Sussex Cricket League updates COVID-19 strategy

Dear Clubs, 

We wrote to you on 20 March with details of the 1st Central Sussex Cricket League's plan to deal with the impact of COVID-19 on the league season. The Executive Committee met on 6 April and have agreed the following: 

We will be moving to Stage 2 of the plan immediately, therefore meaning no league or cup matches will take place in May. The earliest time SCL cricket could possibly begin is 6 June. For the avoidance of doubt, we stress that we are not telling you the season will begin on that date, and any developments are subject to Government advice.

However, if we were to start on 6 June:

• The league matches currently scheduled in May on the 9th, 16th, 23rd, 30 May and in June on the 6th will be cancelled. Please do not do anything in Play cricket - the fixtures will be updated in due course by the Admin Committee. 
• We would look to utilise 6 June to play league matches currently scheduled for 2 May (except those that had been moved there from the five dates mentioned above, which will be cancelled). The aim here is for all teams to love five matches - no more and no less.
• 6 June would also be used to catch up on the T20 competition matches currently scheduled for 2 May. League matches will take precedence if there is a clash.

The Executive Committee are reviewing the situation constantly, and will continue to do so. A decision will be made in early May as to whether the above plan is feasible in the environment at that time. We will provide a further update by 8 May. 

It is understood that the target date is still within the advised 12 week isolation period for those over 70 and with certain pre-existing medical conditions. That could have an impact on the umpire panel numbers, among other things, but we will work through these issues at the time. 

We have been keeping Gray-Nicholls updated with our discussions and they are open for business for any club wishing to order balls, albeit they are working with a skeleton staff, so your order may take slightly longer to distribute.

As we said in our last update, you are welcome to wait until there is more certainty before ordering balls, but any that you buy this year (with the 15% discount) will be valid for 2021. 

You will have been advised by your Sussex Cricket Foundation Territory Managers that most of the staff at SCF have been furloughed until the end of May. However, you can still send any queries or questions to sussexcricketleague@sussexcricket.co.uk and they will be picked up and responded to. 

Finally, we hope all involved with the SCL are staying safe and well. Let's hope we can get out on the pitch before too long. 

The 1st Sussex Cricket League provided its clubs with this statement on 09/04/20.