SPORT | 06

Djokovic

mauled over

coronavirus

'horror show'

SPORT'First love' - how 1983

WC win triggered

India's obsession

with cricket

SPORT | 07

THURSDAY 25 JUNE 2020

THE PENINSULA – DOHA

Qatar’s top rider Saeed Al Sulaiti topped the timesheets in the opening round of the Qatar Online Racing Championship (QORC) as Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) riders showed good pace against Leopard Racing riders on Monday night.

Al Sulaiti clocked a time of 27:34.532 to finish the 16-lap simulated race ahead of compatriot Saoud Al Thani (+3.529 seconds).

Xavi Artigas (+25.100) of Leopard Racing was third fastest as QMMF’s Hamad Al Sahouti (+1:42.160) grabbed the fourth spot

Jaume Masia (+1:47.646) of Leopard Racing completed the top-five at the simulated 4.655km Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. This competition was held on the MotoGP 20 PS4 game.

Al Sulaiti, who has won Qatar’s national championships in the past, had started the 16-lap race on pole but was soon overtaken by Al Thani, who led through the halfway stage before suffering a crash.

Al Sulaiti took advantage of his team-mate’s misery as he surged to lead but Al Thani also exhibited good pace.

The two riders exchanged leads many times but Al Sulaiti kept his cool to take the chequered flag.

Organisers QMMF confirmed Leopard Racing were one rider short for the first race due to ‘some technical issues’.

After the first round, QMMF have a tally of 107 points against Leopard Racing’s 63.

The race format consists of qualifying (15 mins) and race (30 mins).

The competition will be held every day – except this Friday – until June 29th. There are a total of four riders on each team with each race being set at a different circuit. The points scored by the rider is accumulated for team’s total points. The team with the highest team total after six races will be declared the winner.

QMMF said all of the races will be hosted through ‘Race Director’ mode.

“For each race day there will be a different circuit. The points riders accumulate from each race will be added together to make a ‘Team Total’,” QMMF said in a statement. “The team with the highest ‘Team Total’ after six races will win the competition “Races start at 8:00pm Qatar time. A livestream of the event is available to watch on the QMMF TV’s Youtube channel,” the statement added.

Al Sulaiti sets the pace in first race against Leopard Racing

RESULTS1. Saeed Al Sulaiti 27:34.532 2. Saoud Al Thani +3.529 3. Xavi Artigas +25.1004. Hamad Al Sahouti +1:42.1605. Jaume Masia +1:47.646

STANDINGS1. Saeed Al Sulaiti 40 points2. Saoud Al Thani 363. Xavi Artigas 334. Hamad Al Sahouti 31 5. Jaume Masia 30

Women’s World Cup destined for pastures new in 2023 voteREUTERS - SYDNEY

The task of building on the huge success of last year’s Women’s World Cup will fall to a region that has never staged it before when Colombia and a joint bid from Australia and New Zealand vie for the 2032 hosting rights in Thursday’s FIFA vote.

The 2019 World Cup in France was hailed as a watershed for global interest in the women’s game and FIFA President Gianni Infantino personally drove the campaign to increase the field to 32 teams from 24 for 2032.

The greater weight on potential hosts to show they have the infrastructure necessary to welcome so many teams has helped make the Australia-New Zealand bid a strong favourite.

The FIFA bid evaluation report gave the joint bid, which is unprecedented for any senior World Cup in that Australia are in the Asian confederation while New Zealand remain in Oceania, 4.1 points out of five.

Colombia received a rating of 2.8 but the local football feder-ation and CONMEBOL confederation have furiously protested its findings, in particular the use of the world “terrorism” when dis-cussing security threats. FIFA stood by the report.

Ramon Jesurun, president of the Colombian Football Feder-ation, also says government backing will ensure any apparent deficiencies in infrastructure will easily ironed out over the next three years.

“Today we easily have eight or nine cities that are apt, with hotel capacity, with health capacity,” he told Reuters on Tuesday.

“Undoubtedly we’ll have to make some alterations, some improvements, but we have an immense backing from the federal government, the sports minister, from the president himself.”

