London, June 24: Former England captain Michael Vaughan has hit out at British Prime Minister Boris Johnson for his decision to uphold the ban on recreational cricket.
Johnson had said that the cricket ball is a "natural vector of disease" and hence recreational cricket cannot be allowed to resume.
"Hand sanitiser in every players pocket ... Use every time you touch the ball ... SIMPLE ... Recreational Cricket should just play from July 4th ... utter nonsense it's not being allowed back," Vaughan tweeted.
Johnson's comments on Tuesday came in response to a question from Member of Parliament Greg Clarke in the House of Commons, according to ESPNcricinfo.
Clark, the Conservative MP for Tunbridge Wells, asked the PM to clarify whether "the ban on cricket has come to an end".
"Cricket is perhaps our most socially-distanced team sport," he said. "We've lost half the summer but there is another half left to be enjoyed by players and spectators alike." On Saturday, he had tweeted that it was "absurd that no cricket can be played this midsummer weekend".
Johnson responded: "The problem with cricket as everybody understands (is) that the ball is a natural vector of disease, potentially at any rate. We've been round it many times with our scientific friends.
"At the moment, we're still working on ways to make cricket more Covid-secure but we can't change the guidance yet."
His comments, however, won't have any effect on England's upcoming series against West Indies or the resumption of County cricket as they will be governed by guidance for elite sports.