Middlesex president Mike Selvey has denied a report that said county sides would return to training “within days”, saying his side would only return to the field once a decision is taken on the resumption of the county season by the England and Wales Cricket Board.

Selvey was reacting to a report on ESPNcricinfo that stated clubs were keen to take their players off furlough and give them six weeks’ preparation time, with an August 1 restart date looking like a possibility.

However, Selvey said that wouldn’t be the case as far as Middlesex is concerned, at least until there was “definitive guidance” on the resumption of the county season. “Our players won’t come off furlough until we have definitive guidance when or if the season will start and what form it will take,” Selvey said.

Our players won’t come off furlough until we have definitive guidance when or if the season will start and what form it will take.

— mike selvey (@selvecricket) June 15, 2020

He said the situation would become clearer after the first Test of the three-match series between England and West Indies, scheduled to start on July 8.

“We won’t really know until they have staged the Test. Of course if we get Aug as a projected start our players will need a month so they’d have to be unfurloughed. Six weeks is too long,” he further added.