Surrey determined to welcome members back to the Kia Oval next month

Surrey are “determined” to get their members back watching cricket at the Kia Oval as soon as next month as county cricket moves towards a resumption.

County Chairmen will vote on the shape of the season in the next week, and Surrey are among the counties hoping to play first-class cricket, rather than just white-ball cricket.

Surrey are opening a bar to members from next Wednesday and are confident that around 1,500 of their 13,500 members could watch cricket in the ground at any one time. Members would apply for a day and be seated in a socially-distanced manner.

“We’re determined to give our members some cricket to watch in August,” Surrey CEO Richard Gould said.

“From the guidance there is we’re optimistic that can use outdoor bar facilities and terraces to welcome members from next week, then limited numbers for cricket as soon as we can. We are working with local licensing authorities to make this happen.”

Surrey are also conducting a redundancy process as a result of the pandemic, with around 20 jobs to be lost.