Sport: New casual cricket game: no drooling, no rallies, empty courts!

Sport: New casual cricket game: no drooling, no rallies, empty courts!

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has been having brainstorming virtual sessions with all stakeholders on the resumption of cricket within the past months under the shadow of the Coronavirus pandemic. Till now the Council has not been able to take a final turn the foremost issue of contention: when to hold the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup . 

it's extremely ironic that in a year which can even be termed as T20 the T20 mega event just cannot get underway that was originally scheduled in October 2020 in Australia. 

Now, the Indian cricket board, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), has been eagerly expecting the selection on the T20 World Cup , because since its postponement is almost final the ICC decision will give the BCCI a window during October-November to rearrange its favorite money-spinner, the Indian Premiere League (IPL), of course, without the noisy reveling crowds.

All the while the ICC has been busy framing new rules for the foremost popular game of the earth , a craze in India. Indian spin bowling great Anil Kumble who was appointed as Chairman of the ICC's Cricket Committee in 2012 had been assigned this job. Kumble has already made recommendations and thus the ICC approved most of these . the first actually is that the obvious: ban on the use of saliva during play. 

we have seen over the decades how intensive had been the use of saliva of almost all the players fielding to remain the ball shining. Now, saliva could also be an immediate trigger for COVID-19 spread and thus its use has been banned forthwith. 

this is often often set to affect the pacers especially very adversely, and perhaps the dry ball are getting to be of help to the spinners. The suggestion of using external substances got rejected mainly because the international cricket bodies had been opposing this tooth and nail for several years . 

there's another suggestion for allowing a replacement ball for every fifty overs in Test matches which is under consideration .

The ICC rule to possess neutral umpires in international series has also been waived off to prevent extensive globe-trotting that the international umpires have had to embark upon. Home umpires will now do the work .

Another vital recommendation that has been accepted is of allowing COVID substitutes in Test matches that continue for five days. 

Any player showing any symptoms of flu, cough or fever during this era are getting to be out of the match and a substitute player are getting to be allowed to need his/her place within the playing eleven like under this concussion regulation. Naturally, this rule wouldn't apply to the shorter formats of ODIs and T20Is.

The defined cricket new normal will obviously include various other demonstrative physical attributes of the game: the huddles by rival teams that we've witnessed increasingly in competitive cricket in recent years won't be allowed; display of physical excitement in group like within the case of a fall of a wicket or during a hat-trick or a superlative catch or scoring plenty are getting to be gone and each one sorts of hugging, shake-hands, pavilion or dressing-room celebrations and thus the likes of won't be there till Corona thinks otherwise. And, of course, there will be no spectators. 

Players will got to undergo all of the joys on field in an empty stadium without supporting or singing or celebrating or flags-displaying cricket-loving crowds which could obviously be a daunting challenge to remain up the competitive spirit of the players. Unfortunately, there's no other option available at the moment and cricketers will got to adapt so as that the sport resumes.

It is an enormous development that the first instance of international cricket resumption has already begun. aside from three players, the West Indies team had agreed to participate during a Test Series against England in England--one of the worst-hit countries in terms of COVID deaths. 

The West Indies team had already arrived in England, all players tested before departure and thoroughly tested after arrival. they go to measure and prepare there for 3 weeks before the first Test of the three-match series scheduled to start out out from July 8, 2020. 

Hope the great game of cricket would pass the unprecedented COVID test successfully and with full honors.

Chinmay Chakravarty has been a cricket lover since his childhood days and played the game at the school level and later for social enjoyment. After completing education he started writing on cricket--most on the aspects and games of Indian Cricket. 

He was an official of Indian Information Service and superannuated from the post of Director, Press Information Bureau, Kolkata in November 2019.

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