County chief hopes play will resume soon, but relegation from Lincs Premier Division has already been scrapped

Stroud’s own club Bourne and their local rivals Market Deeping have been kicking their heels in frustration as a Lincs Premier Division season due to start in April now has no chance of beginning before July 1.

“The feeling is that it would be nice to have some competitive cricket, even if it’s a cup competition or mini leagues,” Mr Stroud said.

“It’s got to be common sense that we still want to provide people with some cricket, but not just men’s cricket on a Saturday.

“That also includes junior cricket and women’s cricket. We have been working hard to promote women’s and girls’ cricket and this has unfortunately set us back.

“We’ve got to take every positive thing we can.

“Obviously, we don’t know how it will end up, there will be a lot of conversations and Zoom meetings before we can go any further. We are still in the dark.”

Mr Stroud added that the Lincs ECB are taking a ‘broad-minded approach’ to the return of the sport.

Different action plans are in place depending on how much of the campaign is left when, if at all, cricket can begin again.

Suggestions such as a cup competition, T20 matches, smaller localised leagues and playing out the remaining league fixtures are among the ideas still on the table.

Another idea is for shorter matches to be played for seniors, allowing juniors to get games in earlier in the day.

Mr Stroud, however, was adamant that no decision would be made without the input of clubs.

“I think there’s got to be feedback from the clubs,” he said. “Obviously, the clubs are getting feedback from players. This is player led, about what we need to provide.”

There are also other issues to deal with such as whether elder, more vulnerable members of the cricketing community, such as umpires and veteran players, would feel comfortable returning to the sport this year.

However, it has been confirmed there will be no relegation from the Lincs ECB Premier this year.