Warwickshire County Cricket Club Seeks To Make June’s Test Match A Validation Event

Warwickshire County Cricket Club is believed to be seeking permission for Edgbaston’s staging of England’s June Test match against New Zealand to become a ‘validation event’ under the Government’s reopening strategy.

The game is due to commence on June 10th which, under current COVID-19 guidelines, means that Edgbaston will be restricted to 25% capacity.

However, according to ESPN’s website, it appears that Warwickshire has written to Oliver Dowden, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), requesting that the Test be used as a ‘validation event’.

This would allow Edgbaston to welcome a larger crowd as a test as to how higher capacities can be safely accommodated once the COVID-19 protocols are fully lifted, which is currently scheduled for June 21st onwards.

Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, and Ian Ward, Birmingham City Council leader, are also said to be signatories of the letter, with Warwickshire’s proposal not said to include the need to utilise so-called vaccine passports.

Warwickshire is said to have asked for a response by the first week of May, granting it enough time to organise a ticket ballot for the game, which is close to a sell-out under the current 25% capacity rules.

Information on ESPN said Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), owner of Lord’s, may look to follow suit for the London ground’s staging of its New Zealand Test on June 2nd to 6th.

The ESPN site also stated that a MCC spokesperson said ‘they are working closely with the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) and Government and, if required, would be ready to host it as a pilot event as part of the government’s event research programme.’