The England and Wales Cricket Board have advised that all recreational cricket be suspended indefinitely due to coronavirus.
The governing body’s recommendations extend to “training, pre-season friendlies and any associated cricket activity” and brings cricket into line with other sports such as football, rugby, hockey and netball, which have all halted amateur participation.
Cricket has already been hit by Covid-19, with England’s tour of Sri Lanka postponed, and counties cancelling or returning early from preseason tours.
The suspension of the county season, which is due to begin on April 12, is set to be announced tomorrow. It appears unlikely that any cricket will be played before June.
England’s international summer begins with a Test series against the West Indies on June 4.
Regarding the suspension of the recreational game, an ECB statement read: “Sport plays an absolutely vital role in the nation’s mental and physical wellbeing, and it helps people find meaning where there is fear and uncertainty, so one of our goals in the coming weeks will be to explore ways that we can support some levels of physical activity in communities - particularly at junior levels.
“Using our cricket community to support others could be one of the most important services we can offer during the difficult next few months.
“It will be critical that any decisions we do make are medically-led. And we will continue to work with Government and their advisors to ensure we are informed by science in our decision making.
“Over the coming weeks we will work with the game to understand what support is required across the cricket community, particularly local clubs and leagues - who will have such a huge role to play in our nation’s response to coming out of this situation.”