All the bids, including that of Japan, which quit the race on Monday, have emphasised the impact hosting the tournament would have on the take-up of the game by girls and women in their regions.

Colombian success today would mean the event being played in the footballing hotbed of South America for the first time, while the matches would be played at a time most appropriate for the all-important North American market.

Even in the women’s game, Australasia has nowhere near South America’s footballing pedigree and matches would have to be played at an hour when only diehards and insomniacs are awake in the United States.

The trans-Tasman Sea neighbours do, however, know how to put on major sporting events and have proved it from the 2000 Sydney Olympics through the 2011 Rugby World Cup to soccer’s Asian Cup in 2015. Australia also hosted this year’s women’s Twenty20 cricket World Cup, which culminated in a final played in front of 86,174 fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

That New Zealand and Australia have both managed to contain COVID-19 relatively successfully might also play on the minds of the 37 members of FIFA’s ruling council when they meet via video conference today.

Sport faces uncertain times in the wake of the pandemic and most crucially, perhaps, the FIFA evaluation report rated the Aus-tralia-New Zealand bid as “the most commercially viable”.

A general view of a match ball before

the match between Manchester United and

Sheffield United at Old Trafford,

Manchester, Britain, yesterday.

Liverpool hammer Crystal Palace, inch closer to titleREUTERS - LONDON

Liverpool moved a step closer to the Premier League title with a 4-0 win over Crystal Palace at Anfield yesterday that moved them within two points of securing the championship.

Juergen Klopp's side could be crowned champions today if second-placed Man-chester City fail to win at Chelsea. Should Pep Guardiola's side win at Stamford Bridge it would mean Liverpool could finish the job with a win in their next game, against defending champions City, on July 2.

After the Liverpool anthem 'You'll Never Walk Alone' was played in front of the empty stadium, Roy Hodgson's Palace suf-fered an early blow when Wilfried Zaha limped off injured in the 15th minute.

Trent Alexander-Arnold fired Liverpool ahead in the 23rd minute with a perfectly-executed curling free kick.

Egyptian Mohamed Salah doubled the advantage, a minute before the interval, chesting down a cross-field pass from Fabinho before skipping goalwards and slotting home.

Brazilian Fabinho made it 3-0 with a thundering drive from 25 metres out before Sadio Mane added the fourth, finishing off a classic break from Liverpool's front three.

Liverpool have 86 points from 31 games with City 23 points behind ahead of their trip to Chelsea.

Also yesterday Anthony Martial scored

Manchester United’s first Premier League hat-trick for seven years to inspire a 3-0 home win over Sheffield United and maintain their hopes of a top-four finish.

The French forward’s maiden career treble was also the first by a United player in the league since former manager Alex Ferguson retired in 2013 after they won their record 20th league title.

United stayed fifth in the standings on 49 points from 31 games, two behind fourth-placed Chelsea whose game in hand

is a home clash with champions Manchester City today.

Martial was delighted after taking his league tally to 12 goals, surpassing his pre-vious record of 11 amassed in the 2015-16 season.

“I feel very good, it’s the first hat-trick in my career,” he told Manchester United television. “I’m happy because the team played very good today. (Marcus Rashford) gave me one or two assists today, so the most important thing is to win. I tried to give him a chance to score, no competition, we just want to win.”

Martial linked up to devastating effect with Rashford as United, playing at Old Trafford for the first time since the coro-navirus pandemic halted the league in mid-March, dismantled the visitors.

The Frenchman scored two similar goals in the opening half, firing United into a seventh-minute lead when he reacted instinctively with his weaker left foot after good work by Rashford on the right.

After Rashford and Bruno Fernandes went close as United dominated, Martial made it 2-0 in the 44th minute when he steered home a low Aaron Wan-Bissaka cross amid more static defending by the visitors.

Mason Greenwood’s deflected shot sailed inches wide of the post before Martial capped a fine performance with a superb finish, dinking the ball over goalkeeper Simon Moore from another Rashford assist.

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Liverpool’s Egyptian midfielder Mohamed Salah scores his team’s second goal during the English Premier League football match against Crystal Palace at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England, yesterday.

