Back to Cricket: ICC directs Saliva Ban, Travelling, Training guidelines and much more to resume Cricket

NewsBharati    23-May-2020 12:41:30 PM
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Dubai, May 23: In order to resume the cricket in a safe manner, the International Cricket Council (ICC) highlighted “ICC Back to Cricket Guidelines” to assist in restarting cricket activities in their countries as the governments have started to lift certain restrictions.
 
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'The “ICC Back to Cricket Guidelines” which is a 16-paged document is developed by the ICC Medical Advisory Committee in consultation with Member Medical Representatives. It provides guidance for the safe resumption of community cricket, domestic professional cricket, and international cricket, ' the statement read.
 
However, the guidelines do not provide answers to when the game can resume in different parts of the world, rather it provides a framework with practical suggestions on how members can resume cricket in a manner in mitigation of the risk due to the virus.
 
The ICC has advised its Members to use these guidelines as the basis to create their own policies for return to cricket activity in compliance, in all cases, with local and national government regulations. It is to ensure that the cricket world would implement the necessary safety measures when resuming cricket.
 
For the resumption of domestic cricket, members will need to follow with measures directed by their government and public health authorities. On the other hand, for international cricket, countries are supposed to follow additional biosafety measures over and above the national and local government requirements and restrictions. The ICC has said, "Consider appointing a Chief Medical Officer and/or Biosafety Official who will be responsible for implementing government regulations and the biosafety plan to resume training and competition."
 
  • The need for a pre-match isolation training camp with health, temperature checks, and COVID-19 testing at least 14 days prior to travel to ensure the team is coronavirus free.

  • Sanitization of personal equipment, before and after use, and practice of social distancing is also part of the guidelines.

  • Players and umpires should maintain social distancing on the cricket field and that includes no handing over of player items (cap, towels, sunglasses, jumpers) to the umpire or teammates.

  • Consider adopting a process that will assist the bowler in managing his/her items.

  • Umpires may also be encouraged to use gloves when handling the ball.

  • Regular hand sanitizing when in contact with the ball, prohibition on the use of saliva and not touching eyes, nose, mouth after contact with the ball are the measures for 'safe management of the ball'.
While traveling, ICC highlighted to consider chartered flights and seat spacing to ensure social distancing. They have to use regular and adequate cleaning, seat spacing, use of PPE, and distance (time and space) between the arrival of teams at match venues for transportation. While for accommodation they need to find a hygiene hotel floor, single rooms, food quality.
 
In addition to this, international teams should strongly travel with a medical doctor. The traveling teams need ti to ensure necessary arrangements are in place to support a team member should they test positive while on tour. T
The international cricket has been suspended for more than two months due to the global surge in the COVID-19 positive cases. Many tournaments and series have been affected due to the deadly virus.