League News

Dear All,

Ever since the COVID-19 crisis began, the ECB has been working to minimise the impact of this unprecedented situation on cricket in England and Wales.

We are acutely aware of the concern felt at all levels of the game about the financial implications of the suspension of cricket because of the virus.

We know you are worried about the effect on your club. You may have invested in new facilities that will now sit idle. Perhaps you were preparing for All Stars and Dynamos Cricket programmes that will now be delayed.

There will be sadness about missing out on the value that cricket brings to a local community by bringing people together through a shared love of the game. You may also be concerned about the impact a shortened season will have on your club finances.

I am writing to you today to let you know that we have put in place an interim support package for clubs at every level of the game, to help see you through the coming months.

We’re making available an extra budget of just over £20million to the recreational game. We anticipate that this support will be accessible for relevant cricket clubs and leagues within the next two weeks.

This support can be accessed in the following ways:

A cricket club support loan scheme, with a 12-month repayment holiday

Grants to recreational clubs through the “Return to Cricket” scheme

This is part of a £61m package of measures to support the whole sport. The ECB Board has approved plans to bring forward payments from a number of areas in its 2020-2021 planned distribution budgets.

There are also a range of other financial support packages that are available to recreational sport and we encourage local clubs and leagues to investigate their eligibility for these, which are available immediately subject to meeting the respective criteria.

These include, but are not limited to:

Government initiatives: Business Rates holiday, Job Retention Scheme, VAT deferral, Statutory Sick Pay Rebate, HMRC Time to Pay Scheme, Business Interruption Loan Scheme;
Sport England: incl. £20M Community Emergency Fund
Sport Wales Emergency Relief Fund.

Please note there are criteria and conditions to support these initiatives available via the relevant websites.

In accordance with Government advice, the start of the cricket season has been delayed until further notice with a range of options for cricket to begin later in the summer being modelled.

We recognise that this situation is a long way from being resolved. We will continue to work with you to understand and help you meet the challenges you face. I want to thank everyone across cricket who is working tirelessly during this period of uncertainty. I understand how difficult a time this is for you.

Please be assured that all of us at the ECB and across the County network will keep supporting you so that together we can overcome this challenge to the game we all love.

Nick Pryde

Director of Participation and Growth,

England & Wales Cricket Board

Dear Colleague,

I write to inform you that the Pre-Season Meeting planned for 14 April 2020 at Mapperley Plains Social Club has been postponed due to the current situation regarding COVID-19 and advice received from the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) regarding the suspension of all recreational cricket.

At present it is difficult to predict what might happen over the next few weeks but once I have further information this will be communicated to you. Furthermore, if we need to reconvene the meeting at a later date I will attempt to give you as much notice as possible. In the meantime, if you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact me and I will attempt to answer them.

Best Regards.

Bob Walter.

Secretary.

Dear Colleagues, This is a preliminary notice to inform you that the pre-season umpires meeting will take place at Mapperley Plains Social Club, Nottingham, NG3 5RH ( adjacent to Gedling Colliery Football and Cricket Clubs ) on Tuesday 14th April 2020 commencing at 7.30pm.

The invitation is open to ALL club umpires too.

Good evening all,

Subject: Overseas Players Playing Recreational Cricket

Please find letter (under download league notices) about the use of overseas players in recreational cricket - could you please make sure all your member clubs are sent a copy of this?

If any of you would like to discuss this or if you felt it would be helpful for me to attend one of your committee meetings to update your committee, please let me know.

Regards

Ian Smith | Secretary | Nottinghamshire Cricket Board

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ECB Guidance Note: Safety measures for helmets within recreational cricket
The ECB has recently announced new helmet safety measures, which are being introduced with a
view to reducing the risk of head and facial injuries within the game. The purpose of this brief note is to assist Leagues and Clubs at the recreational level to understand the key elements of these changes and what they mean.

Players over the age of 18
The ECB strongly recommends that all adult recreational cricketers should wear helmets for certain
activities, preferably which meet the most recent British Safety Standard (see below). This recommendation applies to batting against all types of bowling, wicket-keepers standing up to the
wicket (who may as an alternative wear face protectors) and fielders fielding closer than eight yards
from the batsman’s middle stump, except behind the wicket on the off side.

Under 18s
The position in relation to u18s currently remains unchanged, and is governed by the ‘ECB Guidance on the Wearing of Cricket Helmets by Young Players’(www.ecb.co.uk/youngplayershelmetguidance). In essence, batsmen and wicket-keepers standing
up to the stumps must wear head protection when playing or practising. That Guidance should be
referred to in full for the position in relation to u18s.

British Safety Standard
The latest British Safety Standard is BS7928:2013 (for both adults and juniors). The full list of
helmets meeting this standard is available at www.ecb.co.uk/helmets. For wicket-keeping face
protectors the relevant British Safety Standard is BS7929-2:2009 (again, for both adults and juniors).
The ECB understands that there is currently no specific women's helmet and as a consequence no
specific standard for women's cricket helmets. As the size of the standard women's cricket ball is
between the standard men and junior balls, it is recommended that women use helmets that have
been tested against both the men's and junior sized ball, or at least against the junior size ball (as
that could potentially get through the gap above the face guard on a men's helmet).

What do Leagues and Clubs need to do?
Whilst it is strongly recommended that all adult recreational cricketers wear helmets in the on-field circumstances detailed above, it is not mandatory for them to do so. For the avoidance of doubt,
Leagues or Clubs do not need to go above and beyond the ECB’s recommendation by forcing their
cricketers to wear helmets.
However, Leagues and Clubs in recreational cricket should ensure that their cricketers are made
aware of the ECB’s above recommendation in relation to helmets, including the need to check that
any newly purchased helmets meet the latest British Safety Standard. The ECB recommends that
Leagues and Clubs bring the link above (i.e www.ecb.co.uk/helmets) to the attention of their
cricketers and encourage all cricketers to carefully consider their own health and safety regarding
helmet use.

Leagues and Clubs should always ensure that they have adequate public liability insurance.

February 2016

http://www.sncricketleague.co.uk/index.php/downloads/finish/8-league-notices/236-new-helmet-poster-feb-16