England further delays start of domestic cricket season till August 1

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has announced further delay to the start of the professional domestic cricket season in the country until at least August 1 in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic that continues to threat the entire world.

The decision to extend the postponement of the season was taken in the wake of ongoing advice from UK Government and health experts amid coronavirus pandemic.

"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.," the England and Wales Board (ECB) said in an official statement.

However, the international cricket could resume in the country as early as in July as England's three-match Test series against West Indies at home is likely to go ahead as per schedule in 'biosecure' environment. 

"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 ECB said.

Reflecting on the development, ECB CEO Tom Harrison said that the board remain hopeful of seeing both domestic and recreational cricket this season at the earliest.

"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.While 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," he said.

“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," Harrison added.

Earlier in April, the ECB had suspended all forms of cricket in the country until at least July 1 due to the coronavirus pandemic that has brought the entire world to standstill.

However, the players of the national team returned to training in batches earlier this month while strictly following the government guidelines on coronavirus.