Emirates Cricket Board to issue guidelines for resumption of cricket

Dubai - The governing body will be issuing a memo to cricket councils, clubs, academies and affiliates, outlining guidelines, following both the UAE Government and ICC recommendations

 The Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) has said that it will issue its own set of guidelines to its various entities - cricket councils, clubs, academies and its affiliates - in line with the UAE Government and the International Cricket Council, for the resumption of cricketing activities.
In what could be an encouraging sign towards stepping into a new normal, the Dubai Sports Council (DSC) issued guidelines on Tuesday, which will pave the way for a gradual return to sport.
A day after the Government of Dubai issued a circular to reopen business activities in the Emirate following the Dubai Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management meeting chaired by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, the DSC issued new guidelines for sporting activities in sports facilities.
A 11-point document details the steps that need to be undertaken for sporting activities and sports establishments.
Following the announcement by the DSC, the ECB said that they will send out a circular soon on the resumption of training and eventually the restart of matches.
"In preparation of the relevant UAE authorities lifting restrictions on sports across the UAE, Emirates Crickets' Executive Committee and Board have been in regular discussions on how we can resume cricket activities for the benefit of the game, players and the community while remaining responsible during these times," Mubashshir Usmani, General Secretary of the ECB told the Khaleej Times on Tuesday.
"We are encouraged that we can now take steps toward restarting our game, and we will be issuing a memo to our cricket councils, clubs, academies and affiliates within the coming days outlining guidelines, following both the UAE Government and ICC recommendations, to recommence training and ultimately matches," added Usmani, who was appointed to the role in July 2018.
Also, a fresh set of guidelines is likely to be chalked out over the coming days for the UAE cricket's team return to training. The nitty-gritties are being worked out, in accordance with the ICC's guidelines.
The ICC had published guidelines last Friday for the safe resumption of cricket. The guidelines were sent out to all member boards to assist them in restarting cricket in their countries as government restrictions owing to Covid-19 start to relax.
The 16-page comprehensive document was developed by the ICC Medical Advisory Committee in consultation with Member Medical Representatives, and provides guidance for the safe resumption of community cricket, domestic professional cricket and international cricket.
The guidelines do not provide answers to when the game can resume in different parts of the world, rather provide a framework with practical suggestions on how members can resume cricket in a manner that protects against the risk of transmission of or infection with the virus.
"The ICC advised its Members to use these guidelines as the basis to create their own policies for return to cricket activity in compliance, in all cases, with local and national government regulations (which should always take precedence) and to ensure the cricket community applies the necessary safety measures when resuming cricket," the ICC had said.
The UAE team's tour of the United States and Papua New Guinea, which form part of the ICC men's Cricket World Cup League 2, was postponed because of the pandemic. 
The UAE were set to play the USA and Scotland in Florida from March 31 to April 8 before travelling to Papua New Guinea to face the hosts and Nepal from June 9 to 16.
james@khaleejtimes.com