PREMIER LEAGUE RESULTSLiverpool 4 (Alexander-Arnold 23,

Salah 44, Fabinho 55, Mane 69) Crystal Palace 0

Manchester United 3 (Martial 7, 44, 74) Sheffield United 0

Newcastle 1 (Gayle 68) Aston Villa 1 (El Mohamady 83)

Norwich 0 Everton 1 (Keane 55)Wolves 1 (Jimenez 60) Bournemouth 0

PLAYED ON TUESDAYLeicester 0 Brighton 0

Tottenham 2 (Soucek 64-og, Kane 82) West Ham 0

TODAY'S FIXTURES(1700 GMT unless stated)

Burnley vs Watford, Chelsea vs Manchester City (1915 GMT),

Southampton vs Arsenal

06 THURSDAY 25 JUNE 2020SPORT

Djokovic mauled over virus ‘horror show’

AFP – PARIS

World number one Novak Djokovic was widely condemned for hosting a tennis exhibition where he was one of four players to test positive for the coronavirus, a lapse that sent shudders through a sport struggling to get back on its feet.

The Serbian star said on Tuesday that he was “deeply sorry” in an unstinting apology for the now-can-celled Adria Tour, where social dis-tancing was minimal and matches were played in front of thousands of fans.

In the latest repercussion, Serbian NBA player Nikola Jokic has reportedly tested positive for the coro-navirus after being pictured with Djokovic at an exhibition basketball event in Belgrade earlier this month.

Jokic’s team, the Denver Nuggets, who are ramping up preparations for a resumption of the NBA season, declined to comment on the report in the Denver Post, citing medical privacy. The player is now in quar-antine in Serbia.

In his last tweet before his apology, Djokovic posted a picture of himself playing basketball with a caption challenging Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James. “Am I ready for a 1:1 @KingJames?” it asked.

Djokovic, 33, has said he is “so deeply sorry” that the tournament “caused harm”. His wife Jelena has also tested positive.

Among the scathing criticism of Djokovic, there were questions about whether he, or tennis, should be allowed back on any court in the near future.

Many voiced concerns over attempts to restart professional tour-naments in August, including the US Open which is scheduled to begin on August 31.

Djokovic, Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric and Viktor Troicki all tested pos-itive after taking part in the Adria Tour, where players embraced across the net, played basketball and even danced in a nightclub.

As the mocking hashtag #Djokovid circulated online, Aus-tralia’s Nick Kyrgios, so often in the crosshairs for his own on-court indis-cretions, said the incident was pure “stupidity”.

“Don’t @ me for anything I’ve done that has been ‘irresponsible’ or classified as ‘stupidity’ -- this takes the cake,” tweeted the world number 40.

Britain’s Andy Murray, a three-time Grand Slam winner who has known Djokovic since their junior days, said: “I don’t think it has been a great look for tennis.”

“In hindsight, it’s not something that should have gone ahead,” Murray told reporters.

“It’s not surprising how many people have tested positive after seeing some of the images of the

players’ party and the kids’ day. There was no social distancing in place.

COVID-19 has been a public rela-tions disaster for Djokovic.

He was criticised for breaking lockdown rules to train in Spain and raised eyebrows by insisting he wouldn’t be prepared to vaccinate against the coronavirus.

Djokovic also described limits on players’ entourages at the US Open as “extreme” and “impossible”, again putting him at odds with much of public opinion.

His latest misstep has caused some to question his presidency of the ATP (Association of Tennis Profes-sionals, or men’s tour) Player Council, which advises the ATP board.

“I think there’s a lot of his peer group who are scratching their heads,” veteran coach Paul Annacone told Tennis.com.

Martina Navratilova, who won 18 Grand Slam singles titles, tweeted: “Yikes... this is not good and it’s a pattern... What now, US Open? Roland Garros? We have a lot of work to do.”

Brazil’s Bruno Soares, a doubles player who sits on the Player Council, called the Adria Tour a “horror show”.

ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi said it was a lesson for other tournaments.

“It’s a little bit like when you tell your kids when they try to learn to ride the bike to wear the helmet,” Gaudenzi said. “It’s ‘no, no, no’.”

