County chairmen vote to play red and white ball cricket as they prepare for shortened season

The Covid-19 pandemic has ensured the 2020 season has yet to begin, with all cricket activity being in shut down since the middle of March.

But the campaign is due to start on August 1, and although the schedule has yet to be announced, it has been confirmed that both limited overs and red ball cricket will be played.

Gavin Warren of Northants and the chairmen of the other 17 first-class counties met on Tuesday, and a majority vote was reached to agree to play both red-ball and white-ball cricket during the shortened domestic season.

County head coach David Ripley spoke last week of his preference for a 50-over competition to kick things off, but added that the club would also be happy to play red-ball cricket,.

The agreement will now be passed on for approval from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) later this week, after which a new fixture schedule will be drawn up and announced.

The ECB insists health matters are of paramount importance and says counties will face further assessments to ensure it is safe for play to resume.

"The safety and wellbeing of all players, staff and officials remains the priority of the ECB," read a statement.

"All first-class counties will undergo further medical risk assessments and venue compliance approval as planning progresses to ensure safe environments for the start of the men's domestic season."

The men's County Championship was initially scheduled to start on April 12.

The Northants bowlers returned to training at the County Ground last Wednesday, with the batsmen set to join them this Wednesday.