ECB announce the new cricket season will be delayed by at least seven weeks

The County were due to start their Specsavers County Championship Division One campaign on April 19 against Warwickshire at Edgbaston, but that will now not be the case.

The England & Wales Cricket Board announced on Friday evening that no professional cricket will be played in England and Wales until at least May 28, a seven week delay to the season.

That is also the day before the Vitality T20 Blast is due to start, with the Steelbacks scheduled to take on Lancashire Lightning in Liverpool.

The delay to the season means that the County's first six Championship matches have been called off, and whether that is as postponements or cancellations is yet to be seen.

But ECB chief executive Tom Harrison it could be the latter.

The Vitality Blast and the new Hundred competition, which is due to be launched in July, seen as the main money-spinning events, along with England international matches.

Harrison said: "Securing the future of the game will be a primary focus as we plot a revised schedule with an emphasis on the most financially important forms of the game."

The governing body approved the delay to the start of the campaign following discussions with Northants and the other first-class counties, the MCC and the Professional Cricketers' Association.

Harrison, said: "During this period of deep uncertainty it is the ECB's first priority to protect the well-being of everyone within the cricket family, from players to fans and colleagues across the game.

"The decision to delay the start of the season has been essential, given the circumstances the nation faces.

"I am reassured by the collaborative effort from across the game that together we will make the very best of whatever length of season we are able to safely schedule in the coming months."

The ECB said work has begun on possible revised schedules to begin in June, July or August.

The immediate focus is on options for cricket in June, including the three-Test series against West Indies, the Vitality T20 Blast and England Women's schedule against India, with the ECB determined to prioritise delivering as much international and domestic action as possible.

Harrison said: "With the information available to us at the moment a delay to the start of the professional cricket season until May 28 was unavoidable.

"This also allows us time to keep pace with a fast-moving situation and continue to plan for how a revised season might look. Critically, we can also remain as flexible and adaptable as possible, within the obvious restrictions we face.

"Securing the future of the game will be a primary focus as we plot a revised schedule with an emphasis on the most financially important forms of the game for the counties across international and domestic cricket."

PCA chief executive Tony Irish welcomed the decision.

"The PCA supports this decision to delay the start of the season based on expert advice relating to health and well-being and taking into account the government's position," said Irish.

"The decision has at least given clarity to players following a week of uncertainty about whether or not they will be playing over the coming weeks.

"All players are in this together and as their players' association we now need to work for the players collectively in dealing with the ECB and the first-class counties to find solutions to the challenges ahead.

"Naturally, players have concerns around when they will be able to start playing again, about what the schedule will look like when cricket resumes and about employment security around their contracts.

"The PCA will represent them in dealing with these issues with the ECB and the counties and seek the right solutions and ones that are acceptable to the players."

Former England captain Nasser Hussain said the ECB had no choice but to delay the season, and hinted that the County Championship could be the tournament that may have to make way.

"Cricketers, groundsmen, clubs, umpires - anyone involved in the professional game - would have just wanted some kind of clarity and date to work to," said Hussain.

"It's probably going to be arbitrary and who knows what's going to happen in the next couple of months? But they would have wanted to know that we're not doing anything until that period.

"Cricket is low down on the list of priorities for the nation, but it was good there was a bit of clarity from the ECB. What they will have to do is prioritise the financial decisions in all this - Test match cricket, white-ball cricket.

"Maybe the purist will just have to suck it up this summer with the County Championship. These are the decisions the ECB will have to make with their stakeholders and their partners."

Northants had been due to travel to play Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire in three-day pre-season friendlies at the end of the month and in early April, and these matches are now off as well as the university match against Bradford/Leeds UCCE at the County Ground, which was due to start on April 13.