Will Cricket make it return sooner - ECB reveals Tests with West Indies in July 2020

Till the advent of IPL and T20I – ODI by far was the most fascinating form of Cricket.  For statistics buffs, India has played the maximum no. of One dayers – 987 to be precise. 513 wins; 424 lost; 9 Tied and 41 No results.  Do you know, how many ODIs, the greatest all-rounder Sir Garfield Sobers played and how many WI had played before they played and won the Inaugural World Cup 1975 ?

Old order changeth, yielding place to new .. .. how will the Cinema industry and Cricket game after Covid 19 .. .. will they lose their sheen or will people flock back in the same measure that they did prior to Mar 2020 ? – what do you feel ??

Strange are the ways of people .. .. .. like India, UK had been under lockdown and the Covid effect appears to be devastating yet not many are following the guidelines, it appears.  Hungry McDonald's customers have been queuing for up to two hours after it reopened 168 drive-thrus - with police being called out to manage traffic at some of its restaurants.  The fast-food giant is set to reopen nearly 1,000 restaurants for drive-thru and McDelivery customers over the next three days. In a bid to try and stop the lengthy queues when drive thrus return, McDonald's is announcing its chosen restaurants on the day they open - but an hour's notice still gave customers plenty of time to queue today.

The Rose Bowl, Hampshire's fourth home and its most state-of-the-art, was designed by award-winning architects Michael Hopkins & Partners and hosted its inaugural first-team match in 2001. The ground, shaped like a circular amphitheatre, and its highlight - the three-storey pavilion with canopied roof - is a splendid feat of architecture.  The ground's development - costing a whopping £24million - ran into financial difficulties in 2000. The Rose Bowl (also known as the Ageas Bowl for sponsorship reasons) is a cricket ground in West End,Hampshire, England, located between the M27 motorway.

Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, the former capital city of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force.  Hampshire has a long maritime history and two of England's largest ports, Portsmouth and Southampton, lie on its coast. The county is famed as home of such writers as Jane Austen and Charles Dickens.  Gordon Greenidge, Andy Roberts, Malcolm Marshall, Chaminda Vaas, Michaele Clarke, Shane Bond, Wasim akram, Glenn Maxwell are some of the famous overseas players to have played for Hampshire.

In UK, one statistics claims the Coronavirus Cases at  276,332 and deaths @ 39,045.  However, Britain’s statistics watchdog chided the government on Tuesday for publishing data on coronavirus tests that it said were “far from complete and comprehensible”.  It is reported that the UK's largest coronavirus testing centres stand idle today while Britons instead swamped newly opened McDonald's restaurants and Ikea stores as the lockdown eases. Bored NHS contractors at Twickenham rugby stadium in West London even had time to make a horse mascot and deck it out in blue surgical face mask, white gloves and yellow high viz jacket to match their PPE.

Be that as it may ! ~ when will Corona end is not known – humanity will have to live with it for longer period it appears.  The ECB has announced proposed dates and venues for England's three-Test series against West Indies, subject to government clearance.  The first Test will be staged at the Ageas Bowl on July 8, 2020 with the second and third Tests to be held at Emirates Old Trafford. All three games will be staged behind closed doors, with players staying at on-site hotels in biosecure conditions.  As revealed by ESPNcricinfo, the West Indies squad will arrive in the UK on June 9, when they will travel to Emirates Old Trafford for a three-week period of quarantine and training. They will then travel to the Ageas Bowl ahead for the final stages of preparation before the first Test.

The ECB said in a press release that the venues had been chosen after meeting criteria relating to biosecurity, medical screening and testing provisions, their ability to uphold social distancing, and cricketing facilities. Four venues submitted expressions of interest, and Edgbaston has been selected as a contingency venue. It will also be used to stage training throughout July. The Ageas Bowl and Emirates Old Trafford will both receive an administration fee for staging the series, and additional costs will be met by the ECB. The three Tests had originally been scheduled for The Oval, Edgbaston and Lord's, which will all have their staging fees reimbursed, and the ECB will claim for all lost ticket revenues through its insurance policy with fans entitled to full refunds. Steve Elworthy, the ECB's director of special operations, said that the main objective was to deliver a safe environment for all those involved.

The ECB said it is continuing to work on how best to stage matches, with Ireland, Pakistan and Australia due for men's tours later in the summer, and South Africa and India scheduled to play women's series. There are also plans to stage a shortened domestic season, though it was confirmed last week that county cricket will not restart before August 1.

Now, if you remember the Qs at the start, Sobers played in a solitary ODI – ODI no. 8 played at Leeds on Sept 5, 1973 when all his teammates and Country also debuted.  Sobers did not make any runs and bowled the last over in which England which had lost 9 wickets won. England secured the target of 182 in 54.3 with the last wicket pair of RGD Willis and Derek Underwood adding 6.  In the next One dayer  WI won.  WI played their 3^rd ODI in Prudential World Cup 1975.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

2.6.2020.