BCB to raise its guard for post-pandemic cricket

With lockdown restrictions slowly easing off around the world, the cricket bodies have started to think of resuming the game while maintaining safety measures.

Cricket Australia is set to begin its pre-season later this month under a set of new training protocols devised for the safety of players amid the Covid-19.

According to a report, CA is churning out strategies for resumption of training supervised by chief medical officer Dr John Orchard and head of sports science and medicine Alex Kountouris.

Although the coronavirus situation is showing no signs of abating, with hundreds of new cases being detected in Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is already looking forward to post-pandemic reality and suggesting all players and employees to undergo  tests in order to ensure safety once the shutdown is lifted.

"Covid-19 tests have not been carried out in private sector till now. Government labs are doing it and they have their own protocol. If someone does not have symptoms, he needs not be tested. We are expecting the government to allow tests in private sector, but until that we do not have an option [to have our players or BCB employees do the test]," said Dr. Debashish Chowhdury, the chief physician of BCB. "We will of course want, especially the players, to undergo tests and we can approach the government if the players do not have symptoms, but for safety we want them to undergo the test. And if by then it is allowed in the private sector, then it can be managed easily," he added.

The BCB suspended all cricketing activities on March 19, with the DPL suspended after the first round of matches as the board decided to run office from home.

"All physiotherapy of the players is halted now due to the situation. There are no new injuries, given there is no cricket happening. We are concentrating on players' fitness. They have been provided protocol online and they are trying to follow it as much as possible. We will not be active on the field until the government directive comes. Once everything opens, we will be able to start our outdoor activities," Debashish explained.

CA's Kountouris said the new normal should not have much impact on training in a sport like cricket. Since cricket is not a physical contact sport, with the physical distance between a bowler and the batter being 22 yards in nets, there is not much to worry about as far as cricket training is concerned, according to Kountouris.

However, just before the shutdown with coronavirus threat still looming in Bangladesh, the BCB did initiate the players to maintain social distancing during the first round of the DPL.

But those directives were hardly followed. According to Debashish, the board will come up with a proper guideline for the players to cope with the new normal.