squad held a training camp in Mumbai and if the international calendar remains the same, India are playing at Emirates Old Trafford both next year and in 2022. Said Gidney: “We want to make Lancashire the second favourite team for all
Indian fans.
“It is about raising our profile in India and broadcast is a way to do that and we want to launch Lancashire TV and get as much Lancashire cricket content as we can broadcast in the sub-continent.
“That is very much part of our growth strategy.
“Touch wood India are playing at Emirates Old Trafford in both 2021 and 2022.
“That is a platform.
“The passion for the game in India is enormous and unrivalled.”