All 18 first-class cricket counties in England have agreed to participate in the same competitive red-ball and white-ball competitions during this summer’s shortened season.
All counties will be eligible to compete in the four-day Bob Willis Trophy, which will be followed by a shortened Vitality Blast competition beginning on August 27.
Ticket holders for men’s domestic matches and county members will be contacted by venues with the options available to them when a new fixture schedule is announced.
Neil Snowball, managing director of county cricket of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), said: “The enforced break due to COVID-19 has provided a challenging period for the county game during which time the 18 first-class counties have been united with a common goal to get back to our core function of playing cricket.
“The commitment of the chairs and chief executives of the first-class counties to work together to achieve that ambition has been resolute and we will remain in close discussion as we continue to assess risk factors that need to be mitigated in order to ensure the safety and welfare of their players, coaches and staff.
“We are all delighted that agreement has been reached across the game and we are now in a position to look forward to and prepare for a new men’s domestic season starting on August 1.”
Meanwhile, the Caribbean Premier League Twenty20 competition has confirmed that its 2020 season will take place in Trinidad & Tobago.
The competition has reached an agreement for the whole of the season to take place in the country from August 18 to September 10. The CPL has worked with the country’s Ministry of Health and its own board of medical advisors to create protocols to minimise the risk of COVID-19 transmission.
Teams and officials will be housed in one hotel, with personnel to be subject to strict quarantine protocols for the first two weeks in Trinidad & Tobago. People travelling from overseas will be tested for COVID-19 before departure and upon arrival in the country.
Image: Dominic Lockyer/Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)/Edited for size
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