Pat Cummins admits playing international cricket without a crowd proved a weird and relaxed experience, but Australia’s spearhead is ready to embrace it and whatever else can help the sport resume.
Australia’s two-Test series in Bangladesh, scheduled to start on June 11, was postponed on Thursday because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Australia’s limited-overs tour of England in July is also at risk of being axed, while Cummins and other players are still waiting for an update on the Indian Premier League.
IPL organisers have already pushed the start of the tournament back to April 15 but a further delay, or cancellation, seems inevitable.
The prospect of playing the Twenty20 extravaganza, renowned for fanatical fans packing out stadiums as much as the lucrative contracts on offer to players, behind closed doors has also been floated.
“Whatever it takes to get cricket up and going and play these big events safely… if that means no crowds for a little while, that’s that and hopefully people can watch on TV,” Cummins told the BBC’s Stumped podcast.
“It’d be a totally different feel about it.
“When people ask me about what makes playing cricket in India different, the first thing is the crowd. They scream every single ball. Whether it’s a dot ball, a six or a wicket – it’s the same noise.
“That atmosphere is something that we love about playing in India… but I’ve got no doubt it’ll be a great event if it has to be played without crowds.”
Cummins, who will miss out on a record-breaking IPL deal worth 155 million Indian rupees ($A3.2m) if the event is cancelled, suggested last week he is in a holding pattern and waiting to hear further updates.
That remains the case, with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) desperate to find alternative dates that could potentially work given the health crisis has essentially brought international travel to a halt.
Cummins featured in the trans-Tasman ODI that was played without spectators at a silent SCG in March, arrangements that may become the norm whenever matches are played again.
(Photo by SAEED KHAN/AFP via Getty Images)
“It was really weird. I felt super relaxed. It didn’t feel like an international match,” he said.
“When you’re on the field (normally), you actually feel a little bit separate because you can’t communicate like you can if you’re playing for your state or even grade cricket.
“Whereas that game, you could shout out to Josh Hazlewood at deep fine leg and have a conversation with him.”
Paul
Roar Guru
The Indian government deserves credit for recognising the dangers of this virus and moving very quickly with appropriate containment measures. I’m sure though their PM is seriously concerned about exactly the issues you raised Bob. As Europe & the US have found, it takes very little for this contagion to become a massive health problem.
dungerBob
Roar Rookie
It beats the hell out of me how India hasn't been devastated by the virus. 1.4 billion jammed into a land mass smaller than Australia !! I've been told that Mumbai alone has more people than us. .. I'll open myself up to huge criticism for this, but I read recently that 42% of their population lives in tightly packed slums with most 'houses' not having any sort of sewerage or even running water. If that's actually true it will be a miracle if they don't lose millions of people.
Paul
Roar Guru
I thought the start date of the IPL must be a typo, given today's the 11th and this tournament kicks off in 4 days, but according to the official website, there's no change in dates yet. Surely there'd have to be issues about quarantine, etc, not to mention physically getting a bunch of overseas players to India, given the travel restrictions around the world?