Counties agree formats for shortened domestic season
Tuesday 7th July 2020
Kent Cricket and the 17 other First-Class Counties (FCCs) have agreed to play both red-ball and white-ball cricket during this summer’s shortened men’s domestic season.
A majority vote was reached at a meeting of the FCC chairs today following approval by the ECB Board last month for the new season to commence on August 1.
Today’s agreement by the FCCs will be passed on for ECB Board approval in the coming days after which the details of the new fixture schedule will be drawn up and then announced.
The safety and wellbeing of all players, staff and officials remains the priority of the ECB and all FCCs will undergo further medical risk assessments and venue compliance approval as planning progresses to ensure safe environments for the start of the men’s domestic season.
Ticket holders for men’s domestic matches and members are set to be contacted by the Club with the options available to them after a new fixture schedule is announced.
Kent Cricket CEO Simon Storey said, “We are delighted that, following this decision, players, coaches, members, cricket fans and sponsors can now look forward to a domestic county cricket season consisting of four-day cricket for County Championship fans and Vitality Blast for white-ball fans.
“Our position has always been that Kent Cricket would be prepared to play any format of county cricket, so long as it is safe to do so.
“The playing staff have recently resumed training in readiness for a curtailed season, and we have implemented the strict protocols to ensure the health and safety of players, coaches and support staff in this period. We will also continue to work closely with the ECB and the PCA on the next phase of our preparations.
“Whilst we anticipate that the season will start behind-closed doors, we still aspire to being able to open our gates to a limited capacity crowd at some point during this new-look 2020 season.
“In the meantime, we are developing an enhanced live stream offering to allow our members, commercial partners and supporters to watch Kent Cricket in action.
“Once again, I would like to thank members, fans and sponsors for their patience and understanding. As we get more information on fixtures and, in due course, confirmation of the behind closed doors status, we will communicate the news on our website together with available options for members and tickets buyers.”
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