Cricket’s whole new ball game

In England, the grass is green, the sky still mainly grey, the beer warm and there is, finally, after 117 days, the hearty thwack of leather on willow in a cricket Test match. And it wouldn’t be a summer home series if there wasn’t a delay for rain…

When England took the field in Southampton yesterday against the West Indies, it was a whole new ball game. The match takes place in what is called a “biosecure environment”. Among other things, this means full, daily, health checks for everyone in the ground, bar the fans (and they were sparse on the first day, anyway).

Other new rules include that the umpires will not hold personal kit, like jerseys or caps, from players – and players will no longer be allowed to use saliva to help them shine the ball. That latter stipulation will probably suit Australia, because they apparently prefer sandpaper to saliva when it comes to altering the properties of the ball.

The Aussies might also welcome continuing a social distancing rule, if it keeps Kagiso Rabada out of their faces. But what, we wonder, does Covid-19 safety mean for a tight slip cordon or the crowd around the bat when a spinner is bowling?

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.