Conference News July 2020 | Page 4

4 Cover Story SAFE INNINGS Sport can help lead the way back for events, and all eyes are on Emirates Old Trafford as they host the West Indies in a bio-secure environment. Martin Fullard explores We all know the story by now: Covid-19 came, and all events went. The cancellation of sporting events is an obvious example of the impact of the virus, and in many cases the vast sums of money related to them forces organisers and venues to think creatively. Emirates Old Trafford in May confirmed that it had been selected by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) as one of two venues to host the Test Series behind closed doors against the West Indies, starting in July subject to government clearance. The other venue chosen was the Ageas Bowl in Southampton. The West Indies squad arrived in the UK on 9 June, and travelled to the Manchester venue for quarantining and training and has remained their base for a three-week period before moving to the Ageas Bowl for the start of the first Test. The selection of the venue was supported by the on-site four-star Hilton Garden Inn, which has 150-bedrooms. Ahead of the fixtures, the venue introduced additional safety protocols and procedures, including rigorous deep cleaning measures, providing PPE for all players and staff on-site, social distancing measures being put in place adhering to government guidelines and increased hand sanitisers at each touch point for all on-site. The work that has gone into ensuring a ‘bio-secure’ environment offers a glimpse of what a business event may look like should the Covid-19 pandemic take its time to dissipate and more rigorous guidance be in place for the long haul. Certainly, there are lessons event organisers and venues can take from the exercise. Steve Davies, the venue’s director of operations, says that in order to get the event going, the venue had to undertake a rigorous risk assessment. “We have been working on plenty of risk assessments, in total probably in the region of 30 different ones for our site,” he says. “We had to cover every aspect of the event, because it is not just the cricket, we need to feed people, we need to house them, and they need to sleep. “We initially started the whole thing with a return to training. The return to training guidance came from the Government, and explained what we needed to do to facilitate www.conference-news.co.uk