Firstly, I would like to apologise to my regular reader for my inactivity over the last couple of editions. I think that I can safely say that the last few months have been amongst the most unusual that I have lived through. To put things into a little perspective, since June 2019, Mrs Don and I have been working on moving house. Three buyers and two properties later, Coronavirus made an extremely unwelcome appearance. Eventually we managed to move at the end of May this year and we are almost there with regards to putting our stamp on the place. We have been in our new abode for two months and I now feel that I can again give my view on cricket.
Test cricket made a more than welcome return following the cancellation of the Sri Lankan tour.
An enormous amount of gratitude and thanks has to be given to the West Indies Cricket Board, players, coaches and other back-room staff for braving the conditions here in the UK and to provide a much needed distraction from the global pandemic.
An enormous amount of gratitude and thanks has to be given to the West Indies Cricket Board, players, coaches and other back-room staff for braving the conditions here in the UK and to provide a much needed distraction from the global pandemic. That they were prepared to leave their homes and travel many thousands of miles speaks volumes for them as people. Remember that there is still no cure nor vaccine for this and there is unlikely to be one this year.
Keeping everyone in the Test cricket bubble has certainly been helped by the decisions of both Hampshire and Lancashire CCCs to build hotels on site. I can probably guarantee that neither County expected their facilities to be used in such a manner.
It is not just the cricketers and coaching staff though. There are also the people working well behind the scenes that need to be considered. For starters, there would be the television and radio technicians, directors, producers and presenters. Without these two armies of people there would have been nothing for us to either watch or listen to. Different ways of working have had to be identified, strategised, planned, risk assessed and delivered on time. Catering for everyone engaged with the Test Series introduces its own types of risk and there are the hotel staff that are employed to keep the hotel as clean and safe as possible. Medical staff would have to have been on site in the event of serious injury. The ground staff would also have been within the bubble to prepare and maintain the grounds for Test Cricket. Then there was the whole testing and retesting infrastructure to ensure the health of everyone involved. There was still stewarding taking place. Those in the fluorescent jackets patrolling the perimeter of the grounds ensuring that no-one managed to sneak in and burst the bubble.
To every single one of you that was involved during the three-match series, you have my heartfelt thanks and sincere gratitude.
To every single one of you that was involved during the three-match series, you have my heartfelt thanks and sincere gratitude. These sentiments are also directed to everyone involved with the ODIs in Southampton; without your dedication and professionalism we would not have had any cricket to get excited about. I thank you all. To those that I may have missed, you are included in my thoughts too.
Lastly, I dedicate this edition of my ramblings to those of you that have lost loved ones this year. I know how hard it can be to try to keep everything together. Mrs Don and I lost her father to Covid-19. He loved cricket and football and we especially remember going to watch cricket in Chelmsford. You are never far from our thoughts.
In loving memory of Ronald Golledge
21st July 1946 – 13th April 2020