Vinesh Phogat becomes first Indian woman wrestler to win Asiad gold

London, Mar 21: The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has suspended all professional cricket till May 28, delaying the start of the new season, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ECB took the decision following discussions with the First-Class Counties, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and the Professional Cricketers' Association (PCA).

"It was agreed that, given the current information available, a seven-week delay to the start of the season is the most appropriate approach," an ECB media statement said.

The Board also announced that it is working on three new options, including the three-Test series against West Indies, the T20 Cup and the women's schedule against India, for a possible start in June, July or August.

"Close liaison with the Government will continue, with discussions on the potential of starting the season behind closed doors and giving sports fans the opportunity to live broadcast action," the statement said on Friday.

"The potential for reduced versions of competitions, should the season become further truncated, will also be discussed."

The ECB said it will meet as needed to review the position and make further decisions as the UK situation unfolds.

"During this period of deep uncertainty it is the ECB’s first priority to protect the wellbeing of everyone within the cricket family, from players, to fans and colleagues across the game,’’ ECB Chief Executive Officer Tom Harrison said.

"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," he added.

He said this would give the ECB 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."

Last week, England's tour of Sri Lanka was called off mid tournament in view of the rising threat of the pandemic.

"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," Harrison said.

The COVID-19 global death toll has climbed past 11,000 with more than 250,000 infected. In UK, close to 4000 have tested positive so far and 177 died.

Johannesburg, Jul 18: Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Saturday mourned the demise of former spinner Ismail 'Baboo' Ebrahim who died in Durban at the age of 73.

"Baboo was one of the outstanding South African spin bowlers of the 1960s and 1970s who would undoubtedly have played as many Test matches for his country as the 48 first-class games to which he was limited," CSA said in a statement.

In those matches, he took 179 wickets at an average of 21.33 with an economy rate of 2.12 including 8 five-wicket hauls and 2 ten-wicket hauls.

The left-arm spinner only had one opportunity on the international stage when he played for a SA Invitation XI against the International Wanderers at Kingsmead in 1976.

"At the age of 29, he was in his prime and took a match-winning 6/66 in the second innings, his victims including international captains, Greg Chappell of Australia and Mike Denness of England. It was a clear indication of what he could have achieved on grounds around the world at the highest level had he been given the opportunity. He was a master of flight and spin and had a good arm ball to back it up," the statement read.

His ability to perform at this level had become apparent much earlier when he went to watch the Australians at practice before their Test match against South Africa in 1970.

He persuaded the Australians to let him bowl to them and made an immediate impression, bowling experienced Test batsman Ian Redpath and impressing the likes of Ian Chappell and Ashley Mallett, the latter being Australia's leading spinner of the 1970s.

He had one season for Radcliffe in the Lancashire Central League when he took 62 wickets at 14.62 apiece.

Baboo finally got his chance to represent his country in Masters events in one of which he dismissed both Sir Vivian Richards and Gordon Greenidge.

"Baboo Ebrahim was one of the countless number of outstanding cricketers who was denied the opportunity to display his talents to the world and live his cricketing dreams," said CSA Acting Chief Executive, Dr Jacques Faul.

"On behalf of the CSA Family I extend our deepest sympathy to his family, friends and cricketing colleagues," he added. 

The ILO has warned that if another Covid-19 wave hits in the second half of 2020, there would be global working-hour loss of 11.9 percent - equivalent to the loss of 340 million full-time jobs.

According to the 5th edition of International Labour Organisation (ILO) Monitor: Covid-19 and the world of work, the recovery in the global labour market for the rest of the year will be uncertain and incomplete.

The report said that there was a 14 percent drop in global working hours during the second quarter of 2020, equivalent to the loss of 400 million full-time jobs.

The number of working hours lost across the world in the first half of 2020 was significantly worse than previously estimated. The highly uncertain recovery in the second half of the year will not be enough to go back to pre-pandemic levels even in the best scenario, the agency warned.

The baseline model – which assumes a rebound in economic activity in line with existing forecasts, the lifting of workplace restrictions and a recovery in consumption and investment – projects a decrease in working hours of 4.9 percent (equivalent to 140 million full-time jobs) compared to last quarter of 2019.

It says that in the pessimistic scenario, the situation in the second half of 2020 would remain almost as challenging as in the second quarter.

“Even if one assumes better-tailored policy responses – thanks to the lessons learned throughout the first half of the year – there would still be a global working-hour loss of 11.9 per cent at the end of 2020, or 340 million full-time jobs, relative to the fourth quarter of 2019,” it said.

The pessimistic scenario assumes a second pandemic wave and the return of restrictions that would significantly slow recovery. The optimistic scenario assumes that workers’ activities resume quickly, significantly boosting aggregate demand and job creation. With this exceptionally fast recovery, the global loss of working hours would fall to 1.2 per cent (34 million full-time jobs).

The agency said that under the three possible scenarios for recovery in the next six months, “none” sees the global job situation in better shape than it was before lockdown measures began.

“This is why we talk of an uncertain but incomplete recovery even in the best of scenarios for the second half of this year. So there is not going to be a simple or quick recovery,” ILO Director-General Guy Ryder said.

The new figures reflect the worsening situation in many regions over the past weeks, especially in developing economies. Regionally, working time losses for the second quarter were: Americas (18.3 percent), Europe and Central Asia (13.9 percent), Asia and the Pacific (13.5 percent), Arab States (13.2 percent), and Africa (12.1 percent).

The vast majority of the world’s workers (93 per cent) continue to live in countries with some sort of workplace closures, with the Americas experiencing the greatest restrictions.

During the first quarter of the year, an estimated 5.4 percent of global working hours (equivalent to 155 million full-time jobs) were lost relative to the fourth quarter of 2019. Working- hour losses for the second quarter of 2020 relative to the last quarter of 2019 are estimated to reach 14 per cent worldwide (equivalent to 400 million full-time jobs), with the largest reduction (18.3 per cent) occurring in the Americas.

The ILO Monitor also found that women workers have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic, creating a risk that some of the modest progress on gender equality made in recent decades will be lost, and that work-related gender inequality will be exacerbated.

The severe impact of Covid-19 on women workers relates to their over-representation in some of the economic sectors worst affected by the crisis, such as accommodation, food, sales and manufacturing.

Globally, almost 510 million or 40 percent of all employed women work in the four most affected sectors, compared to 36.6 percent of men, it said.

The report said that women also dominate in the domestic work and health and social care work sectors, where they are at greater risk of losing their income and of infection and transmission and are also less likely to have social protection.

The pre-pandemic unequal distribution of unpaid care work has also worsened during the crisis, exacerbated by the closure of schools and care services.

Even as countries have adopted policy measures with unprecedented speed and scope, the ILO Monitor highlights some key challenges ahead, including finding the right balance and sequencing of health, economic and social and policy interventions to produce optimal sustainable labour market outcomes; implementing and sustaining policy interventions at the necessary scale when resources are likely to be increasingly constrained and protecting and promoting the conditions of vulnerable, disadvantaged and hard-hit groups to make labour markets fairer and more equitable.

“The decisions we adopt now will echo in the years to come and beyond 2030. Although countries are at different stages of the pandemic and a lot has been done, we need to redouble our efforts if we want to come out of this crisis in a better shape than when it started,” Ryder said.