Lancaster CC face a different kind of Northern Premier Cricket League season

Lancaster CC should be approaching the halfway point of their season by now

The Northern Premier Cricket League has announced plans for how the 2020 season can be played – if cricket does eventually resume action.

The coronavirus pandemic had meant that Lancaster CC faced a delayed start to their campaign.

Initially, the club faced an absence of senior cricket until May 31 with the unlikelihood of any cricket before July.

Although England’s Test squad will play against the West Indies behind closed doors next month, the England and Wales Cricket Board has now pushed back domestic professional cricket until August.

While net facilities are now being used, albeit in line with lockdown regulations, club cricket’s future remains unclear.

Although it is highly unlikely that the Northern League will resume in early July, a return later that month could allow for a half-season if the programme was extended further into September.

However, it’s felt a more likely outcome would be a return to action at some point in August.

If that is to be the case then, another competition has been proposed for the 2020 season.

A league statement explained: “Whilst a great deal of uncertainty still overshadows the 2020 season, it seems unlikely that we are going to be permitted to play league cricket in its traditional form before August.

“If we do get the green light to start playing traditional forms of cricket then, regardless of when that authorisation comes, the Northern Premier Cricket League title will not be at stake.

“Nor will there be any promotion/relegation to or from the Northern Premier Cricket League in the 2020 season.

“There are a number of reasons for these decisions, the uppermost being the public health measure of test-trace-isolate.

“It is eminently foreseeable that this could impact upon and undermine the integrity of any competition that we attempt to hold.

“In place of our normal league and cup competitions this season, provisional plans have been made for a one-off cup competition based on local groupings.

“The guiding principles have been to minimise travel and minimise costs but at the same time provide for as much good, competitive cricket as possible in the circumstances, for those who wish to play.

“It is recognised that whilst we are all going through the public health crisis together, individual experiences of Covid-19 may differ significantly.

“Players, umpires and clubs will make the choices that are right for them and these choices will be fully respected.”