And… we’re back!

The news came through the wire early on Wednesday: Cricket is back on the Maifeld.

And we’re so happy to announce the news, that we’ve overlooked how stringent the Corona rules are.

Of course, the Corona rules apply to all organised outdoor sport in Berlin, so this includes football, basketball, hockey and so on. But, as most cricketers are surely aware, these rules are easy to implement for cricket.

During net practice, as long as bowlers use their own balls and keep 2 metres apart while queuing to bowl, there can be little chance of passing on the virus. Batsmen are well advised to buy their own kit, though, and not share. No licking or using sweat to polish balls, should go without saying.

With a membership of around 50 and approximately 35-40 regular players, it means a player might only train once every 4 weeks – which seems utterly counterproductive. Though, on the bright side, the training restrictions are likely to ease as the season progresses.

According to our contact at the Olympic Stadium, full league games may begin again from 25th May – though there will be an understandable lag as a fixture list is quickly cobbled together. So, we expect to start week beginning 1st June.

Which is of course very good news indeed for everyone who’s been cooped up inside for the last 2-3 months.

But it does beg the question as to why only 8 people are allowed at training but 24 during a match? Though these are mere details that will be sorted as the season rumbles on.

Other good news, for Berlin’s cricketers at least, is that mass events such as the Pyronale and the Lollapalooza festival will almost certainly not take place on the Maifeld this year. Presumably paving the way for us to use it all the way through until October. We can but hope.

We’ve also had some instructions passed down to us from the DCB. It seems their long-awaited Bundesliga proper has been postponed until 2022 and the usual 50-over competitions have been suspended in the regions until next year.

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So, although a season of T20 is better than no cricket at all, the club very much hopes it can organise some longer-format friendlies later in the season, perhaps at Werder.

If you’re a member of Berlin CC or want to become one, I suggest you get your subscription fees transferred sharpish because there’s going to be a lot of competition for places and that will be the number 1 criteria for inclusion.

Keep calm, play cricket, don’t drive to Durham.