The Twelfth Man 2020

on the ECB’s radar, but a somewhat su- perfluous ODI series against Australia looked likely to be ditched. If the West Indies could be persuaded to come, by the ECB chartering a flight for them, English Cricket would owe them a debt of gratitude, said Michael Ath- erton, recalling how the lesser nations had once been sidelined by England, India and Australia only a few years ago in a carve-up of future match schedules. For this cricket, starting in July, training would start in May for a squad of 30, chosen for both Tests and ODIs. A four- stage process would start with individu- als training with coaches at their ‘home’ (or nearest) grounds, followed by group sessions involving contact in nets, then warm-up matches within the extended squad, followed by the matches them- selves. The match venues would be Old Trafford and the Ageas Bowl, using the hotels on site to create the ‘bio-secure’ venues. Of county and domestic cricket, there was almost no mention, still less of recreational cricket. Later in the month, as glorious weath- er continued to mock us, hopes began to rise as information emerged about a plan to stage regional county com- petitions for four-day and T20 cricket, with top teams in each regional division going into play-off finals to be held at Lord’s. But then suddenly, on 28 May it was announced by ECB there would be no domestic cricket before 1 Au- gust. Coming just as other sports were making strides towards resumption this seemed somewhat perverse and de- signed to dampen expectation. But, it turned out, the international crick- et was not affected by this latest twist. A huge squad of 55 players to undergo England training in all formats was an- nounced, prompting another Atherton comment that if you hadn’t made it into this squad you would do well to seek ca- reer advice. For Yorkshire, as well as the predictable names of centrally-contract- ed players, this meant call-ups for David Willey and Tom Kohler-Cadmore, but no such joy for Gary Ballance or Adam Lyth. And so on 9 June we had the sight of the West Indies touring team arriving at Manchester to go into 14 days’ quaran- tine before training for the first match at Southampton on 8 July. The ICC ap- proved certain other measures for the matches, including use of home um- pires, the use of Covid-19 substitutes (similar to the concussion substitutes introduced in 2019), and a prohibition on using saliva to shine the ball. As the month went on reports emerged of a split between the counties about the way to start a season in August. Some favoured playing four-day match- es whilst others were said to be concerned about the costs of providing bio-secure hotels for overnight stays and preferred one-day matches, especially T20. With football restarting on 17 June at the height of mid-summer, sud- denly cricket seemed slow and fractured. Although plans were advancing for the Test Match- es to start in July, cricket was dealt an extra blow when Bo- ris Johnson began to outline considerable easing of the lock- down to take effect from 4 July. Of cricket, especially rec- reational cricket, mention was there none, prompting a question in the House. Caught off-guard he blustered something about a cricket ball being ‘a vector for the spread of disease’. But when later challenged with a scientific study that suggested this was no se- rious risk, he changed tack to blaming the risks of cricket teas and socialising in the pavilion afterwards. This prompt- ed a comment from Michael Vaughan, a man never knowingly under-quoted, to declare the government ‘muppets’ and to say cricketers should ‘just play’. Fortunately, behind the scenes and away from the spotlight the ECB had been quietly assembling its case, based on scientific advice and strict guidelines, for cricket to start. Through the Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden and the De- partment of Culture, Media and Sport they put their case. In a further Down- ing Street briefing, Johnson said, with characteristic bluster, he had ‘consulted with the third umpire’ and had, after all, found a way for recreational cricket to start on 11 July, a week later than all the other easements. Meanwhile, eighteen county chairmen voted 11-7 to play four-day cricket from 1 August, with Yorkshire’s Roger Hut- ton voting for the red ball. Counties voting against were given the choice to opt out of the competition but none chose to exercise it. On 10 July the ECB announced the advent of the Bob Wil- lis Trophy, based on the regionalised four-day competition lead- ing to a final between the two counties with the most points at Lord’s, followed by a shortened version of the T20 Blast from 27 August. In the meantime, Test crick- et got underway at South- ampton on 8 July, demon- strating great organisational skill by the ECB’s staff in put- ting on a match in challeng- ing circumstances. Every conceivable precaution had been taken and the players rose to the occasion in an enthralling encounter. For the first time in 98 match- es an England team took to the field in a Test without a Yorkshireman. Joe Root was on paternity leave and Jonny Bairstow had been sent to ply his trade in the white-ball ‘bubble’. The debt owed to the West Indies team in actually getting on that plane and liv- ing in a bubble at Old Trafford for four weeks was immediately apparent. In putting on international cricket for the world to see the ECB had shown the way, as had the broadcast media in Sky and the BBC to bring us the coverage. It was truly quite an achievement.. And so, as we close for press, we wait for the domestic fixture list to be revealed. By the time you read these words it will have become apparent what sort of summer has finally been rescued. Some counties even talk of spectators being admitted at some point. Even now there are the risks of further out- breaks of the virus, of local lockdowns and other setbacks. We must hope for the best whilst fearing the worst. As Neville Cardus once observed, ‘there can be no summer in this land without cricket’. Features As the month went on reports emerged of a split between the counties about the way to start a season in August... When football restarted on 17 June at the height of mid-summer, suddenly cricket seemed slow and fractured.