Cricket in USA also affected by COVID-19

By Naeem-ul-Haq in USA
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

International cricket is set to return after nearly four months when England and the West Indies confront each other in the first Test match at Southampton on July 8 but cricket in the United States of America (USA) remains severely affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. 

Here in USA, quite a few events have been postponed or cancelled recently while others, slated for later this year, also remain uncertain because of the fluid situation caused by the deadly virus.

The second edition of the Champions Cup cricket tournament, which was scheduled to be organized by the Global Sports in Detroit, Michigan, on July 4, has been cancelled. 

The 15th edition of the Diversity Cup, having become one of the most sought after cricket tournaments of the country, originally planned to be held in August, has now been rescheduled for the Labor Day weekend, starting from September 5 to 7. 

The way things stand at the moment and the manner in which the COVID-19 fatalities and infections are rocking the country, I don’t foresee realistic hopes of the 15th Diversity Cup taking place in Detroit this September. Unlike the United Kingdom, the resumption of proper cricket activities in USA may still be far off in the prevailing scenario. 

As the cricket enthusiasts in the country are aware about it, the Diversity Cup, organized by the Global Sports, has been one of the most popular annual cricket events for the past one and a half decades. Its previous edition was held with the traditional fanfare in Detroit from July 19 to 21 last year. 

Meanwhile the inaugural edition of the Minor League T20 franchise tournament, being organized by the USA Cricket and the American Cricket Enterprises (ACE), has also been delayed by the pandemic. It was scheduled to commence from the July 4 weekend. 

According to the details, the organizers had identified four major conferences (West, Central, North East and South East) to spread the 22 participating teams in the inaugural event in which a total of 170 games were planned in the original schedule.