Covid-19 pandemic could lead to curtailed County championship, admits Sir Alastair Cook

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.

"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.