THE new Hundred event will be officially postponed on Friday – but cricket chiefs still hope England can play all their matches this summer.
The ECB believe a total of six Test matches, six one-dayers and six T20s can be squeezed in as long as international cricket starts by the end of the first week of July.
England’s scheduled opponents are West Indies, Australia, Pakistan and Ireland.
If the government allows, games will initially be behind closed doors with venues such as the Ageas Bowl in Southampton and Old Trafford favoured because they have hotels on site.
A ‘bio secure’ environment will be created with players, support staff, officials, TV workers, security, caterers and so on tested for Covid-19 and then not permitted to leave the venue, even overnight.
Sky could operate a ‘reduced specification’ which means fewer cameras but, with no spectators at matches, there is scope to film from unusual or different locations such as the stands.
The highly-popular David ‘Bumble’ Lloyd might not be able to work as a commentator because he is 73 and people aged over 70 were advised to remain shielded from social contact before the current lockdown started.
Bumble could instead offer punditry from home. Sky might also not be able to fly in commentators from overseas.
The whole point of the Hundred is to attract a new audience so it is virtually pointless if played behind closed doors. The ECB will hope to launch the competition in 2021.
The postponement of the Hundred eases the fixture congestion a little and might mean England don’t have to play two games in different formats on consecutive days – and certainly not on the same day.
Some sort of red-ball cricket is expected to feature in the domestic season, which allows England players to practice leading in Test matches.
Meanwhile, the ICC have confirmed that the Twenty20 World Cup – scheduled for Australia in October and November – has not yet been postponed although organisers are exploring other options such as delaying the event until next year.
