CRICKET at the amateur level is not able to restart yet - a decision dubbed as bizarre by a local club due to the natural social distancing that is involved in the game.

Barrow Cricket Club has been able to run coaching sessions delivered by one coach to five players at a time as well as netting one on one.

However it remains unclear when they will be able to get out and compete against other clubs in the summer months.

Ray Mowat, committee member for Barrow Cricket Club, said: “We did expect that we would be able to come back especially as basketball is allowed to return.

“It is a socially distanced game so it is frustrating as we have had some wonderful weather but no cricket.

“We are hoping to be able to get some matches in by the end of summer.

"Realistically it would be local games to be played in August.

“We have been told to avoid travel and to try to maintain social distancing so we will try to talk to the league about arranging local fixtures.

“It is bizarre really, but there is nothing we can do until we get the green light.

“We just want to get people playing again.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has described a cricket ball as a “natural vector of disease” as he confirmed the sport remains banned outside the elite level.

The PM said on Tuesday “we’re still working on ways to make cricket more Covid-secure, but we can’t change the guidance yet".

Sport England released a statement, in which chair Nick Bitel said: “The sport and physical activity sector has been working incredibly hard preparing to reopen leisure, fitness and sports centres, with painstaking measures in place to ensure venues meet public health guidelines.

“We understand that difficult choices need to be made as the country exits lockdown, and while it is disappointing for the sector that no specific date has been given for the reopening of facilities today, we will continue to work closely with government to ensure this happens as soon as possible, ideally within the coming weeks, an ambition we know is shared by government.

“It’s important that government continues to engage with the sector to get these facilities open, not just because activity levels will clearly become a vital public health intervention in the new Covid-19 era, but also because the longer they stay closed, the greater the danger to their ability to survive financially.

"We are also continuing to work closely with team sports’ national governing bodies to set out a detailed and phased plan for their return”.