Test cricket resumes for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began. Tonight, England and the West Indies are playing the first of three tests at Southampton’s Rose Bowl.
The series is seen as a kind of benchmark for cricket companies around the world to resume the sport in a viable way as the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage worldwide.
However, in order to play the tests at all, some compromises had to be made, which means that the game may look a little different.
The players also had to be seized in isolation to ensure that they were COVID-19 free.
What rules have been changed?
Under pressure from an English public who wanted to reach the village square, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson described a cricket ball as a “natural disease carrier” to justify the fact that social cricket cannot return.
While these measures have since been withdrawn somewhat, the International Cricket Council is aware of the dangers of 11 or more people handling an item regularly.
As a result, the governing body has banned polishing the ball by spitting, which, as every drill sergeant will tell you, is a popular way to make leather glow.
“If a player applies saliva to the ball, the referees will handle the situation with some leniency during an initial adjustment phase for the players, but subsequent instances will result in the team receiving a warning,” said the ICC.
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“A team can receive up to two warnings per innings, but repeated use of saliva on the ball results in a five-run penalty for the bat. Whenever saliva is applied to the ball, the referees are instructed to clean the ball before the game starts again. “
This could lessen the impact of the acclaimed English tempo attack, which is heavily dependent on swing (both conventional and backward), especially at home.
The teams are also granted a “COVID-19 replacement”, which works similarly to the recently introduced concussion replacement that gave us Marnus Labuschagne’s Breakout Ashes performance.
If a player shows symptoms, the teams apply and the referee approves the closest replacement.
How else has corona virus changed the look of the game?
While banning spitting from polishing makes sense, shutting down the coronavirus and ongoing problems have a minor impact on things that may not seem as obvious.
Referees from other test nations are usually flown in for a series between England and the West Indies to ensure neutrality, but this is currently not exactly possible.
Due to travel restrictions, the pool of referees at the time of the series is effectively limited to that in the UK.
This could mean that some of the officers are less experienced than usual and the teams have received a third review per innings pending a wrong or questionable decision.
Finally, the ICC has relaxed its rules for advertising on test kits as cricket boards around the world suffer a financial blow due to the corona virus.
For at least the next 12 months, the teams may charge sponsors for a 32 square meter piece of advertising space on the front of their shirts to compensate for part of their losses.
Given the outcry caused by the white numbers at Testweiß last year, it will be interesting to see how it is received and whether this 12-month timeframe is really over.
How do you do that?
As with Premier League football, the test games take place behind closed doors.
However, for obvious reasons, a five-day test game presents completely different challenges than a 90-minute soccer game.
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For this reason, the ECB has created two biologically safe venues for the games to take place: Rose Bowl and Old Trafford.
The first test in Southampton’s Rose Bowl was chosen because of its location outside the city, the availability of a practice course in the same complex, an adjacent golf course for socially distant recreation, and most importantly, an adjacent hotel.
The second and third tests are played at Old Trafford, where there is also a hotel.
“We have structured the ‘bubble’ to work in the most extreme circumstances,” said Elworthy.
“All of our planning is based on the worst-case scenario, from the point of view of infection and an increase in the rate. So external factors should not influence this because if you are safe within the venue and do not break the boundaries of this venue, then you should Your game will be able to continue without any problems. “
Player isolated
Thirty English players have been closed to the public in a COVID-free hub in the Rose Bowl for almost three weeks, where they played an internal three-day practice game.
The West Indies arrived in England in early June and have been quarantined at Old Trafford for three weeks before traveling to Southampton earlier this week to begin final preparations for the first test.
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The venues were divided into designated zones in order to separate the two teams, the match officers, the ground staff and the media. Any movement between zones is strictly limited.
English bowler Mark Wood wrote for the BBC that the hotel quarantine felt “a bit like a science fiction film”.
He explained how players were scanned and their bags sprayed with disinfectant before entering the bio-safe venue.
No room keys were issued. Players use an app on their cell phones to open hotel room doors.
Players also sit at separate tables to eat their meals and follow the arrows stuck to the floor to create a one-way system.
The accreditation contains a chip that also tracks a player’s movements. So if someone tests positive, their close contacts can be easily identified.
What does this mean for cricket in the future?
Administrators around the world will be watching events in England closely to see if the ECB can do it and keep players, staff and the media corona virus free.
The ECB is clearly confident that this will work and yesterday published an updated summer plan.
Pakistan is in the country before a three-test series at the Rose Bowl (twice) and at Old Trafford in August, followed by three T20 caps, all at Old Trafford.
Ireland was suspended for three T20 caps at the Rose Bowl in late July to early August.
The ECB said a limited overs tour from Australia is planned for later in September, but is currently being “postponed with ongoing discussions.”
Will Australia operate in similar biosafety zones?
Australia will currently host the West Indies and India for separate T20 series with three games in October, before the test summer begins on November 21 in Perth against Afghanistan.
India will then return on schedule to play four tests by December and early January.
It is unknown whether the teams can travel across the country as usual.
Earlier this year, the BCCI appeared to be open to playing the entire series in one place, with Adelaide Oval as the proposed site, partly due to the 138-room hotel that is expected to be completed on September 25.
Currently, despite the increased number of cases in Victoria, the COVID-19 situation in Australia is very different from that in the UK, where, according to Johns Hopkins University, more than 280,000 cases and 44,000 deaths from the virus have occurred.
And as the AFL and NRL have shown in recent months, it is very possible to play games in Australia under certain conditions.
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