This weekend will see club cricketers finally get back in the middle after a frustrating summer.
However, looking at the long list of guidelines set out by the ECB you have to ask just why did it take so long for the Government to give the sport the green light to resume?
With other activities having had a month of action under their belts, cricket – one of the most socially-distanced sports there is – is only just getting going again, and the criteria for its restart is hardly revolutionary.
Arriving at the ground already in kit, bringing your own food and drink, not sharing equipment, keeping a metre away from fellow players, not handing kit to the umpire – these are pretty obvious rules and hardly needed months of brainstorming.
The little details – a break every six overs to wash hands and wipe the ball as well as having lines drawn adjacent to the popping crease to indicate where batsmen should run needed thought, but not for long.
Of course there is the responsibility of each club to do things right in terms of ensuring no large groups at the bar, supplying sanitiser at various points of their facilities and ensuring cleanliness of equipment and toilets, but it’s no different to what golf clubs had to contend with when they reopened a few months ago.
Probably the only difficulty clubs will have to contend with is on an administrative front, with a requirement to keep a record of all those who play matches for a 21-day period in case of any positive tests. But if this is as tricky as it gets, nobody can have any complaints.
Yes it’s important to get things right and ensure the safety of all the participants, and of course everyone is delighted to be able to play cricket again, but it’s a month too late. There’s plenty of making up for lost time needed in the final two months of the ‘season’ – hopefully clubs can get those members off the golf course and back at the crease...