Cricket is put in to bat

Public Health will be asked to give the green light to a game which will feature the island’s premier players at KGV, but the Sports Commission’s relationship manager Steve Sharman is very hopeful.

Evening cricket could also start and plans are being drawn up to play what was the scheduled second half of the season.

‘We are hopeful that we can have a cricket match next Saturday,’ said Sharman while outlining what the swift move into phase four of the Covid-19 rules will mean for sport in general.

‘We have asked each individual sport for a plan and cricket is not a contact sport like football and rugby,’ added Sharman.

Guernsey Cricket Board chief executive Mark Latter said that as long as Public Health give the expected clearance the season opener will be ‘a Test match with a different inference on the word Test’.

‘We have given them some guidelines we will operate within.

‘It will probably be the (Guernsey) National and U19 squads merged with Olly Tapp and Andy Cornford picking two select XIs for a T20 match.’

On the question of salvaging the Evening League which was expected to be a write-off, he said: ‘The idea is to play Divisions One, Two and Three’s second half of the season with a couple of back to back matches at weekends using both KGV and Port Soif.

‘We are also looking at playing some long-form challenge games.’

Golf has also received a boost with fourball friendly games now being allowed and ‘close to being fully operational’ said Sharman.

‘They are taking the advice from the R & A [Royal & Ancient] but to all intent and purposes they are free to resume competition.’

Table tennis is also ready to resume immediately with the GTTA having refigured their table layout to conform.

‘As for athletics there is no reason why they cannot put on individual sprint meets, middle-distance meet and field meets while keeping competitors socially distanced.’