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HEADLINE: England's Test hopes boosted by latest government strategy

 
CaribbeanCricket.com 2020-05-12 07:52:08 

The ECB's hopes of being able to stage international games behind closed doors appear to have been given encouragement by the new government strategy to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.

As part of its phased plans to build an economic recovery, the UK government has announced that it aims to allow some sporting events "to take place behind closed-doors for broadcast" from June 1. The plans will be reviewed often and postponed if there is a growth in the virus infection rate.

While Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, suggested there were morale-building reasons behind this return of sport, telling parliament that "allowing cultural and sporting events behind closed doors for broadcast... would provide a much-needed boost to national morale", it is no doubt equally relevant that such a return could help avoid the financial catastrophe currently being faced by various governing bodies.

While the ECB expects greater clarity from the government later this week - it is anticipated there will be a specific announcement relating to elite sport on Tuesday or Wednesday - and remains reluctant to commit itself to a schedule, it continues to use July 8 as a potential start date to the international season. To that end, it is understood the ECB hopes to unveil individual training plans, for both England's men and women's cricketers, within days.

Read more at ESPNcricinfo 


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mikesiva 2020-05-12 08:21:52 

In reply to CaribbeanCricket.com

A question to Caribbean governments and sports associations....

Do you really want to send your players to a country which has 32,000 deaths from coronavirus, and rising?

Will you put them in quarantine when they return from this hotspot?

 
camos 2020-05-12 12:44:49 

players that go should demand hazard pay, like they got for the Pakistan tour.

 
dayne 2020-05-12 13:04:50 

It will take a lot of planning to play that series safely, but it could be done, as cricket is not a physical contact sport and international athletes usually are in very good shape therefore having a very good immune system.

 
mikesiva 2020-05-12 13:52:57 

In reply to dayne

But where will they stay? In which hotels? Will any of the staff at these English hotels have coronavirus? How will the West Indian players know for sure that the people serving them in England are free from coronavirus?

How will they got to the grounds? Will they be transported by bus drivers?

Especially since the UK have not started contact tracing in the community yet, and bus drivers are dying from the disease on a regular basis....

 
Judgement 2020-05-13 00:05:44 

In reply to mikesiva

ECB are hiring out their own hotel for the players and staff won't be allowed to go home so the hotel staff will be in lockdown with players and everyone stays at the hotel. Team will get tested for Covid-19 before they depart the Caribbean and after they arrive in England and they'll travel by charter flight. But given how bad the situation is with the death toll in England, its really not the time to be risking our players lives for the sake of revenue. Its way too early to even consider a tour, for a start.

 
tc1 2020-05-13 01:45:53 

In reply to Judgement

You best post lol lol

 
mikesiva 2020-05-15 07:15:35 

In reply to Judgement

Exactly!

In the UK, they're not even conducting contact tracing, except by an app in the Isle of Wight. So they don't know who has the virus and who doesn't.

The UK are only testing those who are in hospital, those in care homes, key workers, and those over 65. People who would ordinarily work in a hotel setting are not on the list of those being tested, because most hotels are closed right now. And if you're not on the list, you can't get tested. Is there any guarantee they will be tested by the time the tour takes place?

I've seen how a British "lockdown" works. People are told to self-isolate, but the vast majority of them break the self-isolation, and go out and do shopping, etc. On VE Day (last Friday), the white neighbours on my street, who should've been practising social distancing, held a BBQ to celebrate Winston Churchill winning WWII all by himself. A lot of white people on the street attended the BBQ. The black and Asian neighbours stayed away. They whats app-ed photos and videos of them dancing and drinking and mixing freely. Last night, two of them whats app-ed to say they can't take part in the Clap for Carers, because they were ill and stuck in bed with what sounded like coronavirus symptoms. That's how the British handle coronavirus "lockdown".

There's a reason why Britain has the second highest death toll in the world....

You travel to the UK at your peril right now.