Derbyshire optimistic cricket will resume this summer

As things stand there will be no professional cricket played before July 1 at the earliest due to Covid-19 with the launch of The Hundred competition delayed until 2021.

A large chunk of the County Championship has already been lost but the government's announcement this week that sporting fixtures could be played behind closed doors after June 1 has raised hopes that some games may go ahead later in the summer.

Derbyshire's chief executive Ryan Duckett believes there is a chance of playing both white-ball and red-ball cricket and has not ruled out the possibility of allowing spectators into grounds at some point.

"It's very difficult to predict what will happen but we've got to remain positive that we can get cricket on this year and hope at some point later in the summer we can play in front of crowds,” he said.

"With the work that's being done by the ECB along with government advice and support, I feel optimistic we will get cricket on this year.

"The priority for all clubs, because of the commercial impact of Covid-19, will be to prioritise the Vitality Blast for obvious reasons.

"As much as we love the longer format of the game that is the most commercially successful but I think the ECB are committed, if time and the calendar allows, to get some red-ball cricket in as well which would be fantastic."

There have been suggestions the season could be extended into October and Duckett believes that could be possible in the shorter formats of the game.

"I think at some point in the not too distant future there will be a revised fixture list which will prioritise the Vitality Blast later in the summer and the hope would be to get a full tournament, possibly into the early part of October, but that's for the ECB to decide if it's practical for all clubs," he said.

But if and when cricket is played, Duckett accepts that to begin with, it would be at empty grounds.

"It would be a case of making sure you had a safe venue with no risk to support staff and players and at the moment those operational guides are being worked on so it's too early to say what those could look like,” he said.

"There would certainly be a cost of playing behind closed doors but if it's in the best interests of the game and fulfilling certain obligations then absolutely I think all clubs would want to do that.

"Playing behind closed doors increases your operational and variable costs but if it was deemed to be in the best interests of the game , then we would obviously support it.

"We have looked at streaming our games for matches that won't be shown live on TV, whether it's white-ball or red-ball cricket, to add value for our members and stakeholders if we can only play behind closed doors."

Although the chances of allowing spectators in currently looks unlikely, Duckett said: “I certainly wouldn't want to rule it out this year because things are changing.

"Initially it may be only a certain percentage of the ground may be able to open and if that's the case, I think people would accept that to ensure social distancing is maintained."

If cricket does get the green light, Duckett is confident Derbyshire would be ready to put games on.

He said: "If we are going to get cricket we will probably look to bring players and ground staff back in about a month before any potential start date but in terms of the ground we could be ready in a couple of weeks.”

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