Coronavirus: Ulster cricket season could be stumped by Covid-19

However, not only has the start of the season been pushed back, there are real fears competitive cricket could not happen at all due to restrictions imposed to combat Covid-19.

Cricket had been suspended until May 28 when the first lockdown measures were imposed, but given the extension of the lockdown that date looks extremely unlikely.

Waringstown chairman Alan Waite, who is also domestic director of the NCU, said the governing body have looked at a scenario whereby starting the season on July 17 or 18 at the latest would allow teams to play half a league season along with the Challenge Cup and T-20 competition.

He said: “Once you go beyond that it’s going to be very tricky to fit in even half a league season.

“The irony of all of this is the weather. I don’t remember going into the start of the season with the weather being this good.”

Although Wallace Park is closed to the public, groundskeeper Dean Simpson is allowed in to maintain the cricket ground where Lisburn play their home games.

He agreed with Alan that the conditions are perfect for the start of the season: “Despite the wettest February on record we’re now having the best build-up to a cricket season in terms of weather that I can remember.

“The grounds would be perfect for the start of the season. Normally you’re running about trying to get covers on.

“From a personal point of view, the way things are going it’s hard to see much cricket.

“I think whenever this lockdown is lifted it’s not just going to be an open house where everybody is going to go back to doing what they were doing before.

“It might be lifted to the stage were we can play a couple of friendlies but it’s difficult to see a competitive season taking place.”

Mr Waite said: “Everybody desperately wants to get some form of cricket at some point here. We’re ready to go, it’s a question of will things ease up enough to allow us to play.”

The Waringstown man said that while life without cricket was an inconvenience, it paled in significance to what was going on in our hospitals: “There’s a lot of people here, we love the game and we want to play, but when you see what the doctors and nurses are trying to do you have to keep all of this in some sort of perspective. What those guys are doing on a daily basis we can’t afford to be feeling sorry for ourselves because we can’t get a game of cricket.

“Those guys are working 12, 14 16-hour shifts seven days a week just to try to keep people alive. We’ve got to keep remembering that as well.”

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