England Cricket Board’s rescue plan for resuming cricket could doom people

“It was clear it was getting in the way of performance and affecting the mental wellbeing of the guys,” said England's skipper Joe Root, before England’s series against Sri Lanka even began. That was not just the English team’s state but it was an emotion shared by cricket fans globally. Everyone, including, me, showcased our version of Moura, looking at no cricket being played. 

That in itself is a problem because 500 people would be not be restricted to themselves. For a cricket match to go forward, you need two teams, a set of match officials and hundreds of people behind the scene, which is the breeding ground that Coronavirus so desperately wants. And, once it does, get it, we are going to feed right into its hungry-stomach. But we are forgetting multiple factors right here - travel, players' health and their families and lack of supporters being a few. Despite Elworthy’s wealth-treasure of experience, the United Kingdom cannot get to fold to cricket this way, leaving all the other variable factors out of play. 

Look at the statement, towards the end you see 'everyone who comes in is clear'. Are we just looking at everything from a cricket point of view, to increase profits in multi-fold, throwing the lives of people at stake? Or are we even having a minute to think about what will happen despite all these 'so-called' provisions? We don't, that is exactly where the hard-hitting truth lies. At the end of the day, is business bigger than life? In this case no, because you are trying to force something which is not quite plausible, given that the average age of an English citizen is 40. The chances of contracting the virus are more for such people, in such circumstances, where the fighting-mechanisms of people are low. 

And, leave that aside for a minute, where are the ECB going to get all the staff needed for maintaining a safe and sterile environment? Especially, when the country is in such chaos, that just can’t be fathomable. I’m not an anti-ECB guy or even for that fact a hater, I’m merely just suggesting that despite all the arduous steps taken, it is not the right time to take a risk.  

He also did mention that it was not for economic reasons, which is fair, given that the T20 World Cup is around the corner. But, even in such circumstances, why would you be looking at playing cricket before looking at how the country is getting affected. If the live tracker of COVID-19 is of any help, it shows that the UK is eighth in the countries badly affected by the pandemic. Yet, you want them to go out and play cricket? India, on the other hand,  has not been as affected as the UK is, yet they have taken all the precaution and delayed IPL. Also, there stands a real possibility that this year we will not witness any IPL action, which by far most of us have agreed on, given that the outbreak is genuine.

When the flood-gates do open up, they do not come with a warning, but this time they have come with a warning sign across the globe. If we do not pay heed to the warning signs, why are they even there in the first place? In the country, over 14,500 have been infected or have shown symptoms of Coronavirus. It looks like it is indeed increasing every day, with new cases. Considering all of this, even a cricket fanatic - like a few dozen hundred(s) in the world - would not want cricket to start. 

Yet, everything boils back down to that factor - mental strength. Where does it go now, Mr Root? “The right decision has been made. You could see looking at the players that their minds were elsewhere thinking about people back home. Now that we can go and look after families and be with loved ones that’s put a lot of guys at ease,” he said after the series was called off.

Where does all of that go now, out of the window? Out to the open, where the chances of contracting the virus are more than ever? When the entire world is shut-down for a cause, why not extend yourself to the world for once and keep it shut? Be it impolite or not, that is the real deal here! So it is not an overreaction, after all, to say that please stop thinking about cricket for now!