Why social distancing rules will need relaxing before cricket returns - Chris Waters

Asked whether he was concerned about the inherent dangers to life and limb, the former Yorkshire and England captain protested: “How can the ball hurt you? It’s only on you for a second.”

Close could never have got away with it in a world of strict social distancing, which says that you have to stay at least two metres (six feet) away from other people at all times, unless they happen to be members of your own household.

“Ruddy crackers,” one can hear him saying from behind twisted vines of cigarette smoke and a copy of the Racing Post were he still alive today. “I’d have stood where I liked, and I’d have liked where I ruddy well stood.”

Close’s proclivity for standing close to the batsman, allied to the comments of former Yorkshire head coach Jason Gillespie that the use of saliva to shine the ball is clearly problematic in a world of Covid-19, lends itself to a light-hearted look at the practicalities of playing cricket in the present climate.

Clearly, lockdown/social distancing measures would have to be relaxed to some degree for cricket to resume, but it is unclear to what extent the game will then be affected following reports that umpires have already been given permission to refuse to take bowlers’ caps and sweaters for fear of virus transmission.

Although cricket is not a physical contact sport like rugby or football, it is not a socially distant one either, with players and officials naturally in close proximity during a match.

Indeed, it is whimsical to reflect that even the mere act of a bowler running up past the umpire to deliver the ball could not be allowed at present, while the non-striking batsman would surely be required to back-up from an adjoining pitch to ensure that he is the requisite two metres away.

If you can catch this virus simply by touching things (money, trolley handles, a copy of my biography of Fred Trueman etc), you could potentially get it from touching a cricket ball (hence the saliva concerns), be that from bowling, stopping a shot in the field or even through players tossing the ball among themselves as it goes back to the bowler.

Joe Bloggs, for example, fielding at first slip and unknowingly infected with Covid-19, could have sneezed and then casually wiped away droplets from his nose with his hand (the dirty devil).

The wicketkeeper could then pass the ball to him when it beats the bat and Joe Bloggs, the virus on his hands, could throw the ball to gully, who then throws it to the cover fielder, who then throws it to the mid-off fielder, who then throws it to the bowler.

There are potentially multiple opportunities for transmission in that example, as each fielder then proceeds to pick his nose, wipe away something that is stuck in his eye and/or bite his fingernails (the dirty devils).

And when the spinner comes on for his mandatory over before lunch, having presumably not given his sweater and cap to the umpire but instead placed it outside the boundary rope, what does the poor old wicketkeeper do?

Under the current social distancing rules he can’t exactly stand up to the stumps, as he would then be closer than two metres to the batsman, unless the batsman was standing so far out of his ground that it wasn’t an issue.

Light-hearted and jovial perhaps, but an example of the sort of things that cricket will need to think about before umpires across the country – no doubt clad from head-to-toe in personal protective equipment somehow obtained by the England and Wales Cricket Board from Turkey – can shout the magic word “Play!”

And with scientists warning that the UK will have to maintain significant social distancing until a vaccine is found, whenever that might be, it is a reminder that social distancing and sport doesn’t really mix, unless it’s solo yacht racing around the world, perhaps.