Although not yet able to return to the training field due to their ‘non-professional’ status, the Kwa-Thema Cricket Club is, however, relieved that the sport will return at level 3 of the national lockdown, which came into effect on Monday. ‘The gentleman’s game’, being a non-contact sport, is one of those that are allowed again, albeit behind closed doors, after all of the sport’s leagues and competitions were brought to an abrupt halt in March due to the coronavirus outbreak in the country.
Kwa-Thema Cricket Club coach Tebogo Gaduka says even though they have received a directive that still prohibits their return to training under lockdown level 3, but he believes the return of professional cricket bodes well for the sport on all levels.
“Yes, yes, that’s a good sign. But, obviously, it’s going to depend on how people are conducting themselves in this period: are we complying with the rules, are we still going to live the way we’ve always lived [and therefore] spread this virus – so it’s going depend on the outcomes of all of that.”
Cricket South Africa chief executive Jacques Faul confirmed after the announcement that the sport would be allowed to resume, that they would draw up a protocol for the return to training and playing on Monday.
Meanwhile, Gaduka also says the allowing of professional cricket to continue before they at the lower level are also allowed, is also a blessing in disguise because it will help them to see just how possible it can be to return to the field without contributing to the rate of infections.
“Yes, that could be possible for us to learn, because there’s a lot obviously in terms of taking care (for) when we also get the chance to get back on the field. What are the measures that we need to [take] for the children’s safety and the safety of coaches. Yes, it will help us in a big way to see what they are doing, the safety precautions that they are taking, for them to be able to practice and play games. So yes, it’s going to work positively towards us.”
The Kwa-Thema-based club has had its winter programmes cancelled over and above the last few matches of the cricket season in the Easterns league.
The coach has also had his say in the debate around the feasibility of this year’s Twenty20 Cricket World Cup, scheduled to be held in Australia between October and November.
The sport’s world governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced last week that the final decision about whether or not the tournament will take place as planned, will be made next Wednesday, 10 June.
Gaduka says it would be good to have the tournament this year but it should rather be postponed to a later date and not cancelled entirely, if that could prove difficult because of the global health risk and lockdown regulations Down Under.
“If maybe it’s not going to take place, as cricket fans we cannot be happy about that. So it could be better that it were to be postponed and not cancelled altogether, so we could look at a time that this virus could subside.”
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