The International Cricket Council (ICC) has been having virtual brainstorming sessions with all stakeholders on the resumption of cricket in recent months under the shadow of the Coronavirus pandemic. So far, the Council has been unable to take a final call on the main contention issue: when to hold the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup. It is highly ironic that in a year that may also be referred to as T20, the T20 mega event simply cannot get underway as it was originally scheduled for October 2020 in Australia. Now, the cricket board of India, the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI), has been eagerly awaiting the decision on the T20 World Cup, because since its postponement is almost final, the decision of the ICC will give BCCI a window during October. November to host your favorite money spinner, the Indian Premiere League (IPL), of course, without the rowdy crowds.
All this time, the ICC has been busy crafting new rules for the world’s most popular game, a craze in India. Anil Kumble, who was appointed Chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee in 2012, was assigned this job. Kumble has already made recommendations and the ICC approved most of them. The first, of course, is the obvious one: prohibition of the use of saliva during the game. We’ve seen over the decades how intensive almost every fielding player has used saliva to keep the ball sparkling. Now, saliva is a direct trigger for the spread of COVID-19 and therefore its use has been immediately banned. This is expected to affect pacemakers in particular very adversely, and perhaps the dry ball will be of help to those who rotate. The suggestion of using external substances was rejected mainly because the international cricket bodies had been fighting this tooth and nail for decades. There is one more suggestion to allow a new ball for every fifty overs in the test matches being considered.
The ICC rule of having neutral umpires in international series has also been dropped to avoid the extensive trot that international umpires have had to embark on. The local umpires will now do the job. Another very important recommendation that has been accepted is to allow COVID substitutes in test matches that last for five days. Any player who shows any symptoms of the flu, cough or fever during this period will be excluded from the game and a substitute player may take his place in the starting line-up as established in these concussion regulations. Naturally, this rule would not apply to the shorter ODI and T20I formats.
The new cricket normal defined will obviously include several other demonstrative physical attributes of the game: the crowds of rival teams that we have increasingly witnessed in competitive cricket in recent years will no longer be allowed; display of group physical arousal as in the case of falling from a wicket or a hat-trick or a superlative catch or scoring a ton will disappear and all kinds of hugs, handshakes, celebrations in the pavilion or dressing rooms and the like They won’t be there anymore until Corona thinks otherwise. And, of course, there will be no spectators. Players will have to experience all the excitement on the field in an empty stadium without cheering, singing, celebrating or displaying flags to cricket-loving crowds, which would obviously be a daunting challenge to keep the players competitive spirit. Unfortunately, there is no other option available at this time and cricketers will have to adjust for the sport to resume.
It is a great event that the first instance of the international resumption of cricket has already started. With the exception of three players, the West Indies team had agreed to participate in a Test Series against England in England, one of the worst affected countries in terms of COVID deaths. The West Indies team had already arrived in England, all players tested before departure and thoroughly tested after arrival. They will live and prepare there for three weeks before the first test of the three-game series scheduled to begin on July 8, 2020. I look forward to the great game of cricket passing the unprecedented COVID test successfully and with all honors.