England and Wales Cricket Board’s director of events Steve Elworthy has said the bio-secure arrangements for next month’s Test series against the West Indies will be good enough to handle the “worst-case scenario” arising out of the pandemic.
England are set to play a home series against the West Indies in a bio-secure environment starting July 8. A 25-member Caribbean team will be arriving on chartered flights for the three-match Test series next Tuesday.
“The way we have structured the ‘bubble’ is that it can operate under the most extreme circumstances,” Elworthy told Sky Sports. “All our planning has been based on the worst-case scenario, from an infection and a rate-spike point of view.
“So external factors should not affect that because if you are secure within the venue, then your game should be able to go ahead with no problems at all,” Elworthy said.
Sanga: Social game
Sri Lankan batting great Kumar Sangakkara said cricket is a social game and it will be interesting to see how players cope with the new ICC guidelines when cricket resumes.
The ICC has come out with guidelines for the safe resumption of the sport. The ICC Cricket Committee also recommended a ban on saliva to shine the ball.
“For bowlers, shining the ball is an instinctive thing, they have done it over so many years since they were kids,” Sangakkara, the president of the Marylebone Cricket Club, said.
