LONDON: The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced on Tuesday a 61 million pounds ($76 million) aid package in response to the ‘once in a generation’ challenge of the coronavirus {Covid-19) outbreak.

The 18 first-class counties and their boards, as well as the MCC, will immediately each receive a share of some 40 million in their respective bank accounts on Wednesday, with a further 20 million available in interest free loans and grants.

“It’s no exaggeration to say that this is the biggest challenge the ECB have faced in the history of the game, the modern era certainly,” said ECB chief executive Tom Harrison in a conference call. “We won’t know the full impact for a few months... We are trying to work around the clock to understand that impact and take some short term steps to help counties and recreational clubs to get through the immediate impact.

“Preparing yourselves for something like this is incredibly difficult, it is a once in a generation scenario. The aim is to give certainty in these extremely difficult times and to keep the lights on. This is just the start of addressing this massive challenge and we have to work together because every area of the game will be impacted in the event that most or all of the cricket season is lost.”

All domestic cricket in England has been postponed until at least May 28, raising questions about whether a full campaign featuring several competitions, including the new Hundred tournament, as well as tours by West Indies, Pakistan, Australia and Ireland is possible as officials contemplate the nightmare prospect of scrapping the season completely.

“There are a number of different scenarios — we don’t want to make decisions too early,” said Harrison. “There are huge implications in bringing international players and teams over [to the United Kingdom].

“In our modelling there is no cricket at all... There is more pain ahead if we lose a substantial portion of the season. We are building scenarios where we can take further steps as needed.”

Meanwhile Harrison said there were no plans to cut the pay of centrally contracted England players.

But Harrison, who earns an annual salary of some 720,000 pounds, said he would be joining administrators in other sports by taking a wage reduction.

“Of course I will,” he said without specifying the extent of the cut.

Harrison made it clear priority would be given to the most lucrative matches — internationals, the Twenty20 Blast and the inaugural Hundred.

A new format franchise competition, the Hundred has been promoted by the ECB as a way of attracting a fresh audience to the game.

But if fans cannot attend for health reasons, it could be delayed until 2021 rather than deny a lot of its purpose by being played behind closed doors this season.

“It is not just about being behind closed doors for The Hundred, [but] it is one of the issues we are grappling with,” said Harrison.

Meanwhile Harrison said he hoped cricket could bolster national morale should some part of the season go ahead despite the pandemic.

“We are thinking creatively about what this moment might be like when the nation comes back out and to have cricket be part of that,” he said.

“Cricket can be part of that healing process.”

Monthly payments which would usually be passed down by the ECB in May, June and July will be issued immediately, as will two years’ worth of facilities maintenance money usually ring-fenced for work on the ground and venues but which is now unrestricted.

International staging fees have been suspended for the next four months, and they will be waived in 2020 if matches are not played as scheduled because of the virus.

Discussions have taken place about what would happen should cricket be back on the agenda before the end of the summer.

Harrison said The Hundred, a format designed and promoted by the ECB in a bid to draw a new audience to the sport, could be pushed back to 2021 if there were restrictions on fans entering the grounds.

“We will have to have discussions in a few weeks about getting crowds into stadiums, Harrison said. If that is not going to be possible and we can serve cricket fans in this country in some way, then we will look at that. We will put safety of players and those working in the game at the heart.”

Published in Dawn, April 2nd, 2020