“And they ride the bike, they fall, and then they wear the helmet.”

This June 18, 2020, file photo shows Djokovic (left) and Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov taking part in an exhibition basketball match in Zadar.

World No.1 ignores social distancing norms at events in Serbia, Croatia

A billboard depicting Djokovic is seen on a building in Belgrade yesterday. Djokovic was tested positive for coronavirus on Tuesday along with Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric and Viktor Troicki, after taking part in an exhibition tennis tournament in the Balkans, raising questions over the sport’s planned return in August.

Serbia's Djokovic and Filip Krajinovic do a chest bump during an exhibition doubles match in Belgrade in this file photo taken on June 12, 2020.

Major League Baseball season 'to start in July'AFP - LOS ANGELES

The 2020 Major League Baseball season is set to start in July, commissioner Rob Manfred said yesterday, after players signed off on health protocols and agreed to report to training.

The announcement that the season will begin July 23 or 24 comes after weeks of wrangling between owners and players over a framework for a season shortened by the coronavirus pandemic.

“Major League Baseball is thrilled to announce that the 2020 season is on the horizon,” Manfred said in a statement.

“We have provided the Players Associ-ation with a schedule to play 60 games and are excited to provide our great fans with baseball again soon.”

Manfred’s comments came after the Major League Baseball Players Association said its members would report to training camps on July 1.

“All remaining issues have been resolved and players are reporting to training camps,” the union said.

MLB and the MLBPA had been at log-gerheads over how to salvage a season that should have begun on March 26.

The league proposed a succession of deals that would have seen the players

receive only a percentage of their salaries, prorated by number of games played.

Players pushed back against the league proposals, noting that they had already agreed to a pay cut in March and should not be required to accept a further reduction in salary.

The MLBPA had wanted a longer regular season, but when the union rejected the most recent MLB proposal owners voted on Monday to impose a 60-game schedule -- which would still be contingent on reaching agreement with players on health and safety protocols.

MLB said in a statement posted on MLB.com that the players had accepted the protocols.

When the season gets underway teams will play in their home ballparks without fans, baseball opting against the kind of “bubble” environment that will see the NBA return to action with all teams playing at a single location at a sports complex at Disney World in Florida.

To decrease travel, each team will play the majority of its games against its four division rivals, and remaining games against the clubs in the corresponding geographical division in the other league.

Under format, players will receive the full prorated share of their salaries.

Pittsburgh, Dallas out as NHL cuts restart hub hopefuls

AFP - NEW YORK

Las Vegas, Chicago, Los Angeles, Edmonton, Vancouver and Toronto are reportedly the remaining cities contending to be two NHL hubs for the league’s restart plan from a coro-navirus pandemic shutdown.

ESPN, The Athletic and Canada’s Sports Network reported yesterday that the league has trimmed hopefuls down to three US and three Canadian markets, dropping US cities Dallas and Pittsburgh after earlier dumping Columbus and St. Paul.

“We know Pittsburgh would have been a great host city because of our fans and the support we received from the local business community, unions and our political leaders,” Pittsburgh Penguins pres-ident David Morehouse said.

Dallas did not announce its status but the Dallas Morning News and others cited unnamed sources in saying Texas, where COVID-19 is spiking, would not be a host hub. Canada’s government said last week it would allow NHL players to quarantine in a bubble atmosphere and avoid the 14-day isolation required of others entering the nation. That could give Canadian

markets the edge. Las Vegas had been a popular bubble contender with the NBA, which selected Orlando, and NHL, which would have hotel and entertainment facil-ities adjacent to the home arena of the Vegas Golden Knights.

Chicago and Los Angeles both have more than 75,000 conformed COVID-19 cases, the most of the six remaining contenders.

The NHL plans to return with 24 of its 31 clubs resuming play, 12 in an Eastern Conference hub and 12 in a Western Conference hub. The bottom eight clubs will meet in best-of-five qualifying series while the top four clubs play a round-roin seeding event.

The last eight in the East and West would then launch four best-of-seven playoff rounds to determine a Stanley Cup champion in the usual fashion, with one hub or the other hosting the entire championship series.

