The England & Wales Cricket Board is still hopeful of seeing recreational cricket this season, according to the organisation’s chief executive officer.

In an update on the domestic and recreational cricket published on Thursday, ECB chief executive officer Tom Harrison has reiterated the governing body’s desire to see some form of cricket season this summer and revealed that several scenarios for domestic play have been mapped out.

He also expressed a preference for traditional formats to remain, but conceded that the ECB are open to “exploring the unorthodox” in a bid to get the sport restarted.

The update comes after the ECB confirmed a further delay to the start of the professional domestic cricket season, with no domestic cricket to be played before August 1.

The recreational game currently remains suspended until further notice – with the sole exception of the use of outdoor cricket facilities (nets and pitches) for the purpose of undertaking exercise.

The 2020 Cornwall Cricket League season was due to begin on April 18, with this weekend due to have been the seventh round of the campaign.

The ECB will seek to progress discussions with the Government to begin mapping out a return for recreational cricket, including the potential for an earlier return of junior cricket.

In the ECB's latest update, chief executive officer Tom Harrison said: “Naturally we want to see cricket being played at every level. We remain hopeful of seeing both domestic and recreational cricket this season and planning with the Professional Game Group has allowed us to map a number of potential scenarios for domestic play.

“While traditional formats of our competitions are the preference, we are not against exploring the unorthodox to ensure that we can return our players to the field.

“That can only happen though when it is safe, and we have said throughout this crisis that the safety and well-being of everyone involved in the game is our key priority.

“We have learned a lot and continue to learn about the safety protocols that would need to be in place to stage international cricket behind closed doors in this environment and those protocols will also need to apply to the domestic game.

“Across the recreational game it has been heart-warming to hear of clubs where players have returned to the nets. As children start returning to school in the coming weeks, we look forward to exploring how those guidelines and learnings can be deployed for cricket. This can then see the recreational game continue its phased return as soon as we have Government approval.”