Majority of county cricketers set to be furloughed in week season was meant to begin

SAM MORSHEAD: Counties held emergency meetings with their players on various days last week, following consultation with the Professional Cricketers' Association, in order to let their squads know what was about to happen

The vast majority of county cricketers, and a large percentage of office staff, will begin the week the English domestic season was meant to start on furlough.

The ongoing coronavirus crisis has meant most of the 18 county cricket clubs in England and Wales have taken the decision to utilise the government's Job Retention Scheme, whereby the taxpayer will underwrite 80 per cent of wages up to £2,500 per month.

The scheme is currently set to run until at least the end of June, and designed to ensure employees who might otherwise have been at risk of redundancy keep their jobs while the Covid-19 outbreak is tackled by healthcare personnel and government officials.

Counties held emergency meetings with their players on various days last week, following consultation with the Professional Cricketers' Association, in order to let their squads know what was about to happen.

Those who are to be furloughed have been advised that they must not have formal contact with club officials during the time they are placed on the government programme. It is understood that players have been given three-week training briefs, and will be required to keep themselves in peak physical condition at home.

Nottinghamshire are a rare example of a club who are not currently adopting the furlough strategy, though it has not been ruled out as an option, but most are set to make the most of the opportunity.

Clubs in rugby's Premiership have already notified their players that they will be furloughed during the coronavirus crisis, while some lower league football teams have also made their decisions to use the scheme public.

The English domestic season was due to begin on Easter Sunday, with the first round of County Championship matches.

^{Tom Harrison has taken a voluntary, temporary 25 per cent pay cut}

However, it is possible there will now be no first-class cricket in England and Wales this summer, as the ECB strategises to squeeze the most money out of a desperately depleted campaign.

All cricket has been postponed until May 28, and the governing body have drawn up plans for seasons which now begin in June, July or August. This would likely revolve around the T20 Blast and international cricket, with The Hundred potentially being shelved until 2021 and red-ball domestic matches eliminated for this year.

It is highly possible that any games that do get staged would be played behind closed doors, depending on official government advice regarding social distancing, even in the event that the current lockdown restrictions imposed on the British public are relaxed.

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Many players remain wary of behind-closed-doors matches, and would need some sort of guarantee that the process would protect their health and wellbeing. 

ECB chief executive Tom Harrison has warned that the Covid-19 outbreak is set to cost English and Welsh cricket £300million. For some of the less wealthy counties, a small percentage of that sum would be enough to place serious question marks over their future sustainability.

Meanwhile, all first-class umpires in England and Wales have been furloughed until May 31.

Several clubs have already furloughed many of their non-playing staff, with some others volunteering to take equivalent pay cuts.

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