In this file photo taken

on October 19, 2019, a detailed

view of the NHL logo on

the back of the goal netting is

seen before the game between the Washington Capitals and the Toronto Maple Leafs at Capital

One Arena in Washington, DC.

07THURSDAY 25 JUNE 2020 SPORT

Is the rush to play this year really worth it?AP - LONDON

Who knew a tennis ball could be so dangerous?Certainly not Novak Djokovic, whose

incredibly misguided decision to flout the coro-navirus pandemic with a series of tennis exhi-bitions ended with the world’s best tennis player, his wife and who knows how many others infected.

He’s now sorry, of course, but tell that to anyone who ends up on a ventilator because he couldn’t wait to get back on the court.

His fellow players didn’t exactly line up in support of Djokovic, who previously spouted anti-vaccination views and did not encourage social distancing or masks at the exhibitions.

“Speedy recovery fellas, but that’s what happens when you disregard all protocols. This IS NOT A JOKE,” Australian player Nick Kyrgios tweeted.

Danger lurks everywhere in today’s new world and not just in Djokovic’s orbit, where three other players in his exhibitions in Serbia and Croatia also tested positive. The pandemic that shut down sports three months ago con-tinues to wreak havoc even as leagues, teams and players struggle to find a new way forward.

Colleges already are reporting positive COVID-19 tests among athletes returning to campus in the US, and there are reports of a number of positives in the NFL that include star Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott.

A woman’s soccer team pulled out of a pro-posed NWSL restart when several players were infected and at least one WNBA player already has said she won’t play a proposed season because of health concerns.

NBA stars are worried, and so are NHL players as their leagues race to finish makeshift seasons.

The NFL, meanwhile, continues to forge ahead with its plans to play even as teams report positive tests on an almost daily basis.

And while baseball owners and players

wasted time arguing about their season, spring training facilities were ordered closed after a spate of new infections and the Phillies reported a dozen cases in their organization alone.

It was never going to be easy for any sport to return with a pandemic of historic propor-tions still raging.

There’s still way too much unknown about how the coronavirus spreads for athletes to trust anyone - even the experts - with their lives.

And as the rate of infections rises in states across the country, the question has to be asked.

Is the rush to play this year really worth it?Owners and team officials say yes, largely

because there are billions of dollars in TV con-tracts at stake.

Money is also the motivation for players on the PGA Tour, who were elated to be able to play for pay once again even as one of their own tested positive after playing last week.

Fans are happy to see sports coming back, that’s for sure. So are sports bettors, who in recent months had little other than Russian table tennis matches to wager on.

But it’s becoming increasingly clear that a sport like football simply can’t be played under current conditions. That’s especially true in col-leges, where protocols change from school to school and there is no way to really build a bubble to protect players.

The NFL has a better shot, but not much better. The nation’s chief infectious disease doctor said as much last week when asked about the possibility of football returning.

“Unless players are essentially in a bubble - insulated from the community and they are tested nearly every day - it would be very hard to see how football is able to be played this fall,” Dr Anthony Fauci said.

Indeed, if the PGA Tour and boxing and UFC can’t keep their athletes from getting the virus, it’s hard to see how those running team sports can figure out a way for everyone to stay safe.

That includes the NBA, which has a 113-page plan to protect players that might as well be tossed out the window with the surge in cases in Florida.

And who, if anyone, thinks MLB really is not inept after all and can somehow safely handle staging games in stadiums across the country?

It may be time to accept the new reality in sports, just as we’ve had to accept it in life.

The things we once took for granted now have to be rethought, with health the No. 1 pri-ority. That includes tennis tournaments, from the US Open still scheduled in August to Djoko-vic’s ill-fated exhibitions.

“I pray for everyone’s full recovery,” Djokovic said in a statement of remorse.

You’ve got to wonder who will be issuing the apologies when NBA stars start testing positive by the handful or when half an NFL team is

infected. Who tells the parents of a college football player that for all of everyone’s seem-ingly good intentions, their son has come down with COVID-19.

