The pitch is alive again but dark clouds hang over the business of cricket

That resonance of willow raspingly striking leather. That sonorous clatter of spread-eagled stumps. The sound of international cricket, music to the ears of hundreds of millions in the Commonwealth, especially India, is back after a 128-day hiatus.

Not since a Test between India and New Zealand concluded at Christchurch on March 2 had a ball been hit with passion and purpose at the highest level. Such has been the pulverising impact of Covid-19. On Wednesday, though, the gentleman’s game resumed in bio-secure, crowd-less conditions at Ageas Bowl, Southampton, with England hosting the West Indies in the first of three matches