Surrey CCC’s county cricket season pushed back to May 28 start date

The county cricket season will not start until at least May 28 – with the chance that Surrey’s early action could be played behind closed doors.

The County Championship campaign had been due to start on April 12 but the coronavirus pandemic has seen the England and Wales Cricket Board implement a seven-week delay.

ECB chief executive officer Tom Harrison said: “With the information available to us at the moment a delay to the start of the professional cricket season until May 28 was unavoidable.

“This also allows us time to keep pace with a fast-moving situation and continue to plan for how a revised season might look. Critically, we can also remain as flexible and adaptable as possible, within the obvious restrictions we face.”

Surrey announced on March 16 that six players from their men’s squad were self-isolating as a precautionary measure. The club had already cancelled their pre-season training camp in Dubai, which was due to begin on March 17.