And who can say anything when the unthinkable happens - as it surely will - and ath-letes actually die?

The bottom line is there’s no real reason - other than money - to take the risk. We’ve gotten this far without sports, and we can make it to the end of the year without them.

By then, Fauci said Tuesday, he’s pretty certain there will be a vaccine. We can begin living normally, and we can have sports without bubbles and with fans in the stands.

Until then, most sports should simply take a pause.

Because not doing stupid things means never having to say you’re sorry.

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in action during his match against Croatia’s Nino Serdarusic in Zadar, Croatia, in this June 21, 2020, file photo.

‘First love’ - how 1983 World Cup win triggered India’s obsession with cricketAFP - NEW DELHI

“First love cannot be forgotten,” is how one member of Kapil Dev’s team describes India’s debut cricket World Cup win in 1983 -- a victory that aroused passions so fierce they would change the game forever.

When ‘Kapil Devils’ stunned the West Indies at Lord’s, the traditional home of cricket, it trig-gered an obsession with the sport in India and created its biggest market -- ultimately making India’s board the richest and most powerful in the world.

India was previously a hockey-loving nation, owing to their five Olympic gold medals between 1948 and 1980. But on June 25, 1983, India’s crick-eters became world-beaters.

Nobody saw the victory coming, after India came into the one-day tournament with just one win -- against East Africa -- in the previous two editions.

“We never, ever imagined we would reach the quarter-final or the knockout stage,” Syed Kirmani, the team’s flamboyant wicketkeeper-batsman, said.

“A few of my colleagues in that team had expressed themselves that ‘we are going to have fun, enjoy ourselves and that’s it’.

“But we laid a very strong foundation by winning the Cup. It is like the first love cannot be forgotten. Thirty-seven years have gone, people still remember our victory.”

He added: “The younger generation are also keen to know when we won the first World Cup and who were the players. Oh God, it is a fan-tastic, nostalgic feeling.”

- WATERSHED MOMENT - India’s run to the title is soon to get the Bol-

lywood treatment, with popular actor Ranveer Singh playing Dev.

MS Dhoni later led India to the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup title in 2007 and their second ODI world trophy in 2011, but the victory in England will always remain a watershed moment.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India is now the wealthiest association in the game and players like Sunil Gavaskar, part of the 1983 team, Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli have been instrumental in taking Indian cricket to greater heights.

“The board started getting commercial ben-efits only after the World Cup win and for us it was a game-changer,” Sunil Valson, who was part of the 14-member squad, said.

“Understand nowadays whenever the Indian team goes for a World Cup the expectations are so high on them. But in ’83 nobody expected it, but the way we played was just amazing.

“’83 will be ’83, that changed the passion, the trend. Money came into the sport much later, but certainly it was a great victory that came against any expectations.”

- ‘ONE MAN’S GENIUS’ - India were reeling at 17 for five in a crucial

group match against Zimbabwe when Dev’s unbeaten 175 won the game and proved to be the turning point for their campaign.

Kapil’s Devils outplayed hosts England in the semi-finals and then defended a modest total of 183 in the title clash.

Roger Binny, who sent back West Indies skipper Clive Lloyd for eight in the final, said

Dev’s leadership and India’s all-rounders were key to the team’s success.

“I think it has got be the all-rounders. If you see the scores in all the matches, contributions came from the latter half of the team,” Binny said yesterday.

“Definitely one strong point was (Dev’s) cap-taincy. Also when we beat the West Indies in the first game in Manchester, that lifted the spirit of the guys.”

Veteran journalist Ayaz Memon, one of the half-a-dozen Indian journalists that travelled to the World Cup’s third edition, said optimism was non-existent at the start.

“Expectations were zero when we went, because India’s past record in the World Cups had been dismal,” Memon said.

“I did not even see the first match, India v West Indies, because I thought they would lose easily, but a lot of things conspired to make it India’s tournament.

“I was witness to Kapil Dev’s innings at Tun-bridge Wells (against Zimbabwe). BBC was on one-day strike, so there was no radio or TV com-mentary. One man’s genius gave India the direction to go for glory. It lifted up the self-belief in the team.”

