Despite the early spring chill, English cricketers would normally be turning their thoughts to outdoor practice. Instead, they face a prolonged period in limbo.
The impact of the coronavirus means there will be no sound of leather on willow and no hardy supporters wrapped up in woollies braving the bitter early-season conditions.
Last week the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced that no professional cricket would be played before May 28 at the earliest.
The traditional County Championship, comprising four-day first-class matches, has long had to co-exist with a range of other limited-overs, or white-ball, formats.
And this season the plan was to throw the Hundred into the mix, with a cast of high-profile overseas stars including Australia Test captain Steve Smith.
ECB chiefs were hoping the Hundred — a 100 balls-per-side tournament featuring eight new franchises, all with men’s and women’s teams — would attract a new audience.
Former England captain Nasser Hussain has suggested the Championship, much less lucrative for the counties than the Twenty20 Blast, could be scrapped in an unprecedented peacetime move in response to the shortened season.
“One thing the ECB will have to do is prioritize the financial decisions in all this — Test match cricket, white-ball cricket,” he told Sky Sports.
“Maybe the purist will just have to suck it up this summer with the County Championship. These are the decisions the ECB will have to make with their stakeholders and their partners.”
The first-class Championship is the proving ground for the five-day Test format but is often played in front of sparse crowds.
Income from white-ball cricket, plus broadcast and commercial revenues from international matches helps keep the 18 first-class counties afloat.
