Next up on ICC's agenda for the
respective boards is the need to provide a safe workplace for the
cricketers, which entails risk assessment of training and match venues.
There are also calls for maintaining a 1.5 metre distance (or as indicated
by the respective governments) between players at all times, and thorough
sanitation of personal equipment. As mentioned in the ECB's
recently-released guidelines, ICC wants players to arrive at grounds 'ready
to train', and not use common facilities like showers and changing rooms.
With respect to match situation, the
need for medical resources at every venue, the appointment of on-call
doctors and sufficient medical support have to be considered. The ICC
believes that the ball is a 'transmission medium' of the virus, and have
recommended providing players with a clear guidance into the safe management
of the ball, which includes a) regular hand sanitising when in contact with
the ball b) players to not touch their eyes, nose and mouth after making
contact with the ball and c) the umpires to consider wearing gloves when
handling the ball. They also reiterated their recent prohibition on the use
of saliva to shine the ball
There should also be social
distancing protocols in place, which requires players to not hand over caps,
towels, jumpers etc to the umpires between overs, and there to be no
unneccessary body contact between the players. The ICC has also discouraged
sharing of cricketing equipment and vouched for minimal use of communal
facilities before and after a match.
There are also very strict rules set
out for travel, which will first need the adherence of the guidelines set by
respective governments. Furthermore, the ICC has called for the use of
chartered flights, adequate social distancing on the flight, and slotting
dedicated floors for teams in hotel accommodations.
The four stages of return to training
Players' return to training has been
bracketed into four stages, with progression from one stage to another to be
based on government regulation.
Stage 1 involves individual
skill-based training, which England have already begun for their bowlers.
Next stage should kick in with practice in small groups (of less than three
players) while adhering to social distancing norms. Stage 3 can have a
slightly bigger group of players and a coach (less than 10) while stage 4
will involve squad-based training while maintaining safe distance from each
other.
Also, the load and intensity of
training for the players should be progressive across the stages in order to
avoid the risk of injuries.
Guidelines for bowlers
Considering they run the highest risk
of getting injured if proper care is not taken in their return from a
lengthy period of inactivity, specific guidelines for bowlers have been
drawn up. These include the suggestions to the cricket boards to involve a
larger squad, in order to achieve the demands of the sport once it resumes.
There are also suggestions of
format-specific training routine for the bowlers. As per the proposals,
boards have been suggested to allow for a minimum of 5-6 weeks of training,
with the last three weeks involving bowling at match intensity in order to
facilitate a bowler's return to T20Is. For ODIs, the minimum preparation
period is of 6 weeks, and a similar phase of match intensity practice [3
weeks]. For Tests, the preparation period is two to three months (8 to 12
weeks), with the last 4-5 weeks involving bowling at full tilt.
Isolation for all, and no on-field
celebrations?
The ICC has discouraged any kind of
on-field celebrations like before, as it would lead to players coming into
close contact with each other. The board has also said that if any player in
a match shows symptoms of Covid-19, then every participant of that game will
require tests and a period in isolation as they would've been in close
proximity with the affected player, and could have contracted the virus.
The board also acknowledged that the
members of the support staff and match officials run a higher risk of severe
illness should they get the virus, because of being older individuals in the
game and likelier to have medical conditions like diabetes, weak innate
immunity, cardiac issues and kidney problems
Posted on May 23, 2020
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