He added: “In 1983, what India did was turn the game upside completely on its head in the power matrix. Suddenly you found India were champions, therefore their participation in the sport became greater and bigger.”

In this file photo taken on June 25, 2008 Kapil Dev, captain of the 1983 World Cup-winning Indian cricket team, holds up the actual cup won in 1983 at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London.

Surrey set for Middlesex match in boost to county hopesAFP - LONDON

Surrey are set to stage a two-day friendly against London rivals Middlesex behind closed doors at the Kia Oval next month in a boost to hopes that county cricket could yet get under way this season despite the coronavirus pandemic.

Although England are set to face the West Indies in the first of a three-Test series at South-ampton starting on July 8, the domestic county season has been delayed until August at the earliest by the spread of COVID-19.

The England and Wales Cricket Board have suggested the Twenty20 Blast will be the priority in any truncated county campaign, but plans are still being drawn up for first-class, red-ball matches as well.

Now Surrey hope the July 26-27 match, which will mark new head coach Vikram Solanki’s first game in charge, is a precursor to “returning to competitive action the fol-lowing weekend”.

Alec Stewart, Surrey director of cricket, said: “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 announcement also seemed to suggest

Middlesex may be ready to take their players off furlough.

Surrey and Lancashire are the only two of England’s 18 first-class counties who have not utilised the British govern-ment’s job-retention scheme for their playing staff during the pandemic.

Meanwhile fast bowler Jofra Archer has been delayed from joining the England squad after he underwent a precautionary test for COVID-19 when a member of his household felt unwell last weekend, the England and Wales Cricket Board said yesterday.

Archer was supposed to link

up with the England team, who are going into isolation head of their Test series against West Indies, in Southampton on Tuesday.

“Archer, and members of his household, have tested neg-ative for COVID-19,” the ECB said. “He will have a second test on Wednesday, and if he tests negative, he will join up with the training group on Thursday.”

The first test starts in South-ampton on July 8 and Archer said on Monday that he was fit and ready for the three-match series after battling an elbow injury.

A view of Surrey’s iconic home ground the Oval in London. PIC:@surreycricket

Bangladesh cancel tour due to virus

AFP - COLOMBO

Bangladesh have formally called off their Test series in Sri Lanka because of the coronavirus pandemic, offi-cials in Colombo said yesterday.

The Bangladesh team was due to play three Tests in late July, but the tour was in doubt because of the wor-rying spread of COVID-19 across South Asia.

The Sri Lankan cricket board said Bangladesh had pulled out due to “the lack of preparation for its players, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic”.

Former Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza -- who remains in the Test squad -- and left-arm spinner Nazmul Islam tested positive for the virus Saturday.

MCC set to name first female president in 233 yearsAFP - LONDON

Former England women’s captain Clare Connor is set to become the first female president of Marylebone Cricket Club in its 233-year history.

Current incumbent Kumar Sangakkara, the first non-British MCC president, nominated Connor via video link from his native Sri Lanka during an annual general meeting yesterday.

Connor, now the England and Wales Cricket Board’s head of women’s cricket, is set to take up her new post on October 1, 2021, subject to the membership’s approval.

It was not until 1998 that MCC, which owns Lord’s Cricket Ground, voted to allow women to become members.

Connor, saying she felt “deeply honoured”, added in a statement: “I made my first visit to Lord’s as a starry-eyed, cricket-obsessed nine year-old girl at a time when women were not welcome in the Long Room (of the pavilion).

“Times have changed. Now I find myself entrusted with this remarkable opportunity -- the opportunity to play a part in helping MCC, cricket’s most influential club, to thrive and grow in an even more modern and inclusive future.”

Connor made her international debut in 1995 at the age of 19, and took over the captaincy in 2000, leading England at Lord's against Australia a year later.

Connor is now chair of the International Cricket Council’s women’s cricket committee and Sri Lanka great Sangakkara said he was sure she would make a “considerable contribution” to MCC. Presidents of MCC remain in post for one year.

Sri Lanka great Sangakkara’s term is set to be extended by a further 12 months because of the coronavirus pandemic.