As you know the NCU suspended all cricket activity until 29 March at the earliest based on advice from Cricket Ireland.

This is a complex and novel situation both for the Union and our clubs. I want to assure you that we are closely monitoring the situation and planning for a number of eventualities.

NCU Action

The health and wellbeing of staff, coaches, volunteers and players is a key priority and the Union has taken the following actions:

• Staff are working remotely from home and conducting meetings via conferencing or telephone;

• All training sessions, coaching courses and schools' programmes are suspended until at least 29 March;

• Cancellation of non-essential travel for staff.

We know clubs and players are anxious about the impact on domestic cricket and the season ahead and here is the up-to-date situation.

Domestic and Inter-provincial Cricket

At this stage we cannot provide any certain information on a possible change to the start date for competitions. However, we are closely monitoring the situation and looking at contingency plans for various scenarios, including different start dates. We will of course look at the impact on clubs and the integrity of our competitions as part of these contingency plans and consult with clubs before any action or plans are agreed

Club Training

Based on advice from Cricket Ireland, the Union suspended all cricket activity until 29 March 2020 at the earliest. We recommend clubs also adhere to these guidelines and suspend all club training for both youths and seniors until this date. We will issue a further update closer to 29 March.

Registrations

Registration of players should be submitted by 15 April. The General Secretary will be issuing the necessary forms to clubs shortly. However, there is no need to submit starring lists until we have a start date for the season, and we will keep in touch with clubs on this.

Club Fees

At this time of year clubs are invoiced for affiliation fees, advance of registration fees and umpire costs.
It is recognised that this will be a difficult time financially for clubs, therefore the initial invoice will only be for affiliation fee of £25.
Collection of advance on registration fees and umpires' costs will be dependant on the start of the season.

Overseas Players

We are unable to provide any guarantees or assurances regarding the entry into the country of overseas players or the potential quarantine period they may face on arrival. Clubs will want to check what contractual arrangements they may have entered into with overseas players.
We would advise clubs to monitor UK Government advice on travel both in and out of the country. This is a situation that is changing rapidly and clubs should monitor Government advice.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-advice-novel-coronavirus

Ongoing Updates

We appreciate how close we are to the start of the season and that clubs are eager to put plans in place. The Union will continue to monitor developments and update clubs as appropriate.

Angela Platt (General Manager) angela.platt@ncucricket.org and Bryan Milford (General Secretary) bryan.milford@ncucricket.org  are available to answer queries from clubs.

Our priority just now should be one another's wellbeing. So please concentrate on keeping well and hopefully we will be playing cricket soon.

Sam Beckett
Chairman