The apex body of cricket, International Cricket Council (ICC) has issued a set of guidelines to be followed by players and match officials to ensure the safety of every Individual.
In the detailed guideline booklet ‘ICC Back to Cricket’, ICC chalks a blueprint to resume the game. However, when and where the action would resume is still unanswered.
The blueprint has been separately designed for training, resumption of training and travelling and would be implemented in accordance with the respective local governments of the members.
Guidelines for training
The 16-page advisory says that the resumption of cricket should be a process of phased manner. It would be started once the cricketers feel that they can return to training considering the COVID-19 cases around the training centers.
The training will start with a solo training session and then it will gradually return to normalcy.
Players are advised not to share equipment with each other and if necessary, a complete hygiene procedure should be followed. Every equipment should be sanitized before and after its use.
Safety measure for domestic and International matches
The top body of the game further suggests a framework for resumption of action on the ground.
According to the ‘ICC Back to Cricket’ guideline booklet, cricket should resume with domestic cricket under high safety measures.
The guidelines includes regular hand sanitising when in contact with the ball and prohibition on using saliva to polish the ball. Umpires are advised to consider wearing gloves while handling the ball.
Players and umpires should maintain social distancing on the field of play and that includes no handing over of player items (cap, towels, sunglasses, jumpers) to the umpire or teammates. Consider adopting a process that will assist the bowler in managing his/her items.
Safety of Cricket Community is paramount
The apex cricketing body in its guidelines said that safety and well being of cricket community should be a top priority.
It says in the documented guidelines that every effort should be made to ensure that risks associated with the cricket environment i.e. field of play, training venue, changing rooms, equipment, management of the ball have been mitigated before any training session or match.
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