OW Lawrence Booth on Cricket

By Lawrence Booth, OW (1986-93)

“Ever since it became clear that the UK was going to be hit hard by Covid-19, I’ve been wondering exactly what next year’s Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack will look like. It will be the 10th I’ve edited – and is shaping up to be the most challenging. But at least I’m not Tom Harrison, the chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board, who has spoken openly about a £380m black hole for the game if no cricket takes place at all. Even if England do succeed in hosting biosecure Test matches against West Indies, starting on July 8, and Pakistan, plus limited-overs games against Ireland and Australia, the cost to the game will be huge.

Cricket’s biggest challenge this year will simply be to survive – and to ensure the game emerges, bloodied but unbowed, in 2021. The game’s administrators are currently wrestling with the question of how much, if any, domestic cricket they can squeeze in this year. The ECB have already ditched The Hundred, their controversial new tournament, but have hopes of staging the T20 Blast, which is the county game’s money-spinner, and possibly some four-day red-ball matches. But it’s all up in the air – and the financial losses will be huge, whatever the outcome.

The last time cricket faced a crisis on this scale was during the Second World War, though even then Wisden had some random games to report: the Army v the Civil Defence Services, that kind of thing. But Harrison has acted decisively so far, bringing forward payments to counties to tide them over, and leading the way on the national debate about staging top-class sport during a pandemic. And, if we do get some cricket, the highlights will be on the BBC, which hasn’t happened for a while.

There will be losers, of course. If you’re in your final year at school, and possibly hoping for a heap of runs or a stack of wickets to press your claims for a county career, the virus has not exactly helped. Club sides, too, face pressure to emerge intact on the other side, though – again – the ECB have pledged their support. It goes without saying that all these considerations pale into insignificance next to the lives lost or changed forever. But it’s safe to say next year’s Wisden will be unique – and the thinnest for years.”

Lawrence Booth is Editor of Wisden and cricket correspondent for the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday