THE England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have agreed that no professional cricket will be played in England and Wales until at least July 1 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sadly, that means the Roses match pencilled in at Scarborough between Yorkshire and Lancashire in mid-June will now not go ahead as planned.

The ECB have admitted the season remains subject to ongoing advice from government and health experts, and have said there will be continued consultation with all broadcast partners to determine the optimum way to fulfil fixtures, both domestically and internationally.

The ECB Board approved the following measures:

  • Professional cricket will not be played in England and Wales until at least July 1.
  • Nine rounds of fixtures will be lost in the County Championship season, but blocks for red-ball cricket and white-ball cricket will be held in a revised schedule
  • The Vitality Blast will be pushed back to as late in the season as possible to give it the best opportunity of being staged. All matches previously scheduled in June will be moved to later in the season
  • International cricket, featuring England men’s and women’s teams, will look to be scheduled from July until the end of September, with the West Indies Test Series and the whole women’s series against India (Vitality IT20s and Royal London ODIs) both moving from their original slots

An additional board meeting will be scheduled next Wednesday on The Hundred, following a request to dedicate a further session to the competition.