A G E N D A  (bijgewerkt op 23-03-2020)

Troubling Times : bericht van de Engelse Forty Club in relatie tot het Coronavirus (19-03-2020)

With sporting events dropping like flies it was only a matter of time before cricket joined the list of those seriously affected by the spread of the coronavirus.

When the Premier League in England, football in Italy, and baseball and basketball in America suspend their playing schedules you know that sport is not the prime consideration. This pandemic is spreading at an alarming rate. It is a clear case of being safe and not sorry.

One of the major cricket casualties is the Indian Premier League. Original thoughts were to play the tournament behind closed doors but that has now been amended to a deferment. While this is essentially a health issue, there are also financial considerations.  The cancelling of major cricket matches is a rare occurrence and casts the sport back to the dark days of the two world wars. Test matches were suspended in early 1914 and didn't resume until late 1920 because of the First World War. The gap in competition was slightly longer during the Second World War, stretching from August 1939 until March 1946.

The game of cricket has gone from 100 to nought in seven days and the immediate future looks barren.  The continuum of various shaped series linking and stretching into the new year has been broken; a once crowded 2020 calendar is now looking vacant.  England has cancelled its tour of Sri Lanka, India’s tour of South Africa has been rescheduled, Durham CCC are returning early from Zimbabwe, South Africa has banned all cricket [today] for the next 60 days, and the England and Wales Cricket Board have a challenge on their hands at home, and many other series with lower profiles are no more.

The third playing day of the Over 50s World Cup in Cape Town got underway on time in Cape Town in windy, sunny, weather on Sunday, but by lunch the whole event was over.  As players came off the field for the break between innings at the six games in progress across the city, a representative of the organisers announced the decision had been taken to abandon the remainder of what had been a scheduled two-week long event due to the pandemic.  

The second innings of day three was cancelled forthwith and stumps were immediately drawn.  Even though many were expecting something to happen, players and officials, all of whom paid for themselves to travel and stay in Cape Town to take part in the tournament, were left somewhat stunned.  What was a long planned, very well organised, much enjoyed event, was no more.  

Now the question is how does everybody get back to their respective homes from South Africa, when will that be possible, and what will be required of them by their respective countries in terms of self-isolation when they finally do? And involving as it does an age group who have taken leave from work to attend, how will that aspect of their lives be covered?

Coronavirus has been declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation, has now appeared in multiple locations in the UK and is highly contagious. The most recent advice is that if a person feels unwell, with symptoms such as a new and contagious cough, they should self-isolate at home for 7 days.

Understandably, at the grass roots level of our game, enquiries are pouring in about the 2020 cricket season. The latest news from the ECB is that they are working on an update and as soon as this is available, it will be shared.  As readers of this e-Newsletter will understand, The Forty Club has a fixtures card which is stuffed full of schools matches. Schools in UK have not been ordered to close yet, indeed received wisdom seems to indicate that it is best to keep them open, however some are already announcing on the websites that "external visitors will not be permitted".  Presumably this includes visiting sports teams.

The Forty Club might expect to lose much if not all of the first 2 months of its fixtures card and probably more. We shall have to wait and see.  This morning's media reported that a leaked Public Health England document seen by The Guardian states that 80 per cent of British citizens are likely to contract coronavirus and that the current epidemic is likely to last until Spring 2021, putting the entirety of the 2020 English cricketing summer in doubt. 

If we are allowed to play a fixture, our players will have to be thoroughly honest and responsible about the wisdom of their own participation.  Cricket’s concern is not that players will infect each other in the game but will be exposed or spread the virus in transit to games. Players spend a lot of time in cars and buses, in changing rooms and in dining rooms.  Cricketers are also deemed to be vulnerable during transit at the end of tours.

In addition, the recent news about the over 70s being requested or required to self-quarantine will generate its own impact around the cricket grounds - the club volunteers, the match officials, any players of that age - all will or may have to remove themselves from the action.

On the brighter side, the golfers may be a deal luckier. Turning up to play on the course, staying in the fresh air, and avoiding the club house presents a low risk and it may well be that the majority of the Forty Club activity over the next few months will be seen on the golf course!

We need to remember that this is just about sport:  there are many more people out there with problems that are far more significant and dangerous. We may have cancelled our long-weekend tour to Rome:  we may be cancelling our Executive Committee meetings: we may be cancelling the Scottish lunch in April: heaven knows, we may have to reconsider the Quadrangular Tournament in Spain in October, if this pestilence continues.  But these issues fade into insignificance compared with the challenges that others are facing.

Stick to your social distancing:  stay well. 

XL Secretary - Barry Aitken

Spirit of Cricket in onze S.G.S. Cricket Club  (02-04-2019)

Naast de Laws die door de MCC zijn opgesteld kent cricket van oudsher ook veel ongeschreven regels.
Deze zijn in de late 1990 vastgelegd onder de noemer ‘Spirit of Cricket’.
Dit begrip herinnert spelers aan de verantwoordelijkheden om de sport cricket altijd sportief te spelen en ook als zodanig uit te dragen.
De Spirit of Cricket is nu een belangrijk onderdeel van de cricketsport.
Ook dit jaar hebben alle captains van de alle clubs in Topklasse en Hoofdklasse het Spirit of Cricket Akkoord ondertekend waarin ze aangeven zich te houden aan de Spirit of Cricket.
Specifiek voor Still Going Strong Cricket Club hebben we gedragsregels afgeleid van de Spirit of Cricket.
Wij vinden het belangrijk dat wij als SGS CC in alle opzichten een sportieve en gastvrije club zijn.
Lees a.u.b. bijgaand document met de gedragsregels door (het is niet veel en allemaal heel logisch), houd het in gedachten en: handel ernaar.
Het Bestuur.

Link naar het de pagina met "Gedragsregels SGS Cricket Club 2019"  (in het Nederlands en in het Engels)