Cricket given leading role in British sport re-opening plans, say ECB

[rooster59]

Cricket given leading role in British sport re-opening plans, say ECB

By Simon Evans

 

FILE PHOTO: Cricket - Ashes 2019 - Second Test - England v Australia - Lord's Cricket Ground, London, Britain - August 18, 2019 General view during the match Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs/File Photo

 

MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - English cricket's governing body said it has been given the leading role for all sport in the country, including soccer, in examining how to create 'bio-secure' venues as leagues look for ways to restart their competitions without fans.

 

Tom Harrison, chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), said his organisation has been asked by the British government's Department of Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS), to look into how all sports might be able to resume in secure environments once COVID-19 restrictions are eased.

 

"The ECB has been asked to lead by DCMS across football, horse racing, tennis and rugby," Harrison said in comments reported by the website Cricinfo.

 

"There has been a lot of communication between sports, particularly around health, as we are trying to guarantee safety.

 

"I had a conference call with the head of the FA (Football Association) and the RFU (Rugby Football Union) about a range of topics: working together; how we share information about playing behind closed doors. I'm speaking to the Premier League later. We're facing very similar challenges and taking decisions as a sector," he said.

 

The DCMS declined to comment on Harrison's statement but it has been liaising with a number of sports bodies including the ECB on how things might work should the green light be given by the medical experts for sport to resume safely.

 

The ECB has suspended the professional game in the country until July 1, but England are due to face Pakistan in a three test series from July 30.

 

Harrison said that any attempt to play international cricket without fans would lead to a rethink on venues, with those best suited to a secure environment coming to the fore.

 

"What we have to be really careful with here is to understand that right now testing elite athletes or people in sport just cannot be a priority in the context of the national health crisis and the issues frontline workers and vulnerable people are facing," Harrison said.

 

"Government tells us when the time is right. It's not yet, clearly. We're not lobbying the government; we're working with them."

 

On Saturday, the Football League (EFL) which organises the three divisions below the Premier League, highlighted testing of players and others involved in games as the key issue.

 

"Clearly, before any return to football can take place, suitable testing arrangements for participants must be in place and this is core to our current planning, as is ensuring there is absolutely no negative impact on the country’s front-line workers, the Emergency services, League and Club staff members," the league said in a statement.

 

"The EFL’s medical advisor is working with a select group of medical professionals and sports scientists to ensure their collective expertise is utilised to address these issues. This group will consider the latest medical information and evidence from both in the UK and abroad, particularly around the viability and accessibility of the various COVID-19 tests that are currently available".

 

The EFL said it "welcomes the current steps being taken by the UK Government to establish a group of governing bodies to look at the complex set of challenges facing the wider sporting industry."

 

(Reporting by Simon Evans; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-04-26

 

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[rudi49jr]

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

Cricket given leading role in British sport re-opening plans, say ECB

Oh goodie, the mist boring ‘sport’ in the world, where games don’t last minutes or hours, but whole days. How have we managed to survive during lockdown without cricket? 

[DoctorG]

Cricket is a great game to watch - while you are reading a book. You can glance up occasionally and also you can hear when anything remotely interesting is happening.

[Canuck1966]

56 minutes ago, rudi49jr said:

Oh goodie, the mist boring ‘sport’ in the world, where games don’t last minutes or hours, but whole days. How have we managed to survive during lockdown without cricket? 

It's the greatest sport on the planet, but only for those with the intelligence to absorb the nuances, tactics and strategy.

The sport with the most variables 

 

[Canuck1966]

14 minutes ago, DoctorG said:

Cricket is a great game to watch - while you are reading a book. You can glance up occasionally and also you can hear when anything remotely interesting is happening.

You can't beat a day at a test match! 

[Denim]

15 hours ago, Canuck1966 said:

It's the greatest sport on the planet,

 

Second only to watching paint dry.

[Denim]

15 hours ago, Canuck1966 said:

You can't beat a day at a test match! 

 

Bet you a pile of money I can.

[cornishcarlos]

1 minute ago, Canuck1966 said:

You can't beat a day at a test match! 

 

You can...

 

Cornwall v Yorkshire at Twickenham, rugby county championship final..... 

[Canuck1966]

Just now, Denim said:

 

Second only to watching paint dry.

Because you don't understand it

One of the joys of life is to understand cricket to the nth degree

[Denim]

15 hours ago, Canuck1966 said:

Because you don't understand it

One of the joys of life is to understand cricket to the nth degree

 

Try this for excitement then :

 

 

 

Although the bloke at 2.40 minutes in looks disappointed that his purchase is not the dirty magazine he had anticipated hence his look of disappointment.

[Canuck1966]

4 minutes ago, Denim said:

 

Try this for excitement then :

 

 

 

Although the bloke at 2.40 minutes in looks disappointed that his purchase is not the dirty magazine he had anticipated hence his look of disappointment.

A gaggle of geeks, that must be a parody video, it just can't be real!!

[Denim]

15 hours ago, Canuck1966 said:

A gaggle of geeks, that must be a parody video, it just can't be real!!

 

They don't like to be called geeks. They prefer ' winkers '

[rudi49jr]

2 hours ago, Canuck1966 said:

It's the greatest sport on the planet, but only for those with the intelligence to absorb the nuances, tactics and strategy.

The sport with the most variables 

 

How can a Canadian (I’m assuming you’re Canadian, Canuck1966) love cricket? I thought your religion was hockey. 

[GreasyFingers]

4 hours ago, rudi49jr said:

Oh goodie, the mist boring ‘sport’ in the world, where games don’t last minutes or hours, but whole days. How have we managed to survive during lockdown without cricket? 

The same way as we endure the winter months without it. Easypeasy.

[GreasyFingers]

3 hours ago, Denim said:

 

Try this for excitement then :

 

 

 

Although the bloke at 2.40 minutes in looks disappointed that his purchase is not the dirty magazine he had anticipated hence his look of disappointment.

What ever turns you on.

[Krataiboy]

Cricket is not merely a sport, but a physical art form of great nuance and subtlety, understandably beyond the comprehension of recent generation on an an unnutritious diet of soundbites and instant gratification.

 

It is difficult to believe, in retrospect, that during the post-war years entire families would sit huddled around a radio half the size of a London bus for days on end, transfixed by the Hampshire burr of test match commentators like the inimitable John Arlott. 

 

Were it not for the commercial blandishments of debonair Dennis Compton, I probably never would have nagged my mother into buying me a pot of Brylcreem (which for some inexplicable reason never worked the same magic with the opposite sex for me as it apparently did for my boyhood cricketing hero!).

 

Truth to tell, I fared even worse with Trugel, which, as I recall, gave one the appearance and aroma of having dipped one's head in a bucket of rancid lard. Trugel, not surprisingly, had a relatively brief innings, while Brylcreem is still at the wicket and 82 not out.

Edited April 26, 2020 by Krataiboy

[evadgib]

Cricket is on par with Golf & Darts when it comes to being on the telly but the 20/20 version isn't quite so bad.

[JAG]

6 hours ago, rudi49jr said:

Oh goodie, the mist boring ‘sport’ in the world, where games don’t last minutes or hours, but whole days. How have we managed to survive during lockdown without cricket? 

Well personally, I have been watching highlights of some great matches on YouTube - often with a glass of home made cider ( I'm getting quite good at making it), and slices of apple and New Zealand Cheddar!

 

The Somerset County Cricket Club channel has been a great comfort...