Covid-19 pandemic could lead to curtailed County championship, admits Sir Alastair Cook
Former England skipper Sir Alastair Cook feels that this County season might be up for a curtailed season and even floodlit matches if the board goes ahead with the Championship. Cook has pointed out that the board is right in its place prioritising financial commitments and players must back them.
Former England skipper Sir Alastair Cook shared that England might be looking at curtailed or even a cancelled County season as the COVID 19 pandemic wreaks havoc around the globe. The ECB has postponed all domestic tournaments till May 28 but this situation doesn't seem to be getting better by then.
Cook, England’s all-time leading run-scorer in the longest format, helped Essex win the County Championship last season but feels that they might not get a chance to defend their title this summer as ECB priorities its financial commitments. He shared that the board is right in its place securing the financial front and players must Backe them.
"Will we get to defend that title? As things stand, there will be no cricket in England until May 28 at the earliest. I can say this because I have no financial interest in the outcome but it strikes me that those proposing that the authorities prioritise the most profitable parts of the English summer -- The Hundred, T20 Blast and the national team -- have a point,” the 35-year-old wrote in his column in Sunday Times.
The southpaw feels that if players want the County Championship, the feeding line for England’s Test side, must go on then they should pull all strings and back the board. Cook feels that extreme measures like back to back games, floodlit games and reduced ticket prices are the only way forward for the four-day tournament to go ahead.
"Possibly but that will demand that we all pull in the same direction. We may well be looking at an abbreviated tournament, with more back-to-back matches and stretching into early October (sometimes warmer than the second half of April when the season usually starts). We may, as a result, see more floodlit cricket and ticket prices will almost certainly have to be reduced. None of this is ideal but we all have to see the bigger picture -- for our sport and the country as a whole," Cook signed off.