The England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) can today confirm a further delay to the start of the professional domestic cricket season, with no domestic cricket to be played before August 1.
The specifics of the season remain subject to ongoing advice from UK Government and health experts, but the ambition remains to host domestic men’s and women’s cricket across England and Wales later this summer.
The Professional Game Group (PGG) will look to outline a number of opportunities for domestic play, which will be presented to the ECB Board in June. These plans include a number of options for both red-ball and white-ball cricket including matches played at all First Class Grounds, the use of a regional group model as well as consideration for matches played behind closed doors or with a limited number of supporters whilst strictly adhering to Government guidance on social distancing. The working group is also exploring options where non-televised games can be live streamed for members and supporters.
As the ongoing COVID-19 situation continues to evolve, these scenarios will be worked on and assessed. Learnings from the return-to-training programmes for England Men’s players will be incorporated, in addition to those sourced from any international matches played behind closed doors.
The recreational game currently remains suspended until further notice – with the sole exception of the use of outdoor cricket facilities (nets and pitches) for the purpose of undertaking exercise. The ECB will seek to progress discussions with the UK Government to begin mapping out a return, including the potential for an earlier return of junior cricket.
ECB Chief Executive Officer, Tom Harrison, said: “Naturally we want to see cricket being played at every level. We remain hopeful of seeing both domestic and recreational cricket this season and planning with the PGG has allowed us to map a number of potential scenarios for domestic play. Whilst traditional formats of our competitions are the preference, we are not against exploring the unorthodox to ensure that we can return our players to the field.
“That can only happen though when it is safe, and we have said throughout this crisis that the safety and well-being of everyone involved in the game is our key priority.
“We have learned a lot and continue to learn about the safety protocols that would need to be in place to stage international cricket behind closed doors in this environment and those protocols will also need to apply to the domestic game.
“Across the recreational game it has been heart-warming to hear of clubs where players have returned to the nets. As children start returning to school in the coming weeks, we look forward to exploring how those guidelines and learnings can be deployed for cricket. This can then see the recreational game continue its phased return as soon as we have Government approval.”
Derbyshire County Cricket Club will continue to communicate all updates to its Members and supporters via derbyshireccc.com.
Tickets
Tickets for all original fixtures are now off sale.
If cricket returns and spectators are allowed to safely attend, then tickets purchased for the original fixture dates will remain valid and if you are able to attend, you do not need to do anything else. Depending on your chosen method, we will post printed tickets to you, or re-send e-tickets nearer the fixture date.
If cricket returns, but behind closed doors, then ticket buyers will be entitled to a full refund. Similarly, if the fixture does not go ahead, a full refund will be available.
If you are unable, or do not wish to attend the revised fixture date, you will be able to apply for a full refund.
Please note that refunds are not available until the revised fixtures have been published and the decision has been made as to whether clubs can allow spectators into grounds to watch matches.
Once the above detail has been confirmed, the club will contact ticket buyers via email regarding ticket validity and refunds.
For more information, please email [email protected].
