Cricket Canada announces Return-To-Play plan

BY KAYLA KARIM

Across the globe, many sports leagues are beginning to implement regulations on returning to play. On June 4^th 2020 the NBA announced that their Return-To-Play plan on July 31^st 2020 at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Similarly, Cricket Canada has released their “Return-To-Play Guidelines” earlier this week.

In a statement released by Cricket Canada, they announced that the plan draws extensively on the International Cricket Council “Back To Cricket” document which was prepared by the ICC Medical Committee and released on May 20^th, 2020. As a result of the rapidly evolving public health environment associated with COVID-19, these guidelines are, however, subject to change.

The objective of the document is to provide guidelines to assist Cricket Canada’s member organizations and affiliated leagues in developing policies that will allow a safe return to playing cricket without compromising the health of any of the individuals involved.

The guidelines do not provide any answers to the question as to when ‘when can cricket restart, as this is wholly dependent upon the specific restrictions that have been implemented by the respective provinces. Rather, the document offers guidance on how members can return to play alongside the resumption of outdoor sport and exercise in their province, once they are able to. Existing National, Provincial and/or Local Government regulations and guidance should, however, always take precedence over the Cricket Canada Return-To-Play guidelines!

The Cricket Canada Return-To-Play guidelines are also aimed primarily at local community-based cricket activities rather than higher-level competitions, including international matches and the annual GT20 Canada Tournament. These will require far more detailed planning as a result of the associated international travel logistics.

Cricket Canada has also noted that even if the guidelines are respected, no cricket activity, including training or match play, should commence until expressly permitted by the relevant Provincial and Municipal authorities.

While Cricket Canada is in the midst of executing their Return-To-Play plan, elsewhere in the country the sport continues to grow. The interest for cricket in St. John’s, Newfoundland has been increasing for ten years. According to Rahul Vashishtha, the president of Cricket NL told CBC News that the local cricket community is a big part of the reason he stayed in St. John’s after graduating from Memorial University of Newfoundland.

An official cricket pitch was built in St. Johns in 2017 so that the province could host the Eastern Canada T20 championships that year where Vashishtha admits that it is the best field in Atlantic Canada. The president hopes that the national contenders will be developed through its pro program in the future.