Surrey and Middlesex announce warm-up match to potentially resume county cricket

Surrey and Middlesex announce warm-up match: The two county teams will face-off against each other in a two-day match in July.

Surrey and Middlesex will face-off against each other in a two-day warm-up match on July 26-27 to potentially resume county cricket post the COVID-19 outbreak.

Given the timing of the global crisis, England’s domestic season hasn’t even begun despite this being that time of the year when it is supposed to be up and running across formats.

While not many details regarding the development have been made public as of now, it is confirmed that the match will be played at the Oval behind closed doors and will be live streamed on Surrey’s Facebook page.

Surrey and Middlesex announce warm-up match

While England are all set to resume international cricket on the back of hosting West Indies from July 8, no progress was being made with respect to county cricket. With restaurants and pubs opening across the nation, fans were eager to know the status of this year’s county season.

“I’m really excited to hopefully see cricket return to the Kia Oval at the end of July and then for the rest of the season,” Surrey’s director of cricket Alec Stewart said in a statement.

If pubs and cinemas can reopen, why aren’t people allowed a game of cricket with precautions? There are other examples which don’t make much sense.

A few creases to iron out.

I can’t think of a more socially distanced sport than cricket!

— Professor Karol Sikora (@ProfKarolSikora) June 24, 2020

Ashley Giles, former England spinner and managing director for Men’s cricket, who recently expressed confidence regarding hosting Australia in September, had also hinted at conducting domestic cricket is some form or the other in the near future.

“Ultimately we are here to play cricket. If there is an opportunity to play cricket we should take it but we have to do it in a way that is within the guidelines and safe. So, it’s important we have cricket whatever that cricket looks like,” Giles had said.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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