Warwickshire County Cricket Club and Edgbaston Stadium have today announced that, following Government advice and discussions with the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and other major stakeholders, the stadium will be closed to the public with immediate effect.
Neil Snowball, Chief Executive of Warwickshire CCC and Edgbaston Stadium, said: “The impact of COVID-19 is affecting all parts of our daily lives and with the every-changing landscape it is in the best interests of our staff, players, Members, supporters and customers that we close the stadium to the public until at least 30 April 2020.
“As mentioned earlier in the week, we have instigated plans that will allow the majority of our staff to work remotely across all parts of our cricket and non-match day operations and we absolutely remain contactable for enquiries during our core weekday hours of 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.
“We are of course very disappointed to take this course of action, but everyone’s health and well-being is our immediate priority and we all hope that we can make a swift return to cricket and our conference and events business in the near future.
“We will continue to make all further updates through warwickshireccc.com, edgbaston.com and our social media channels.”
The below summarises how each part of the Club and venue will be operating during the stadium closure:
Warwickshire
The Warwickshire men’s squad is continuing its preparation for the coming season away from Edgbaston for at least the next 14 days. However, plans are in place for a return to group training as soon as possible.
Warwickshire women’s team also continue their work for the new season away from Edgbaston.
We naturally share the disappointment of our Members and supporters, which has been caused by the enforced delay to the county season – read full statement here. We also recognise that our Members have shown a huge amount of loyalty to the Club over many years.
Representatives from the Club continue to hold regular discussions with the ECB and the 17 other First Class counties and there is a collective agreement to create the best possible schedule for the game when it is safe for the players, staff, Members and supporters to return to action.
We will support the ECB as it models the various options for the new season and will communicate this to our Members at the first opportunity.
Our team remain available for any queries in the meantime during the core hours of 9am to 5pm on Monday to Friday throughout this period on 0121 369 1994 (option 1) and on tickets@edgbaston.com.
Tickets and Store ‘94
The Ticket & Membership Hotline remains open on 0121 369 1994 (option 1) Monday-Friday 9am-5pm and the team can also be emailed on tickets@edgbaston.com.
Online orders for Store ‘94 can still be made here. However, please note that these orders cannot be fulfilled until it is safe for staff to return to work as per the current working guidelines that have been imposed by the Government.
In the unlikely event of a cancellation of the England’s Test match versus West Indies and/or Vitality Blast Finals Day and/or the ODI between England and Ireland on the advice of the UK Government (as a result of coronavirus), all ticket purchasers will be automatically refunded and we will contact ticket holders to advise of this process.
Additionally, we will contact Vitality Blast purchasers once we have clarity on the 2020 tournament schedule.
Major Matchday hospitality
The hospitality sales line remains open on 0121 369 1994 (option 4) Monday-Friday 9am-5pm and the team can also be emailed on hospitality@edgbaston.com.
In the unlikely event of a cancellation of the England vs West Indies Test Match and/or Vitality Blast Finals Day and/or England vs Ireland ODI on the advice of the UK Government (as a result of coronavirus), hospitality customers who have already booked will be refunded and/or provided with a credit to use against an alternative Edgbaston Major Matchday.
Conferences & Events
Clients who have upcoming bookings in place before the end of April 2020 have all been contacted and we are doing our upmost to accommodate their event on an alternative date later in the year once the stadium’s operations are back underway.
If you have any concerns or enquiries regarding an event beyond 30 April, please do contact the conference and events team between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday, on 0121 369 1994 (option 3) or email events@edgbaston.com and a member of the team will respond.
Edgbaston Cricket Centre
We have been in contact with all clients who have bookings at the Edgbaston Cricket Centre and are again providing an option to postpone the booking to a date later in the year.
Please email cricketcentre@edgbaston.com if you have any immediate queries or concerns regarding a booking at the Edgbaston Cricket Centre.
Stadium Operations
Our security and maintenance teams will continue to be on-site at Edgbaston throughout the public closure to ensure that the venue can make a prompt return to daily operations.
