MARK Arthur says he remains hopeful domestic as well as international cricket will be played in England this summer.

The Yorkshire chief executive is confident about the prospects of England fulfilling their programme of fixtures against the West Indies, Pakistan and Australia, but he insists everything possible is being done to try and get Yorkshire back out on to the field too.

No cricket will be played in England prior to July 1 due to the coronavirus pandemic, but county action has by no means been ruled out, with the England and Wales Cricket Board having already drawn up a draft schedule for the summer.

But Arthur insists patience is going to be key.

He said: “The ECB have produced a new domestic schedule, which is a combination of county cricket, a little bit of 50-overs cricket and the T20 Blast pushed towards the end of the season in August and September, where hopefully there will be some relaxation of the social distancing in relation to spectator sports.

“If that isn’t the case, hopefully we will be able to get some one-day cricket underway because it would be very difficult to see the use of hotels.

“Travelling via a bio-safe coach into a bio-safe ground is possible. But you have to look at costs. Those are the things everyone is looking at at the moment.

“As always, we will take our lead from the government.

“At the moment, we hold out hope for a sudden change in circumstances.

“Just like everyone who listens to what the government says at five o’clock each day, sometimes you have a negative slant on things for the rest of the season and sometimes there is a chink of light there.

“The longer we can hang on in there, the more chance we have of some domestic cricket.”

Arthur also said Yorkshire would support the ECB if they wanted to use Emerald Headingley as a bio-secure venue for international matches or training.