England's Winter

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204 - that’ll do. Brilliant showcase of England’s formidable batting depth that will make them leading contenders at the upcoming World T20 events. South Africa took regular wickets, but England kept blasting away.

My top 7 for T20s would be - Buttler, Roy, Bairstow, Banton/Malan, Morgan, Stokes, Moeen.

Archer and Rashid have got two bowling spots locked down. Interesting battle between the Currans, Wood, Jordan, Brown, Mahmood, Parkinson and possibly Gregory for the final two spots.

Ouch for crickets finances. The sport is struggling enough professionally as is sadly.

Soul Requiem wrote:Tours off so the test championship must be in jeopardy too.

TBH this one never should have been on in the first place regardless of viruses. Do wonder how much this has given the ECB a good excuse to pull out, theres only 3 confirmed cases in Sri Lanka and it wont make a significant difference to people travelling. In this country where its far more prevalent the governments science advisers dont see a need to stop hundreds of thousands going to sports events. 

Woakes must be a bit annoyed about his IPL contract, although theres a fair chance that will get canned too. 

Anyway it is what it is, players get a few days on the beach and fly back in time for the early CC fixtures to be played behind close doors ( no jokes about Leicestershire please). Just hope none of them pick up a stomach bug like in SA.

Sensible decision

Surprised it's off actually, was expecting it to be played behind closed doors. There's only a few cases in Sri Lanka and, provided any England fans were banned from coming over to Sri Lanka, it would likely have been safe. I mean the England players and staff are probably in greater danger now flying back to this country, though I guess they do want to be with their families at this time.

Tend to agree with Duty that this tour would probably have been "low risk"...still I guess most organisations are going with "better safe than sorry " at the moment - understandably.

Football with no spectators is the go here now apparently , at least for the foreseeable future ; and indeed all gatherings of over 500 people are off the table...

Ah well : off to see my club's first XI in a semi final this afternoon. Unlikely to threaten the 500 spectators threshold

Seems to have been as much a mental thing as anything

From Roots interview it sounds like the concern was that if there was an outbreak they might get stuck in Sri Lnaka indefinitely.
Now they are free to go to the IPL and get stuck in India.

County season postponed until the 28 May. England's test series with the Windies (June) is very unlikely to happen.

Wonder if the Hundred will be postponed? Wonder if we'll see any cricket on England's green fields this sorrowful summer?

They should prioritise the money competitions. T20 and the Hundred are set up to be those

West Indies have offered to host the series at their place instead...never ones to shy away from the chance to make a quick buck.
Main talk is that the blast and 100 will be prioritised. Suggestions that the CC could be played behind closed doors was met with uncomfortable shuffling at grace road.

Only makes sense to prioritise the competition that makes money and the one being introduced because the counties desperately need another one that makes money.

If the Blast isn't played then a few counties would definitely need back stopping by the ECB to survive.

Are you going to have any cricket this summer ? It seems the launch of the much touted Hundred has been rather undermined by circumstances , to say the least. Play in empty grounds perhaps but it won't exactly be a fair test of the concept...
Football here in Melbourne going ahead at least for now ...but without spectators. Looks a bit weird on TV. But all the late season cricket disappeared - even the local competitions' finals ; which struck me as a bit of overkill given the average club final would probably involve the players and close family & friends - meaning a couple of hundred people spread out around a cricket oval : not exactly virus-risk crowding.
While I'm on the subject I really think it is time to shift the Olympics on to the same time next year so everyone can start planning for what is surely inevitable...

I think they've just postponed the AFL season until May 31, alfie. News just in. Still persisting with the NRL here but I don't think that will last long. Very unusual times to say the least. I must say I'm already enjoying the 'less shouting and howling' from the commentators. I could get used to that.

I see your point re cricket... less physical contact and with players more spread out over a larger field there would naturally be less risk of viral transmission. I suppose the wicket-keeper might be asked to stand a bit further back to the slow bowlers. And no more than 2 slips... and hold off on the celebrations when a wicket falls.

Seriously though; we are entering very difficult times. I realise how dependent I am on sport. Already cancelled my sports channels and so far I've only had very mild withdrawal symptoms.

Gives us a chance to perhaps do some more reading or even learn another language perhaps?
Take care everyone. It will be bigger and better when things get back to normal I suppose.

Hi Alfie and all - so many unknowns and “what ifs” here that make it incredibly difficult to even begin to speculate.
Even if we do manage to “send Coranavirus packing in the next twelve weeks” in the words and hopes of our Prime Minister, I would guess that there’ll still be a lingering fear that it could return. Consequently, I would expect crowd control restrictions to remain in force for quite some time even in the best scenario. If so, any professional cricket being played here this summer could well be all behind closed doors albeit being televised. Tv revenues would be crucial with so many counties already being stuck for cash. Priority will probably be given to Tests, the Hundred and t20 Blast. I’ve heard that the Royal London 50 over domestic tournament will be the first to be sacrificed this season whilst things look far from good for the County Championship.
A worrying time for all with cricket most definitely not immune. Even at the wealthier counties, squad players in the last year of their contracts will be concerned that they won’t get an opportunity to demonstrate their worth and secure further employment with cricket belts being tightened.

I'd say it looks pretty unlikely we'll see any county championship cricket this summer - they'll need as full a campaign of the t20 blast as possible to help with covering costs. Hopefully, we will see some test cricket at some point...especially in a summer with Pakistan/West Indies over, usually provide good games and are different teams we don't see too much of over here.

It's looking pretty unlikely we'll see any club cricket up here in Norfolk, even if sport begins again unfortunately football is going to take priority for so many.

Either way - hope all on here keep themselves safe!

https://www.skysports.com/cricket/news/12123/11962210/virtual-test-england-clinch-convincing-win-over-sri-lanka


https://upnewsinfo.com/2020/03/26/second-virtual-test-nasser-hussain-names-england-xi-unchanged-cricket-news/

https://twitter.com/Benedict_B?s=09

England fighting to save the second virtual test.

I've enjoyed fleetingly following the virtual tests. The idea was definitely helped by having Sanga and Hussain pick the sides.

40 overs to survive. If Root gets out in the 70s again he will likely get some jib from his teammates in real life!

England survive to the end of the day, finishing 7 wickets down to win the series 1-0. Can we pass this result to ICC please.

Just read that Lewis of "DL" fame has died. Much maligned at times but it was a much step up from previous attempts at objective results predictors (ask South Africa) and like most innovations has come to accepted as a standard part of the game now from the generation that hasn't known anything else.

Gooseberry wrote:Just read that Lewis of "DL" fame has died. Much maligned at times but it was a much step up from previous attempts at objective results predictors (ask South Africa) and like most innovations has come to accepted as a standard part of the game now from the generation that hasn't known anything else.

Goose - that's very fair and deserved for a man whose work definitely improved a part of the limited overs game.

I now look forward to your tribute to Eddie Large.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-52148350

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3gIOyj5bpA

A really fun watch there for those that haven't seen it.

Sky have put some really interesting 'lockdown vodcasts' up over the last few weeks. Seemingly led by Rob Key with Nasser Hussain also heavily involved. Chatting over old Ashes rivalries with Shane Warne, cricket world cup with Eoin Morgan, the talent and mismanagement in the 90s with Alec Stewart and Darren Gough.

Several hour long uploads that are well worth a watch for those who are missing their cricket!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/52409980

Cricket shutdown until at least the 1st July, meaning the England-Windies test series has been postponed. I imagine the knock-on effect will, at the very least, postpone the final of the Test Championship.