The country that introduced the world to the gentleman’s game is now well on its way to show us how to go about hosting cricket action in the Covid era!
The West Indies series in July and the Pakistan series that follows in August will be the litmus test for England that not long ago was high up on the list of nations with its population affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The successful conduct of both series may provide a roadmap to other cricket boards of how to go about the logistics of hosting forthcoming series, given the new challenges posed by the virus.
England named a final squad of 13 players for the first Test, from a pre-series shortlist of 30, after their three-day practice game ended on 3 July. Nine more players will be staying at the venue as reserves.
Joe Root will miss the opening Test of the series as he returned to Sheffield, to be with his family at the birth of his second child. Ben Stokes will lead the side in his place and the Durham all-rounder is set to become the 81st England men’s Test captain.
Pace seems to be the name of the game, and the England bowling lineup looks quite intimidating, with the likes of James Anderson, Jofra Archer, Stuart Broad, Mark Wood and Chris Woakes aiming to make the most of the English conditions along with Stokes.
The selectors have backed the batting talent of Rory Burns, Dom Sibley, Joe Denly and Zak Crawley which was to be expected, given the absence of Joe Root in the top four. Though the odd eyebrow might have been raised about the omission of all-rounder Sam Curran from the 13, it has more to do with him being unwell and missing two days of action during the practice match, rather than an issue of form.
Curran has tested negative for Covid-19 and has been included in the Test reserves along with Ben Foakes, Jack Leach and Craig Overton.
Dom Bess has been given the nod in the spin department, which means the experience of Moeen Ali has been overlooked. The other seasoned campaigner, who doesn’t find a place in the squad or the reserves, is keeper bat Jonny Bairstow.
The series will also see the Interim Regulation Changes that have been approved by the ICC, being put into action.
Due to international travel restrictions, locally-based match officials from the ICC Elite Panel and the ICC International Panel will be appointed for the matches. An additional unsuccessful DRS review for each team in each innings of a match will be added, which means that the number of unsuccessful appeals available per innings for each team will go up to three in Test matches and two for the white-ball formats.
Teams will be allowed to replace players displaying symptoms of Covid-19 during the Test match. Just like it is with concussion replacements, the match referee will approve the nearest like-forlike replacement from the pool of reserve players.
Most importantly for bowlers, during the match players will not be permitted to use saliva to shine the ball. If a player does apply saliva to the ball, the umpires are allowed to initially show some leniency and allow players to get accustomed to the new rule, but subsequent instances will result in the team receiving a warning.
After two warnings per innings if there is still repeated use of saliva on the ball, it will result in a 5-run penalty in favour of the batting side. Whenever saliva is applied to the ball and is noticed by the umpires, it will have to be cleaned off the ball before play recommences.
Just to highlight how seriously some players are preparing to play in these modified conditions, take the example of Stuart Broad.
Broad has spoken at length to the team’s sports psychologist about how to maintain intensity levels and sustain optimum performance despite playing in empty stadiums, during England’s bio-secure Test series with West Indies.
The first Test between England and West Indies starts at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton on 8 July 2020.
The writer is a sports broadcaster and cricket commentator who has worked on assignments for leading sports networks in India and abroad.