Covid-19 substitutes considered for County Championship

Substitutes for players who contract Covid-19 could be allowed during the domestic cricket season, Telegraph Sport understands.

There is growing optimism that the county season will be able to begin on August 1, with games beginning behind closed doors and then - it is hoped, though far from certain - crowds being permitted later in the summer. As part of the plans to ensure player safety and maximise the chances of matches proceeding smoothly, player substitutes for Covid-19 are being considered.

If substitutes are permitted, any substitute would have to be considered a like-for-like replacement, fulfilling the same skill-set as the player they replaced. This means that the ruling could not be used for teams to get a tactical advantage - for instance, by replacing a fast bowler with a spinner on a pitch taking turn.

At international level, the England and Wales Cricket Board remains hopeful that the ICC will alter playing regulations to allow Covid-19 substitutions during matches. The ICC is still exploring the issue, but the ECB would not need ICC approval to take the step for domestic games.

The Professional Game Group is due to meet next week, when it is expected that the matter of Covid-19 substitutes in domestic matches will be discussed. The domestic season is planned to consist only of first-class and Twenty20 matches, and potential concussion substitutes are needed only for first-class matches.

On Friday, Steve Elworthy, the ECB’s director of special projects, said that if a player were to test positive during a Test match, he would be taken into an isolation room, but the match could potentially still continue.

Covid-19 substitutes would function similarly to concussion substitutes, which have been allowed in Test cricket since last summer and for several previous years in domestic cricket around the world. The first ever concussion substitute in Tests was Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne, who replaced Steve Smith during the second Ashes Test at Lord’s last summer, making 59 and subsequently establishing himself as a mainstay of the Australian batting order.

While the idea of concussion substitutes was initially controversial, they have swiftly become an established part of the game, and have been welcomed by FICA, the global players’ union, as a way of enhancing player safety and medical best practice.