What the first day of cricket in the post-Covid world looked like

Looking at the players in their shiny whites bracing themselves to go about a game of Test cricket felt pretty routine, but when the reality of the world we currently find ourselves stuck in struck me, everything instantly turned surreal. Here we were, playing a game of cricket in a country which only 60 days ago was declared as the ‘pandemic epicentre of Europe’. It didn’t make sense; I couldn’t fathom it. “This should never have been possible” I muttered to myself, before letting out an extended grin at the prospect of cricket restarting after a four-month hiatus. 

To begin with, the ‘new normal’ was shoved into our faces as early as the toss. For the first time since I, at least, started watching cricket, there were no signs of a Television Presenter at the toss. The commentators, from the commentary box, announced that ‘Dave the Robot’ would be the one conducting the toss and the two captains, Ben Stokes and Jason Holder, and the match referee, Chris Broad, were the only three people (alongside two cameramen) in the ground. And in the background were empty stands, with no signs of the human species anywhere; it was a sight like no other.

This sequence was then followed by the players taking to the field, soon after which everyone present in the ground took a knee for 30 seconds to show solidarity for the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Soon as Kemar Roach took his mark to steam into bowl the first delivery post the restart, though, one thing stood out - the umpire, as strictly suggested by the ICC, was not holding the jumper, sunglasses or hat of the bowler; he was, for once, a free man. The umpires were, however, not wearing gloves. Nor did they have sanitizers in their hands or pockets.

The concept of social distancing, though, was quashed within balls, let alone overs. To begin with, the slip cordon were not observing social distancing - which, I guess everyone would unanimously agree, was the right thing to do - and when skipper Holder summoned the DRS on just the fourth ball of the innings, the Windies player crowded the area behind the stumps like passengers on the footboard of an Indian Town bus prior to the lockdown; the ICC sure would not have been pleased with that. And as if this wasn’t enough evidence that the players didn’t give two damns about the social distancing norm, the Windies set the seal on the matter in the second over.

After Gabriel rattled the top of the ‘fit’ Dom Sibley’s off-stump, each and every player from the visiting team rushed towards the bowler to indulge in a ‘high-five’. In case you didn’t know, the ICC had suggested players not to indulge in hugs or high-fives or any form of direct body contact during wicket celebrations, as a part of their ‘back to cricket’ guidelines; whether the players will be warned and reprimanded or just reminded about their responsibilities remains to be seen. And in the midst of all this, Sky had already encountered multiple ‘technical difficulties’ in their broadcast, for which Holding apologized at least half a dozen times; one can only hope that this isn’t really a part of the ‘new normal’. 

The on-field players and umpires aside, there were also a few other interesting vistas that caught the eye. When rain belted down and halted the game after just 25 balls, the groundsmen were summoned upon to cover the pitch forthwith, and each and every one of them was seen sporting a mask. The photographer, too, was seen wearing a mask. But, interestingly, the most ‘protected’ individual though, was the 12th man, who was seen wearing gloves when he made an appearance on the field to pass on some personal equipment - a pair of gloves - to Rory Burns during the 14th over. 

What was clear, though, was that the supposed changes and the tweaks in this ‘new world’ had little effect vis-à-vis the outcome of the game. Or, at least, on the rain-curtailed first day which saw only 106 balls being bowled, it felt so. The saliva ban and the absence of crowd, the two most widely discussed and debated areas heading into cricket’s restart, felt like a non-issue for most parts of the day; the ball swung a mile - more than all but one Test in the last English summer at the equivalent stage of the match, according to CricViz - and seldom did the intensity of the players drop. 

To summarize, Day 1 of the first Test between England and West Indies felt no different to the day one of the dozens of Test matches we watched last year. Yes, the absence of a crowd did make things ‘weird’ to an extent, but at no point did it feel like I was watching a completely different sport altogether. And that, I presume, is a positive sign for the sport and is further evidence that these suggested changes were blown out of proportion. It goes unsaid that more obstacles will be encountered on the way - perhaps, as the Test progresses and the ball gets older, the saliva factor might start to play its part - but there were no alarming signs on the first day which made a common fan feel alienated. So far, so good.