Published 17:47 IST, March 19th 2020
Coronavirus: England cricket set to suffer losses greater than in 2 World Wars combined
Coronavirus: England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) recently recommended all recreational cricketing activities across the country to be shut down immediately.
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The rise of the coronavirus outbreak has already impacted many sporting events across the world. In cricket itself, the action-packed Pakistan Super League (PSL 2020) got suspended just prior to the commencement of its playoffs. The upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL 2020) season got postponed by two-and-a-half weeks until further announcement. Moreover, the scheduled launch of the highly-anticipated ‘The Hundred’ tournament organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) also looks uncertain to go ahead as planned.
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Impact of coronavirus on England cricket
Quite recently, the England cricket board recommended all recreational cricketing activities across England to be shut down immediately. The move was to assist England government’s latest measures of counterattacking the coronavirus. It was reported that these measures will be applied to anything that is associated to cricket like training, pre-season friendly matches, net sessions and even the upcoming venture for kids, i.e. All Stars Cricket and Dynamos Cricket.
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An England-based journalist has claimed that such a move would impact England cricket more than it did during the two World Wars. During the two World Wars, all professional cricket like Test matches were suspended. However, recreational cricket like English league cricket went ahead as scheduled throughout the second World War.
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Coronavirus: West Indies lends a helping hand towards England cricket
The English home summer usually commences in April every year and it runs through September. The summer sees England hosting its domestic cricket championship and international matches for the touring sides. As the coronavirus threats looms on, the West Indies cricket board (Cricket West Indies) reportedly offered to lend a helping hand towards England cricket.
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A report from a popular cricket portal states that the move proposed by the West Indies cricket board was completely out of altruistic intention. The novel coronavirus has already caused more than 2000 infections in the United Kingdom (UK) and it is being projected that it has not seen the peak of the pandemic's effect yet.
17:47 IST, March 19th 2020