Former England captain Michael Vaughan has hit out at the government’s refusal to allow recreational cricket to be played again from July 4, when a new set of relaxed guidelines to help prevent the spread of Covid-19 will come into force.

Prime minister Boris Johnson was asked in the House of Commons whether cricket could return, and replied that it couldn’t, calling the cricket ball “a natural vector for disease”.

“Everybody will want to add something onto the great wheelbarrow of measures that we’re making and at a certain point, there will come a straw that breaks the camel’s back,” said Johnson. “The problem with cricket, everybody understands that the ball is a natural vector of disease. At any rate, we’ve been round it many times with our scientific friends, at the moment, we’re still working on ways to make cricket more Covid-secure but we can’t change the guidance yet.”

In a string of tweets, Vaughan made his feelings clear. “‘Natural vector of the disease’” he tweeted. “What a load of utter boloocks [sic].”

He also outlined how he felt cricket could be played safely. “Hand sanitiser in every players [sic] pocket” Vaughan tweeted. “Use every time you touch the ball.”

Hand sanitiser in every players pocket … Use every time you touch the ball … SIMPLE … Recreational Cricket should just play from July 4th … utter nonsense it’s not being allowed back … #Cricket

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) June 23, 2020

“Recreational cricket should just play from July 4th,” he continued. “Utter nonsense it’s not being allowed back.”

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