UK PM Boris Johnson calls Cricket ball 'natural vector of Covid'; County restart unlikely

International cricket is all set to resume from July 8 in the UK, with England taking on the West Indies in a bio-secure environment. However, Britan's PM Boris Johnson believes that it is too early for the domestic County tourney to restart and called the cricket ball a 'natural vector of disease'. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), who are confident of hosting the first international game after the three-month-long COVID-enforced hiatus, have not revealed their plans for the restart of the domestic league and are still awaiting the go-ahead from the UK government. However, Boris Johnson's comments in the House of Commons on Tuesday serves as an indication that the County restart could be further delayed, with the government still putting together guidelines to make the sport COVID-secure. 

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'Cricket ball a natural vector of the disease' 

UK PM Boris Johnson admitted that the country was not yet prepared for the restart of recreational cricket but said that West Indies' tour of England wasn't under threat. Responding to a question from Conservative MP Greg Clark in the House of Commons, Johnson said that it was too soon to lift current restrictions preventing the return of recreational cricket. County sides have lost more than half the season due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic with most sides terminating contracts with foreign players owing to the travel restrictions imposed in the wake of the pandemic.  

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Johnson said: "The problem with cricket as everybody understands (is) that the ball is a natural vector of disease, potentially at any rate. We've been round it many times with our scientific friends.

"At the moment, we're still working on ways to make cricket more Covid-secure but we can't change the guidance yet."

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West Indies tour of England

The first test of the series will commence on July 8 at the Ageas Bowl. The second and third test will be played at the Old Trafford subsequently dates for which are July 16 and July 24. The ECB while announcing the proposed schedule had stated that decision on other scheduled matches for England Men and England Women this summer will be determined at a later date.

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