LEAGUE cricketers are waiting to see how long the coronavirus lockdown will last – to see whether the new season can be salvaged.

The first balls were scheduled to be bowled in the new Southern Premier League campaign on Saturday, May 2.

But unless there is a dramatic – and unexpected – loosening of the government restrictions, no clubs will be playing by then.

The League has already pronounced that unless the season begins a month later, by June 4, there will be no promotion or relegation in any of its divisions.

But officials are keen that any matches that do take place should be played in “as competitive a spirit as possible” – so they will introduce a cup competition in each per division.

Rowledge, who play in Division One, were looking forward with confidence to the new campaign.

Captain Ben Wish said: “We had signed an Australian bowler for the season – he plays in second grade cricket there, so he’s a decent standard and has a good pedigree.

“But even if we get the season started late, he was looking to play in nine matches at the most – so that agreement has been ended. It takes a lot of work to get things like that organised, and we are hoping it won’t go to waste and that we can bring him back next summer.

“There’s no chance of starting the season late and then extending the campaign – that just won’t work. Many clubs share their grounds with football, so they will be needed for that in September.

“In the Hampshire League – which our second and third teams play in – they can delay the start of the season to the first Saturday in July.

“But we’d still be looking at fewer matches – although we would hope to still play in the Twenty20 competition and the Village Cup.

“But the Village Cup is a national competition so we’re not sure what the deadline will be to start that.

“It’s so disappointing but there’s nothing anyone could do about it. It is what it is. We’re all helpless. All we can do is see what happens.

“We had some winter nets and were really positive about the summer – we have all the players from last year, and have a young side with a mix of experience. The players are back from university and were available to play.

“Whatever happens, I can’t see any of the clubs having any time to prepare – it’ll be straight into the season.

“We will just have to hope player availability will be strong – I can’t see too many people going on holiday, for instance. We have a strong core of players and we hope they’ll be available for the whole season when we start.

Laurence Fiddler, chairman of Hampshire League club Liphook and Ripsley, said: “We have received confirmation from each of the leagues we participate in that the season won’t be starting as planned.”

The league’s management committee said if the lockdown was not lifted by the end of June, there would be no competitive outdoor cricket at all this year.