Written By - SUBHRADEEP CHOUDHURY
The year 2020 was expected to be much exciting from the beginning with all flavours of Cricket. After a successful Women’s t-20 WC, headlined by a fabulous final, all the attention turned to the upcoming Men's T20 World Cup in October-November. Besides those T20 games, fans had a great chance to witness some amazing test & ODI series.
However, what occurred in the beginning of the March, was hardly extrapolated by anyone. All the cricketing event came to a state of standstill in the middle of the month due to the COVID-19 pandemic and that immediately brought the World Cup and IPL before question mark. The whole world went to a situation of lockdown. All the cricketers and the fans were just raising one question-when will we get the flow again at a same pace?
Now, after 3 months, the COVID-19 restrictions are relaxing a bit in some countries like Australia, England, West Indies, Sri Lanka etc. However, the relaxation of restrictions doesn’t mean that the stadiums will be re-opened in some days. The government will open the stadiums for the public only if they think that the whole scenario is completely out of danger. The way how the things are going, the 20-20 World Cup seems to be uncertain.
In this article, we are going to talk about the return of international cricket and its updated rules and regulations post the COVID-19 outbreak.
ENGLAND TO RESUME THE GAME :
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England and Wales have decided to organize a 3-match test series against the West Indies. The series was supposed to be started from 4th June but the new schedule released by ECB has revealed that the series will now start from 8th July at Ageas Bowl in Southampton. The second test will begin on 16th July at Old Trafford in Manchester and the same city will host the 3rd and final test from July 24.
West Indies Cricket Board(WICB) has said that maintaining safety of the players will be their first and foremost issue. If a player doesn’t want to travel England, they will surely respect their decisions regarding their lives. The WICB after a month of conversations with the government and all the players has announced their squad.
Jason Holder will lead the young side in the absence of some significant names like Darren Bravo, Shimran Hetmyer and Kemo Paul, who have removed themselves from the tour. Jamaine Blackwood and Chemar Holder have been included in the squad for the first time. Besides the 14 member squad, a 11 man reserve players pool has also been declared where we can find opener Sunil Ambris and star pacer Shanon Gabriel, who is looking for a comeback to the team after a injury.
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After keeping their feet on the English soil, the Caribean team will remain in a 14 day isolation. They will practice in a Bio-secured environment to protect themselves from the virus.
Meanwhile, England are yet to announce their official test squad. But a news speaks that England Red-ball skipper Joe Root can miss the opening test as his wife is expecting a child on 8th July, the maiden day of the series. In that case, Vice Captain, Ben Stokes will perform the duty of captaincy for his country for the very first time.
READ MORE : FIVE FAMOUS CRICKET TRADITIONS
So, England are looking to get the series running in a bio-secured environment. Although, Indian former Cricketer Rahul Dravid has criticised some of the plans of ECB. “It’s a bit unrealistic to have things at the level the ECB is talking about.” Rahul said during speaking in a webinar organized by YUVA in India. “ I think it will be impossible for everyone to do it with the kind of calendar that we have, with the travelling that you do on tours and the number of people involved.”
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He further asked about the future scenario if a player tests positive in the middle of the game. “In case of bio-bubble , you do all the testing, the quarantine and then on day two of the test match, what if one player tests positive? What happens then?”.
So all in all, it’s going to be really challenging for the England Cricket Board to organize the test series keeping in mind the COVID-19 effects.
NEW GUIDELINES FOR CRICKET RESUMPTION :
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The International Cricket Council (ICC) has brought some new updated guidelines in the game after the COVID-19 pandemic.
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PROPOSAL TO USE NON-NEUTRAL UMPIRES IN ALL INTERNATIONAL GAMES :
The Cricket committee has recommended to use Non-Neutral Umpires in all the international cricket games. They have proposed to use the umpires, match-referee and all the other match officials from the participating country to avoid the extra traveling.
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AN EXTRA DRS REFERRAL ON AN INTERN BASIS :
Because of the increased pools of Umpires and most essentially the Non-Neutral Umpires, there will be an extra DRS Referral for the teams that will surely help them in the game.
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NO ON FIELD CELEBRATION :
The ICC has dismissed any kind of on field celebrations like before as it will lead all the players come in close contact with each other. There will be no hand-shakes or any other amazing celebration during the games or after it. The board has also revealed that if any player shows any kind of symptoms of COVID-19, every participant will require tests and a period of isolation.
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MAINTAINING THE BALL :
The issue of maintaining the ball has been a subject of debate concerning the risk of transmission of the Corona virus through the Saliva – generally used to shine the ball. The committee has asked the players to avoid saliva for smoothing the ball. This particular rule will surely put the players under a tough challenge.
BORDER-GAVASKAR TROPHY HEADLINES AMAZING AUSTRALIAN SUMMER :
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After a long discussion with the BCCI, the Cricket Australia (CA) has confirmed all the dates of the Border-Gavaskar trophy. Along with the Indian side, four other cricket-playing countries are to come on the Australian soil.
Zimbabwe will pay a visit to Australia for a 3-match ODI series from 9th to 15th August. After a gap of one month since the tour in England, West Indies will head for Australia to play 3-match T20 series from 4th to 9th October in different venues.
IND will complete all their games in two rounds. They will land in Australia to play a T20 series of 3 matches from 11th October but execution of that series is also not beyond doubt. We will further talk about the possible scenario in the second part of the article.
After playing a single test series against Afghanistan by the Aussies, the focus will shift to the all important Border-Gavaskar trophy. The series will be really exciting and the CA will hope to get their funds fulfilled through the series. January will watch the Aussies playing two 3-match ODI series against the Men in Blue and the Blackcaps. They will end their summer by playing a solitary T20 against the Kiwis.
INDIA TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
AFGHANISTAN TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
ZIMBABWE TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
WEST INDIES TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
NEW ZEALAND TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
** Recently, Australian Cricket Board has postponed the upcoming Zimbabwe series due to the effects of COVID-19..
None the less, as a Cricket fan, we always love to have some game any way. In the second part of the article, which will publish on next Sunday, we will speak about the possibility of the T-20 World Cup, the IPL and will provide some of quick fire news of the other countries progress in Cricket after the COVID-19 pandemic.
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