Cricket

All matches throughout the three-match West Indies Test series – which begins on 8th July – will be played behind-closed-doors. 

The England Men’s Test cricket team will wear the names of key workers on their training shirts on day one of the first Test against the West Indies.

As part of the ECB’s #Raisethebat campaign, the series - which will mark the behind-closed-doors return of cricket after the coronavirus lockdown - will celebrate members of the cricket family who have gone above and beyond to help their communities during the pandemic.

Those who are named on the shirts have all been nominated by their local cricket clubs, while their stories will also appear on the ECB’s digital platforms. 

The ICC has approved a series of interim rule changes which will include provision for Test cricket teams to display sponsor logos on the front of playing shirts.

The ICC Chief Executives’ Committee (CEC) ratified a series of steps to help the sport through the coronavirus pandemic, including health and safety measures as well as those aimed at mitigating the financial impact the lockdown will have.

The ECB reported a record turnover of £228 million for 2019/20 at its virtual AGM, an increase of £56 million on 2018.

The hosting of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 saw the record turnover met, while the ECB says the figure represents a considerable increase on an ‘average year’, in which the organisation would expect to reach a turnover of £125 million.

The governing body for cricket in England and Wales also says that 2019/20 profits exceeded expectations, too, hitting £5.7 million. 

The ECB has launched a new campaign to highlight the key workers that have been helping to support their community during the coronavirus pandemic. 

Developed in partnership with creative agency MATTA, the campaign will see more than 300 key workers, who have been nominated by their cricket clubs, feature on over 300 billboards across England and Wales.

The ECB has launched a new app, Dynamos Cricket, to help keep children active during the lockdown period.

The free app targets children aged eight and over, and provides them with cricket skills, games and quizzes that they can do at home, without the need for a lot of space or equipment. 

Alongside the launch of the app, the governing body for cricket in England and Wales has also released results of a survey which reveals that the lockdown may change families’ attitudes to exercise and activity.

The ECB has announced the postponement of The Hundred, which will now go ahead in 2021.

The inaugural season of the new format includes eight city-based franchises featuring both a men’s and women’s team competing in a brand new short-form version of the sport and was due to take place in the summer of 2020.

Warwickshire County Cricket Club has confirmed that its Edgbaston Stadium will be used by the government’s Department of Health and Social Care as a drive-through coronavirus testing station.

The club says this will mainly be used to regularly test NHS staff who are working in Birmingham and the wider West Midlands region.

Beginning operations in the coming days, the NHS staff testing centre will be positioned within Edgbaston’s main on-site car park. NHS staff will drive in through the Edgbaston Road entrance, be tested while remaining in their vehicle.

Cricket Australia’s last-minute appeal to the ICC to add one was turned down on the grounds that it would extend the length of the tournament.

The ECB has named The FA's former CEO Ian Watmore as the next Chair of the organisation, succeeding Colin Graves, who will leave the post in November 2020.

Watmore was in charge of the FA in 2009, overseeing the launch of the FA Women’s Super League and start of the St George’s Park Project, while the 61-year-old has also previously held board positions with the English Football League and the 2015 Rugby World Cup - among others.